Brewing Storm, page 4
“Did you call the police?”
“It’s all taken care of, and I feel great. Now, sit and make sure to add some vanilla Chantilly cream and sautéed apples to your crepes.”
“Crepes? Mmm. This looks fantastic, better than IHOP!” she said.
“Mais où sont les croissants?” Cindy asked in perfect French.
“Croissants? Yes, I’d love some of those too,” Beth said as she sat down and began to fill her plate. “Hey, I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but I think you guys might need to call an exterminator,” she said, reaching for a crepe and a croissant.
“What for?” Fred asked.
“I think you might have a bat problem. I heard a loud shriek outside my window, then this flapping noise.”
I bit my lip. That would be Cindy returning from her flight in gargoyle form.
“Don’t worry,” Fred said. “I’m sure they’re not the blood-drinking type. If there’s a bat problem, we know how to fix it.”
I smirked at Fred.
“How?” Beth asked.
“I would like to make an announcement,” Fred intervened. “After careful consideration, I’ve decided to let Logan marry my girlfriend. That will fix the bat problem.”
He was talking about by letting Cindy marry Logan, the vampire curse would be lifted and he could finally get himself a good meal. Vampires would be free to drink again and not have to rely on werewolves. But Beth was clueless about that comment.
Beth scrunched up her brow in confusion. “Wait. What?”
“Cindy agrees,” he continued, grabbing her hand. “Don’t you, babe?”
“Honey,” Cindy said, “we’ll talk after breakfast. You’re obviously hungover.”
Beth’s jaw dropped. “Yeah, what exactly did you drink last night?” she asked with a crooked smile.
Logan lifted his orange juice. “I gladly accept, and I promise to be the best husband I can possibly be.”
“You better take good care of her during the day, but leave the bedroom to me,” Fred said.
Beth pointed at Logan. “I don’t get it. You’re happily in love with Cindy, but she’s dating your best friend? What kind of freak are you people?”
“You have no idea,” I muttered.
“Like Tina Turner says, what’s love got to do with it?” Logan said.
Beth turned to face him. “But you must like something about her, if you’re willing to marry her.”
“Marrying her will keep her boyfriend from sucking me dry. I keep telling him no, but he keeps wanting more.”
I looked at Logan in shock, utterly aghast. My old friend had no idea he was talking about vampires and blood, so the remark came out sounding wrong in so many ways.
Beth casually sipped her water, seemingly not bothered by the innuendo. “Hmm. So you two are getting married for some weird reason, yet last night, I saw Fred kissing Cindy passionately in the den as I was walking by. I hate to be the one to tell you this, Logan, but I really don’t think they’re over. Besides, you said yourself she’s still his girlfriend, and he just sent her flowers!”
“Not over by a long shot,” Fred said, giving Cindy a firm smack on the butt as she walked by.
Cindy giggled.
“I’m so confused,” Beth said with a sigh.
“It’s really simple,” I said, quickly conjuring up a colorful explanation. “See, Logan stands to inherit a great deal of money, but one of the stipulations is that he has to be married. Cindy offered to be his fake wife, and they’ll all split the money.”
Beth smiled. “Oh, I get it now. Why didn’t you say so? Their marriage will fix the bat problem because they’ll have money for an exterminator.” She laughed and shook her head. “Boy, you guys are hilarious. If I didn’t know better, I might have thought you were talking about something else entirely.”
“Like what?” Fred asked.
“I don’t know, maybe some crazy plot like I used to read in those teen fantasy novels!”
Well aware that Beth needed to go before she figured out just how real that fantasy was, Cindy motioned behind her at Fred, coaxing him to stare creepily at her. Nobody enjoyed lying to her, and I was getting a bit sick of talking in code and double-entendres, even if Logan did enjoy it and see it as a challenge.
A few minutes later, while Cindy continued clearing the dishes, Beth squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. “What? Do I have food on my face or something?” she asked.
“No,” Fred answered. “You’re just so pretty.”
“Um, your beautiful girlfriend is standing right there, you know,” she said, pointing.
I almost couldn’t stifle my laugh, and the look on Fred’s face was priceless. Logan even secretly snapped a picture just before Beth excused herself and went back to her room. As soon as she was out of earshot, we couldn’t contain ourselves anymore, and we all burst out in laughter.
Cindy looked at me. “I’m willing to play along with the ruse for a while, but you need to get rid of her. Do it nicely, of course, but I don’t like my Freddie pretending he’s crazy.”
“Oh, but I am crazy,” he said, pulling Cindy into a hug, “crazy in love with Logan’s fiancée!”
“It could help sell our story,” I said. “If Fred loses his marbles, you could easily find true love with his slightly less insane best friend.”
Fred playfully threw a croissant at me, and I chuckled. “We’re not taking the lunatic story to the immortals too,” he said.
Logan laughed. “They already think I’m crazy because I burned down a bar. He can tell them I wore off on him.”
“Think about that long and hard, pal,” Fred said. “If they think I’ve gone nuts, they’ll assign you a new guardian.”
“Hmm,” Logan said, then took another huge bite of his pastry. “Now that you mention it, you’re right. We need to nip this psycho story in the bud, before it leaks beyond the castle walls.”
“I thought so,” Fred said, then looked at me. “Seriously, you need to give your friend the boot, sooner rather than later. It’s much too dangerous for her to be here. She’s not safe and has no way to defend herself. Vincent could’ve killed her in a heartbeat. You can’t look after her twenty-four/seven, and frankly, I’m tired of acting like I’ve gone off the deep end.”
“You haven’t even been pretending that long.”
“She needs to go, and you know it. Immortals play dirty, and they won’t hesitate to use any mere human as a bargaining chip. If they know she’s important to you, they will find a use for her, and it won’t be pleasant.”
“Fine. I’ll ask her to leave tomorrow.”
“We’re sorry,” Cindy said softly, with pity in her voice. “It is for the best though. It is better for her to be safe and angry at you than dead. I don’t want to see anything happen to her. She seems like a really nice person, a real sweetheart.”
“She is,” I said, tears welling in my eyes as I thought about everything this world had cost me, all it had taken from my normal life.
“To keep her that way, you’ve gotta get rid of her,” Logan said, then gently dabbed at my tear with his napkin.
Chapter 6
I climbed up to my castle roof, with a bottle of wine tucked under my arm and my trusty Converse tennis shoes so there was no chance of slipping to my death. I sat in the moonlight in my cheap but cute Walmart outfit, drinking straight from the bottle and admiring the landscape. I had so much to think about, and it was nice to have a secret spot to do it.
“Sophie?” Logan called about an hour later.
Guess it’s not so secret after all, I thought with a grin. “Hey. What’s up?” I asked.
“You tell me. What are you doing out here?”
“Just coming to terms with the fact that I’ll never get off this crazy train because I’m too deeply involved and care too much about the fate of the world. Just up here trying to fight my demons, rambling to myself about how we’re going to accomplish anything without a game plan, a rulebook, or an instruction manual. You know, just another normal Friday night.”
“I completely get it. It’s hard to forget about the hellish shadows that haunt me too.”
“Sounds like you need some of this too,” I said, then handed him the bottle. “Don’t worry. Consider this rooftop the no-judgment zone, with no Cindy or Fred around to monitor your alcohol intake. Drink up.”
“Wine?” he asked, arching his brow at me.
“I know it isn’t your good ol’ Jack, you alkie,” I teased. “Wine goes down smoother, and it’s a magic all its own. I guess I love it because I’m a witch.”
“Why don’t we class it up and share a glass in the living room?”
“No way,” I said, shaking my head. “Too safe and much too civilized. Besides. It’s gorgeous out here, in this captivating moonlight. Have a seat,” I said, patting the shingles near me.
He crawled out onto the roof and sat next to me, then took a long swig from the bottle, just another lonely soul trying to ease his pain with a little liquid therapy. “I’m sorry about all this, Sophie.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
“Actually, I do.”
I took another swig. “It’s fine. Everything is peachy,” I said, then hiccupped.
“Is it safe to be up here drinking? I mean, I know we’ve got superpowers, but I don’t think either of us can fly.”
“Don’t worry about your little fragile flower. I promise not to fall and splatter.”
“But you almost drank the entire bottle.”
I feigned shock as I looked at the nearly empty bottle. “Whoa! What witchcraft is this?” I then looked off into the distance and took another swig.
“Look, I know there’s something going on between us,” he finally said, breaking the quietness. “I know we both feel it.”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. None of it does.”
“Please don’t say that.”
I turned to meet his piercing gaze. “I don’t want you like a friend.”
“Sophie...”
“See? Even when you say my name, my heart flutters, and everything stops. It’s like there’s this hole in my soul without you.”
He pushed a strand of hair from my eyes. “I know this is hard.”
“That kiss we shared was...unforgettable, totally blew me away.”
“Mesmerizing.”
“Magical, kind of like this.” I waved my hand, and dozens of tiny blue lights danced across the sky like little fireflies. “Like a million tiny, blinking LED lights.” I waved my other hand, swirls of sparks lit up around us like neon. “Dreamy,” I said, proud of the little show I was putting on.
For that, the lone werewolf mustered a smile, and I was sure I caught him actually blushing as much as I was.
“I can’t believe I even admitted that to you. Man, I must be wasted.”
“I get it. I really do.”
“No, not really. In fact, you are far, far from getting it, young man,” I said, punctuating it with a rather embarrassing, manly belch.
“What do you mean?”
I threw the empty bottle for dramatic effect and it crashed below. “I see you, Logan. I want you, but I can’t have you. You just... You confuse me. You’re all hot and cold. One day, you kiss me, then you push me away the next. I’m tired of riding the highs and lows of this emotional rollercoaster.”
“You’ve pushed me away too,” he said, and the soft touch of his fingers on my back sent shivers down my back.
“Even if you weren’t marrying Cindy, we’d never have a chance. You’re a perpetual bachelor, not the type to settle down. I’ve tried to let you in, but you lock me out. You’re always complaining about having a guardian, but the truth is, you’re so damn guarded yourself that no woman has a chance with you. I feel sorry for you. You’ll never know what love is, and you’re dooming yourself to lead a very, very lonely existence when you don’t have to.”
“I do want to know what love is, but—”
“But you run.”
“It’s just hard to change parts of my personality,” Logan said with a heavy sigh, staring up at the silvery moon.
“Yeah, I know, especially the rough-around-the-edges ones that need a little work,” I snarked.
“Listen, I’ve never been good at commitment. I don’t even want to bother when I know I’ll end up failing.”
“You better get better at it, because you’ll be in it for life in about...” I paused to look at my watch, but the wine had blurred my vision too much for me to make out the numbers. “Uh...for a very long time.”
“I know. I have to commit to the marriage, if it actually happens, even if I’m not the white picket fence type.”
“I know you’ll be loyal to your vows, even if Cindy isn’t, because that’s who you are.”
“Whoa. Was that a compliment?”
“The first time you kissed me, I thought the universe was on my side, but I guess not.”
He sighed. “My careful plans to stay away from you have gone straight to hell. I think I’m bewitched by you.”
“Well, they do say I’m irresistible,” I teased and managed a laugh.
“You’re cute when you’re loaded.”
“I don’t usually drink, but when the shit gets too deep... Well, you know. It’s like I was a normal girl one day, and the next day, I blinked and found myself in a world of immortal danger and, um...”
He ran his hand up my arm. “Desire?”
I playfully slugged him. “Stop! Anyway, like I said before, it doesn’t matter.” I looked into his eyes. “Who was the last girl you cared about? I mean really cared about, not just dated.”
“Her name was—”
“No! I don’t want to know that. Just tell me about her.”
“Okay. She was from Big Bear Lake, a witch like you.”
“So you’ve got a witch fetish, huh?”
He smirked. “She was the only one. I don’t make it a habit of dating humans because my world is impossible to explain.”
“Did you kidnap her too?”
He softly cupped my face. “We only did that to save your life, Sophie.”
“I know. It’s just a running joke between friends. Anyway, please continue.”
“She was so sweet, so pure, so innocent, but I’ll never be what she wanted.”
“So the witch couldn’t tame you because you follow your own, highly dysfunctional rules of dating?”
“I kept being sent out on missions, and all the while, I was sinking deeper and deeper into depression. I was a loose cannon, always drinking and fighting. Plus, I was a dick.”
“So you were a straight-up hot mess, just like now?”
“Yep,” he said, staring at the rooftop below his feet. “She wanted more than I could give her. I finally figured out what the problem was, though, so I guess some good came of it.”
“And what was the problem?”
“I didn’t even like myself, let alone love myself. If I was incapable of that, I could never love her the right way. I risked my life on countless missions, made crazy decisions because I didn’t care if I lived or died. My number-one priority was just getting it done, whatever it took. She ended up breaking up with me and said I needed help. I went to a bar and got shitfaced and almost accidentally burned down the place.”
“So that’s why you’re in Fred’s custody? I heard about that, and you’ve mentioned it a time or two, but I had no idea you were drowning your sorrows over a girl.”
“Yeah, my one weak moment.”
“I hope you’ve learned to love yourself by now,” I said. “It’s about damn time. You can’t blame yourself for what happened all those years ago. You were young, just a kid trying to figure it all out.”
“I’m healing, little by little, trying to get my life back on track. Mostly, I really want the Council to release me from Fred’s custody. He’s my best friend, but I don’t need him to be my babysitter.”
“You’re doing great in my book. Everyone can see how hard you’re working, and I hardly see you drink anything anymore. Cindy said you used to sleep all day, but now you’re up with the sun.”
“I’m trying.”
“Yes, and it shows, no matter what anyone says,” I said with a nod and a pat on his arm, emboldened by the wine.
“Thanks, but truthfully, I kind of think you had something to do with it.”
“Real change comes from within.”
“Did you read that on a fortune cookie?” he joked.
“Maybe, but it’s true!” I confessed.
“I know it takes willpower to change, but you’ve had a role in it.”
“How so?”
“You mentioned me waking up every day. You gave me a reason to. It isn’t the sun I get up to see.”
I blushed again and hoped he couldn’t see it in the dark. “Well, I, for one, am glad you’re back on track, and if I helped in some tiny way, that makes me happy.”
He smiled. “You make me happy,” he said.
A cool breeze swept over me, and I shivered. “I think it’s time to head inside,” I said. “I think I’m gonna go watch some movies in the den.” I started to stand but slipped, only to find my arms suddenly around his neck. “Don’t mind me. I’m gracefully clumsy,” I said with a chuckle. I stared into those beautiful eyes and touched his cheek. He’d told me I had made a mark on his life, but he had done the same on mine, and that mark wasn’t going to be easily erased. “This can’t be goodbye,” I said as a tear slipped down my face, all signs of goofball gone.
He wiped the tear with his thumb but didn’t say anything.
“Just one last kiss then,” I said, “for my dark, lethal, and intoxicating werewolf.”
He nodded but still said nothing.
I softly kissed his lips, and he kissed me back, but his lips left mine much too quickly, and I wondered why.
“What are you watching?” he asked.
“Huh? I’m trying to create a last memorable moment here, like something out of Romeo and Juliet, a fairytale.”
“Technically, they were a tragedy,” he corrected.
“Logan,” I said in frustration, “I don’t want us to be a tragedy, but we can’t be together. This is our last moment. We’re supposed to do all that corny stuff like stare into each other’s eyes and kiss with the fiery passion of a thousand suns, and one of us is supposed to tell the other, ‘I can’t breathe without you.’ How are we supposed to go out like star-crossed lovers without the finale?” I slurred.
“It’s all taken care of, and I feel great. Now, sit and make sure to add some vanilla Chantilly cream and sautéed apples to your crepes.”
“Crepes? Mmm. This looks fantastic, better than IHOP!” she said.
“Mais où sont les croissants?” Cindy asked in perfect French.
“Croissants? Yes, I’d love some of those too,” Beth said as she sat down and began to fill her plate. “Hey, I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but I think you guys might need to call an exterminator,” she said, reaching for a crepe and a croissant.
“What for?” Fred asked.
“I think you might have a bat problem. I heard a loud shriek outside my window, then this flapping noise.”
I bit my lip. That would be Cindy returning from her flight in gargoyle form.
“Don’t worry,” Fred said. “I’m sure they’re not the blood-drinking type. If there’s a bat problem, we know how to fix it.”
I smirked at Fred.
“How?” Beth asked.
“I would like to make an announcement,” Fred intervened. “After careful consideration, I’ve decided to let Logan marry my girlfriend. That will fix the bat problem.”
He was talking about by letting Cindy marry Logan, the vampire curse would be lifted and he could finally get himself a good meal. Vampires would be free to drink again and not have to rely on werewolves. But Beth was clueless about that comment.
Beth scrunched up her brow in confusion. “Wait. What?”
“Cindy agrees,” he continued, grabbing her hand. “Don’t you, babe?”
“Honey,” Cindy said, “we’ll talk after breakfast. You’re obviously hungover.”
Beth’s jaw dropped. “Yeah, what exactly did you drink last night?” she asked with a crooked smile.
Logan lifted his orange juice. “I gladly accept, and I promise to be the best husband I can possibly be.”
“You better take good care of her during the day, but leave the bedroom to me,” Fred said.
Beth pointed at Logan. “I don’t get it. You’re happily in love with Cindy, but she’s dating your best friend? What kind of freak are you people?”
“You have no idea,” I muttered.
“Like Tina Turner says, what’s love got to do with it?” Logan said.
Beth turned to face him. “But you must like something about her, if you’re willing to marry her.”
“Marrying her will keep her boyfriend from sucking me dry. I keep telling him no, but he keeps wanting more.”
I looked at Logan in shock, utterly aghast. My old friend had no idea he was talking about vampires and blood, so the remark came out sounding wrong in so many ways.
Beth casually sipped her water, seemingly not bothered by the innuendo. “Hmm. So you two are getting married for some weird reason, yet last night, I saw Fred kissing Cindy passionately in the den as I was walking by. I hate to be the one to tell you this, Logan, but I really don’t think they’re over. Besides, you said yourself she’s still his girlfriend, and he just sent her flowers!”
“Not over by a long shot,” Fred said, giving Cindy a firm smack on the butt as she walked by.
Cindy giggled.
“I’m so confused,” Beth said with a sigh.
“It’s really simple,” I said, quickly conjuring up a colorful explanation. “See, Logan stands to inherit a great deal of money, but one of the stipulations is that he has to be married. Cindy offered to be his fake wife, and they’ll all split the money.”
Beth smiled. “Oh, I get it now. Why didn’t you say so? Their marriage will fix the bat problem because they’ll have money for an exterminator.” She laughed and shook her head. “Boy, you guys are hilarious. If I didn’t know better, I might have thought you were talking about something else entirely.”
“Like what?” Fred asked.
“I don’t know, maybe some crazy plot like I used to read in those teen fantasy novels!”
Well aware that Beth needed to go before she figured out just how real that fantasy was, Cindy motioned behind her at Fred, coaxing him to stare creepily at her. Nobody enjoyed lying to her, and I was getting a bit sick of talking in code and double-entendres, even if Logan did enjoy it and see it as a challenge.
A few minutes later, while Cindy continued clearing the dishes, Beth squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. “What? Do I have food on my face or something?” she asked.
“No,” Fred answered. “You’re just so pretty.”
“Um, your beautiful girlfriend is standing right there, you know,” she said, pointing.
I almost couldn’t stifle my laugh, and the look on Fred’s face was priceless. Logan even secretly snapped a picture just before Beth excused herself and went back to her room. As soon as she was out of earshot, we couldn’t contain ourselves anymore, and we all burst out in laughter.
Cindy looked at me. “I’m willing to play along with the ruse for a while, but you need to get rid of her. Do it nicely, of course, but I don’t like my Freddie pretending he’s crazy.”
“Oh, but I am crazy,” he said, pulling Cindy into a hug, “crazy in love with Logan’s fiancée!”
“It could help sell our story,” I said. “If Fred loses his marbles, you could easily find true love with his slightly less insane best friend.”
Fred playfully threw a croissant at me, and I chuckled. “We’re not taking the lunatic story to the immortals too,” he said.
Logan laughed. “They already think I’m crazy because I burned down a bar. He can tell them I wore off on him.”
“Think about that long and hard, pal,” Fred said. “If they think I’ve gone nuts, they’ll assign you a new guardian.”
“Hmm,” Logan said, then took another huge bite of his pastry. “Now that you mention it, you’re right. We need to nip this psycho story in the bud, before it leaks beyond the castle walls.”
“I thought so,” Fred said, then looked at me. “Seriously, you need to give your friend the boot, sooner rather than later. It’s much too dangerous for her to be here. She’s not safe and has no way to defend herself. Vincent could’ve killed her in a heartbeat. You can’t look after her twenty-four/seven, and frankly, I’m tired of acting like I’ve gone off the deep end.”
“You haven’t even been pretending that long.”
“She needs to go, and you know it. Immortals play dirty, and they won’t hesitate to use any mere human as a bargaining chip. If they know she’s important to you, they will find a use for her, and it won’t be pleasant.”
“Fine. I’ll ask her to leave tomorrow.”
“We’re sorry,” Cindy said softly, with pity in her voice. “It is for the best though. It is better for her to be safe and angry at you than dead. I don’t want to see anything happen to her. She seems like a really nice person, a real sweetheart.”
“She is,” I said, tears welling in my eyes as I thought about everything this world had cost me, all it had taken from my normal life.
“To keep her that way, you’ve gotta get rid of her,” Logan said, then gently dabbed at my tear with his napkin.
Chapter 6
I climbed up to my castle roof, with a bottle of wine tucked under my arm and my trusty Converse tennis shoes so there was no chance of slipping to my death. I sat in the moonlight in my cheap but cute Walmart outfit, drinking straight from the bottle and admiring the landscape. I had so much to think about, and it was nice to have a secret spot to do it.
“Sophie?” Logan called about an hour later.
Guess it’s not so secret after all, I thought with a grin. “Hey. What’s up?” I asked.
“You tell me. What are you doing out here?”
“Just coming to terms with the fact that I’ll never get off this crazy train because I’m too deeply involved and care too much about the fate of the world. Just up here trying to fight my demons, rambling to myself about how we’re going to accomplish anything without a game plan, a rulebook, or an instruction manual. You know, just another normal Friday night.”
“I completely get it. It’s hard to forget about the hellish shadows that haunt me too.”
“Sounds like you need some of this too,” I said, then handed him the bottle. “Don’t worry. Consider this rooftop the no-judgment zone, with no Cindy or Fred around to monitor your alcohol intake. Drink up.”
“Wine?” he asked, arching his brow at me.
“I know it isn’t your good ol’ Jack, you alkie,” I teased. “Wine goes down smoother, and it’s a magic all its own. I guess I love it because I’m a witch.”
“Why don’t we class it up and share a glass in the living room?”
“No way,” I said, shaking my head. “Too safe and much too civilized. Besides. It’s gorgeous out here, in this captivating moonlight. Have a seat,” I said, patting the shingles near me.
He crawled out onto the roof and sat next to me, then took a long swig from the bottle, just another lonely soul trying to ease his pain with a little liquid therapy. “I’m sorry about all this, Sophie.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
“Actually, I do.”
I took another swig. “It’s fine. Everything is peachy,” I said, then hiccupped.
“Is it safe to be up here drinking? I mean, I know we’ve got superpowers, but I don’t think either of us can fly.”
“Don’t worry about your little fragile flower. I promise not to fall and splatter.”
“But you almost drank the entire bottle.”
I feigned shock as I looked at the nearly empty bottle. “Whoa! What witchcraft is this?” I then looked off into the distance and took another swig.
“Look, I know there’s something going on between us,” he finally said, breaking the quietness. “I know we both feel it.”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. None of it does.”
“Please don’t say that.”
I turned to meet his piercing gaze. “I don’t want you like a friend.”
“Sophie...”
“See? Even when you say my name, my heart flutters, and everything stops. It’s like there’s this hole in my soul without you.”
He pushed a strand of hair from my eyes. “I know this is hard.”
“That kiss we shared was...unforgettable, totally blew me away.”
“Mesmerizing.”
“Magical, kind of like this.” I waved my hand, and dozens of tiny blue lights danced across the sky like little fireflies. “Like a million tiny, blinking LED lights.” I waved my other hand, swirls of sparks lit up around us like neon. “Dreamy,” I said, proud of the little show I was putting on.
For that, the lone werewolf mustered a smile, and I was sure I caught him actually blushing as much as I was.
“I can’t believe I even admitted that to you. Man, I must be wasted.”
“I get it. I really do.”
“No, not really. In fact, you are far, far from getting it, young man,” I said, punctuating it with a rather embarrassing, manly belch.
“What do you mean?”
I threw the empty bottle for dramatic effect and it crashed below. “I see you, Logan. I want you, but I can’t have you. You just... You confuse me. You’re all hot and cold. One day, you kiss me, then you push me away the next. I’m tired of riding the highs and lows of this emotional rollercoaster.”
“You’ve pushed me away too,” he said, and the soft touch of his fingers on my back sent shivers down my back.
“Even if you weren’t marrying Cindy, we’d never have a chance. You’re a perpetual bachelor, not the type to settle down. I’ve tried to let you in, but you lock me out. You’re always complaining about having a guardian, but the truth is, you’re so damn guarded yourself that no woman has a chance with you. I feel sorry for you. You’ll never know what love is, and you’re dooming yourself to lead a very, very lonely existence when you don’t have to.”
“I do want to know what love is, but—”
“But you run.”
“It’s just hard to change parts of my personality,” Logan said with a heavy sigh, staring up at the silvery moon.
“Yeah, I know, especially the rough-around-the-edges ones that need a little work,” I snarked.
“Listen, I’ve never been good at commitment. I don’t even want to bother when I know I’ll end up failing.”
“You better get better at it, because you’ll be in it for life in about...” I paused to look at my watch, but the wine had blurred my vision too much for me to make out the numbers. “Uh...for a very long time.”
“I know. I have to commit to the marriage, if it actually happens, even if I’m not the white picket fence type.”
“I know you’ll be loyal to your vows, even if Cindy isn’t, because that’s who you are.”
“Whoa. Was that a compliment?”
“The first time you kissed me, I thought the universe was on my side, but I guess not.”
He sighed. “My careful plans to stay away from you have gone straight to hell. I think I’m bewitched by you.”
“Well, they do say I’m irresistible,” I teased and managed a laugh.
“You’re cute when you’re loaded.”
“I don’t usually drink, but when the shit gets too deep... Well, you know. It’s like I was a normal girl one day, and the next day, I blinked and found myself in a world of immortal danger and, um...”
He ran his hand up my arm. “Desire?”
I playfully slugged him. “Stop! Anyway, like I said before, it doesn’t matter.” I looked into his eyes. “Who was the last girl you cared about? I mean really cared about, not just dated.”
“Her name was—”
“No! I don’t want to know that. Just tell me about her.”
“Okay. She was from Big Bear Lake, a witch like you.”
“So you’ve got a witch fetish, huh?”
He smirked. “She was the only one. I don’t make it a habit of dating humans because my world is impossible to explain.”
“Did you kidnap her too?”
He softly cupped my face. “We only did that to save your life, Sophie.”
“I know. It’s just a running joke between friends. Anyway, please continue.”
“She was so sweet, so pure, so innocent, but I’ll never be what she wanted.”
“So the witch couldn’t tame you because you follow your own, highly dysfunctional rules of dating?”
“I kept being sent out on missions, and all the while, I was sinking deeper and deeper into depression. I was a loose cannon, always drinking and fighting. Plus, I was a dick.”
“So you were a straight-up hot mess, just like now?”
“Yep,” he said, staring at the rooftop below his feet. “She wanted more than I could give her. I finally figured out what the problem was, though, so I guess some good came of it.”
“And what was the problem?”
“I didn’t even like myself, let alone love myself. If I was incapable of that, I could never love her the right way. I risked my life on countless missions, made crazy decisions because I didn’t care if I lived or died. My number-one priority was just getting it done, whatever it took. She ended up breaking up with me and said I needed help. I went to a bar and got shitfaced and almost accidentally burned down the place.”
“So that’s why you’re in Fred’s custody? I heard about that, and you’ve mentioned it a time or two, but I had no idea you were drowning your sorrows over a girl.”
“Yeah, my one weak moment.”
“I hope you’ve learned to love yourself by now,” I said. “It’s about damn time. You can’t blame yourself for what happened all those years ago. You were young, just a kid trying to figure it all out.”
“I’m healing, little by little, trying to get my life back on track. Mostly, I really want the Council to release me from Fred’s custody. He’s my best friend, but I don’t need him to be my babysitter.”
“You’re doing great in my book. Everyone can see how hard you’re working, and I hardly see you drink anything anymore. Cindy said you used to sleep all day, but now you’re up with the sun.”
“I’m trying.”
“Yes, and it shows, no matter what anyone says,” I said with a nod and a pat on his arm, emboldened by the wine.
“Thanks, but truthfully, I kind of think you had something to do with it.”
“Real change comes from within.”
“Did you read that on a fortune cookie?” he joked.
“Maybe, but it’s true!” I confessed.
“I know it takes willpower to change, but you’ve had a role in it.”
“How so?”
“You mentioned me waking up every day. You gave me a reason to. It isn’t the sun I get up to see.”
I blushed again and hoped he couldn’t see it in the dark. “Well, I, for one, am glad you’re back on track, and if I helped in some tiny way, that makes me happy.”
He smiled. “You make me happy,” he said.
A cool breeze swept over me, and I shivered. “I think it’s time to head inside,” I said. “I think I’m gonna go watch some movies in the den.” I started to stand but slipped, only to find my arms suddenly around his neck. “Don’t mind me. I’m gracefully clumsy,” I said with a chuckle. I stared into those beautiful eyes and touched his cheek. He’d told me I had made a mark on his life, but he had done the same on mine, and that mark wasn’t going to be easily erased. “This can’t be goodbye,” I said as a tear slipped down my face, all signs of goofball gone.
He wiped the tear with his thumb but didn’t say anything.
“Just one last kiss then,” I said, “for my dark, lethal, and intoxicating werewolf.”
He nodded but still said nothing.
I softly kissed his lips, and he kissed me back, but his lips left mine much too quickly, and I wondered why.
“What are you watching?” he asked.
“Huh? I’m trying to create a last memorable moment here, like something out of Romeo and Juliet, a fairytale.”
“Technically, they were a tragedy,” he corrected.
“Logan,” I said in frustration, “I don’t want us to be a tragedy, but we can’t be together. This is our last moment. We’re supposed to do all that corny stuff like stare into each other’s eyes and kiss with the fiery passion of a thousand suns, and one of us is supposed to tell the other, ‘I can’t breathe without you.’ How are we supposed to go out like star-crossed lovers without the finale?” I slurred.
