Paisley is talking to Hollis while her two friends stand by awkwardly. Cas and Theo look annoyed, and Hollis just looks uncomfortable.

  “Ready to go?” I walk up and casually wrap an arm around Hollis’s waist, smiling sweetly at him. Normally, I wouldn’t do something so bitchy, but Paisley and her friends have been obnoxiously rude. Besides, I’m not going to forget about the comment Paisley’s friend made about Chloe anytime soon.

  Hollis crinkles his eyes in amusement. Paisley’s friend Nadia steps closer to me and coughs, “Slut.”

  “Get the fuck out of here, you homophobic twat.” I roll my eyes at her, keeping my arm around Hollis.

  Cas, Theo, and Hollis look surprised, and Hollis chuckles and pulls me along with his arm around my shoulders. He doesn’t even say bye to Paisley, and the look on her face is priceless.

  Theo comes up on my other side and ruffles my hair affectionately. “Oh, little witch. You are absolutely fucking spectacular.”

  We make our way outside to Theo’s jeep. Cas is still carrying my backpack and gives me the sweetest smile when I thank him for it. Hollis holds the passenger door open for me. On the way to the diner, I tell them what Nadia said to me and Chloe before class. They seem ticked off about it.

  When we get to the diner, I slide into a booth across from Hollis. Cas and Theo stand at the end of the table, glaring at each other for several long moments. I roll my eyes at Hollis, thinking he’ll joke around about it with me, but he watches the two of them uneasily. I don’t know what happens or changes, but Theo sits down next to Hollis with a pissed off expression on his face. Cas has the biggest smile on his face as he slides in next to me, wraps an arm around my waist, and growls quietly in my ear.

  I smile at him and use my magic to blow a small puff of air into his face as I whisper, “Idiot.”

  “You’re right. Sorry.” He wrinkles his nose at my magic and laughs. He takes his arm off of my waist and places his hand on my leg under the table, just above my knee.

  We end up with the same waitress we had when I came here with Theo last week. She raises her eyebrows at me and asks, “Chocolate malt with one straw?”

  “Yes, please.” I grin

  Theo laughs at me with his nose scrunched up. The waitress looks around at the guys and asks, “And the usual for you guys?”

  They nod and thank her. When she walks away, I raise an eyebrow at Hollis. “So, I guess you guys come here a lot then, huh?”

  “Yeah, a couple of times a week,” Cas says. “What the fuck did you do to piss off Matilda? Didn’t you just move here like a couple of weeks ago?”

  Theo snickers. “I brought her here the first time we hung out. Matilda thought we were on a date, and I guess Cricket took offense to that.”

  “I didn’t take offense to that.” I frown and rest my chin in my hand. “I just didn’t want to share my milkshake!”

  “So, does that mean you would go on a date with me?” Theo smirks.

  My face flushes, and Cas’s hand tenses up on my knee. My heart beats wildly at his question, and I feel a million different feelings at once. Yes, I would love to go on a real date with him and kiss him and even call him my boyfriend, for real. He’s amazing! I’m also terrified that I’m even feeling that way because I’ve never seriously dated anyone before, and I know I would fuck it up somehow. But then, what I told him after I’d seen him shift the first time was still true. His friendship is so important to me that I would never want to do something that could potentially ruin it. And lastly, I can already feel myself slowly forming real feelings for Hollis and Cas too, which is so fucked up, I can’t even fully process it. Why did Theo have to put me on the spot like this, and why did he have to make it sound like such a joke to him?

  After a few awkward seconds of silence, I bite my lip, look down at the table, and sigh quietly. “Theo...”

  He gives a strangled laugh and taps his fingers on the table. “I’m only joking.”

  But when I look up and meet his eyes, I don’t think he’s joking at all. He looks heartbroken and like he’s desperately trying to hide it. It makes me feel so fucking guilty that I have to look away from him. Thank fucking God, Matilda chooses that moment to bring our food over. She sets down my milkshake with one straw, gives me a sassy smile, and passes the guys their drinks. Finally, she sets a huge plate of loaded nachos in the center of the table and walks away again.

  My eyes light up when I see the nachos, and I take a gigantic bite and moan while my mouth is full.

  They laugh. Even Theo, thankfully. Cas rubs his thumb lightly over my skin and gives me a cheeky smile. “God, it’s fucking refreshing that you actually eat real food. I’m so used to girls being dainty, only picking at a salad and drinking water.”

  I roll my eyes hard. Cas is seriously lucky he’s so hot because there’s constantly dumb shit coming out of his mouth.

  “Seriously, Cas?” Hollis snorts and shakes his head. “When’s the last time you spent more than five minutes in public with a girl other than Sara?”

  Theo snickers and reaches out to scoop up a nacho. “Sara’s a very high maintenance girl, and she’s the type of person that’s very conscious of what she eats. Cas’s sisters are the same way, so it probably comes as a surprise to him that some girls don’t wear makeup or use hair products, and some of them even have black holes for stomachs.”

  The condescending tone in his voice has me giggling like crazy. Poor Cas. We’re always ganging up on him, even if he deserves it most of the time.

  Cas turns and looks down at my face critically, squints his eyes, and asks, “Really?”

  “Really, what?” I ask, shoving another nacho into my mouth.

  “Do you use your magic to make you look so, um…” He awkwardly gestures to my face and body.

  “Don’t insult her!” Hollis growls when I burst out laughing.

  Cas widens his eyes in alarm. “I’m not trying to insult her. I’m genuinely curious!”

  I sip on my milkshake and watch them in amusement. Theo has a wolfish grin on his face and keeps glancing back and forth between his friends before letting his eyes land on me. I give him a small smile, and he returns it. With just a look, I know he’s not mad at me, and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest.

  After checking to make sure nobody’s paying attention to us, I take my phone out and scroll through my photos. “I know you guys think I’m amazing at pretty much everything, but I really suck at beauty spells. If I didn’t, my hair wouldn’t be so out of control all the time. Aurora and my Grandma Marina are the other witches in my family. My mom doesn’t have any magic, and I look just like her.”

  I show them a picture of me and my mom standing side by side with our arms around each other. She practically looks like my twin, just slightly older and with not-so-messy hair a few shades darker than mine.

  After staring at the picture for almost an entire minute, Theo looks up at me with his eyebrows furrowed. “How old is she? She doesn’t look that much older than you.”

  “I know, she’s crazy pretty. People always mistake us for sisters.”

  Hollis gives me a puzzled look. “I thought witches had to be born from other witches.”

  “Usually, yeah. Somehow, my dad passed the gift onto me. I’m an anomaly.”

  “You said your grandmother lives in France?” Cas asks.

  “Yeah, in Annecy.” I nod, finishing the last of my milkshake. “She moved there a few years ago. Right around the time Aurora moved here, I think. Her affinity is Earth, and she’s strongest at growing things. She’s the one who taught Aurora so much about plants and herbs.”

  The boys look thoughtful while they finish eating the rest of the nachos. When our food and drinks are gone, Matilda brings the check over. Theo pays for everything, as usual, and we head outside. Theo grabs my hand and pulls me back. When Hollis and Cas see what he’s doing, they get into the jeep by themselves to wait for us.

  Theo shuffles his feet slightly and looks down at me nervously. “Cricket, I’m sorry for embarrassing you in front of them.”

  I take a deep breath and decide to be totally honest with him. “Theo, I really like you, and I’m crazy attracted to you, but...” I can’t help thinking of Cas and Hollis because I’m a terrible, selfish person. I take another deep breath and stare into his eyes, hoping he can see how torn I feel. “I’m terrified. I don’t want to fuck this up. God, I can’t lose you...”

  “Hey, come here.” He pulls me into a hug, nuzzling his head against mine. “You’re not going to lose me. No matter what, I swear. I’m sorry. I just, I really like you too. But I know you’re right. We’re still best friends, aren’t we?”

  I nod and press my head into his chest, wrapping my arms around him. Ugh, I feel like I’m going to cry. Theo ruffles my hair and gives me an adorable smile. “Come on, they’ll get pissy if we keep them waiting. And you’re going to have fun hanging out with Hollis!”

  He sounds so genuine that I can’t help smiling up at him. He surprises me by sweeping me off the ground with one hand under my knees and the other around my ribs. I yelp and wrap my arms around his neck. He quickly runs over to the jeep, carrying me the entire way, and gallantly sets me down in the passenger seat.

  While Theo runs around the front of the jeep, I turn and smile nervously at Hollis. “Are you still okay with me coming over to your house?”

  His eyes light up. “Yeah, of course.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Cas

  Theo doesn’t back out of the driveway until Cricket and Hollis walk inside the house. When I can’t see her anymore, I can’t help but slump down in my seat. I grab my phone from my pocket and pull up Cricket’s Instagram page. I scroll through her photos for the millionth time since last night. I wish I had a picture of her from today. She looked so beautiful in that stupid dress. When I saw her first thing this morning, I thought I was going to go crazy from sensory overload and from wanting her so badly it physically fucking hurt. I briefly consider texting Hollis and asking him to take a picture of her for me while she’s at his house. But then I imagine her in his bedroom alone with him, and my vision goes red. My wolf trembles in anger.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Theo growls.

  I try to hide my phone from him, but I’m not quick enough. I scowl at Theo as he rips the phone from my hands and peers down at it. He looks pissed, but I don’t give a fuck.

  I don’t understand him. It’s really fucking obvious he likes Cricket. He had an entire week alone with her, and he didn’t sleep with her once! I guess I understand that he’s trying to keep her around for good as a friend. She is fucking incredible, and our wolves are crazy attracted to her magic. But damn, I don’t know how he found the self-control. I think about what she said at lunch, about sleeping around at her old school the same way Theo and I used to.

  Used to? God, this girl is seriously fucking me up. I haven’t looked at another girl since I first set eyes on her at that fucking coffee shop. I haven’t even considered calling Sara, who is always more than willing to give me what I need. I always thought Sara was the hottest girl ever, but comparing her to Cricket, I feel like an idiot. Like I’ve never fully opened my eyes before. Next to Cricket, every other girl looks so plain.

  When Hollis and I were walking Cricket to art history class after lunch, I could smell that she was turned on, and if I’d had a moment alone with her...Fuck, I can’t believe Hollis has her alone right now. I feel panic and dread settle in my chest.

  “How many people do you think she’s slept with?”

  Theo flares his nostrils and bares his teeth at me. Great, now he’s really pissed off at me. “Does it really matter?”

  I shrug. No, it doesn’t really matter. I don’t even know why I asked the question out loud, to be honest. I don’t want Theo to know how hung up I am on this girl. Maybe if I make it seem like I’m only interested in her physically...

  “Do you think, I mean, I don’t think she’d mind a casual hookup. I think she’s into me.”

  Theo taps his fingers against the steering wheel and bites out, “No.”

  “I wouldn’t be an asshole about it. And I don’t think it would be weird. We can still be friends with her. She’s a really cool girl and—”

  Theo cuts me off with a snarl. “I fucking said no.”

  He just used his fucking alpha voice, and I feel the authority of it settle over me severely. My heart drops into my stomach. I feel like he’s taken her away from me when she wasn’t even mine yet.

  I feel my nostrils flare and my hands tremble. “You can’t do that! You haven’t claimed her, and she’s not your fucking mate!”

  “She fucking might be, okay!?” Theo yells. He grips the steering wheel so hard I think he might have put a dent in it.

  I’m speechless as I stare at him. Theo pulls into the closest parking lot and parks the jeep. He stares at his hands on the steering wheel, looking completely defeated. I’ve never seen him so upset, and we’ve known each other our entire lives. I hold my breath and wait for him to say something.

  “Cas, fuck,” he says quietly. “I don’t know what I’m going to do if she’s not my mate.”

  My heart pounds. Part of me wants to change the subject because the thought of her being his mate hurts so fucking much. But I can’t stand seeing him upset like this either.

  “She doesn’t have a mate mark. I’ve checked a million times.”

  Theo glances at me and clears his throat. “Witches come of age when they turn eighteen. Hawthorne thinks that’s when the mate mark will show up.”

  I perk up and swallow back the panic building up inside of me. “Hawthorne thinks she’s your mate too?”

  His face lights up, and he looks so fucking hopeful. “He’s sure of it. I mean, you feel it already, right? How she’s part of our pack?”

  That’s exactly what I told Cricket earlier today. She looked up at me with those gorgeous fucking eyes like I told her everything she’d ever wanted to hear. For one insane moment, I pictured pressing her against Hollis and kissing her while he watched us. And then I remember the surreal moment when she used an alpha voice on me and Hollis, telling us not to fuck with her.

  When I don’t respond to him, he keeps talking, his voice full of nervous excitement. “She used an alpha voice on us earlier when she made us leave her yoga class. I know you guys felt that.”

  My voice is quiet when I admit, “That was the second time she did that today.”

  “What!? When was the first time?” Theo laughs in delight.

  I can’t meet his eyes. “After lunch, on our way to art history. That stunt you pulled really pissed her off. She told me and Hollis she wasn’t a toy for us to play with, and that we’d better not fuck with her.”

  Theo grimaces, panic evident in his voice. “I didn’t, I don’t...Fuck me, I’m such an idiot. I don’t think she’s a toy.”

  I can’t help smiling. I had the same terrible reaction. I felt disgusted at myself for making her think we might see her that way for one fucking second.

  “Dude, I know. Hollis and I felt like huge assholes. We told her it wasn’t like that. We explained that we’re fucking morons who can’t help competing with each other. Hollis told her we all respect and admire her.”

  “Thank you.” Theo sighs in relief.

  I brush my fingers through my hair, feeling upset and nervous. “Is that...is that the only reason you think she’s your mate?” I mean, even if she is an alpha female, that doesn’t necessarily mean her mate has to be an alpha too.

  He smiles and gets this sappy fucking look in his eyes. I’ve dreaded seeing this look on his face for years, but now I’m dreading it for a totally different reason. If she really is his mate, that means she’s not mine.

  “No. From the very first second I saw her, I wanted her so badly. I only talked to her for ten minutes, and I felt excited that she might be my mate. I’ve always thought I might secretly be disappointed, you know, when the time finally came. But Cas, I haven’t even looked at another girl since meeting Cricket. I can’t imagine wanting anyone else. She’s so strong and funny, and her power is unreal. When she gets her full power, she might be stronger than all of us combined. Fuck, she probably already is.”

  “I thought...” My voice is quiet and quivering, and I fucking hate myself for sounding weak. I quickly clear my throat and finish, “I thought it was just her magic making us feel this way.”

  “Well, I think that’s part of it.” Theo shrugs and looks away from me.

  I feel like he’s keeping something from me. I feel so torn up and confused. I’ve never wanted a mate. The entire idea has always sounded so unnatural and strained, and I don’t want to be forced to change myself for somebody else. I’ve always been afraid that when Hollis and Theo find their mates, they won’t have time for me anymore. Our friendship won’t be the same. But the past few days, it has crossed my mind that having Cricket as a mate might not be so bad. Theo’s right. She is funny and strong, and holy fucking hell, she’s beautiful. She fits so easily into our group. I’ve been checking her wrists obsessively the last two days without even thinking about it. There’s a tiny voice in the back of my head telling me she’s mine, and I can’t decide if I’m excited or terrified of that.

  But Theo sounds so confident. I frown at him again, suddenly angry. “If you’re so fucking sure she’s your mate, then why haven’t you claimed her? Why are you letting me and Hollis touch her at all?”

  “Hawthorne told me I could only be friends with her until she gets her mark, and we’re absolutely sure.” He meets my eyes, looking faintly embarrassed. “And yes, I want her for myself, but it doesn’t bother me that much. Seeing you guys touch her.”

  I stare at him in bewilderment. I don’t understand how it doesn’t fucking bother him. Even thinking of her with Hollis right now is making me feel crazy. Every time I see Theo or Hollis touching her, I want to fucking rip their throats out. It’s so obvious Cricket prefers Theo and Hollis over me, and that hurts most of all. I can’t exactly blame her.

 

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