Hannah waves the pastry, which she reclaimed from the tabletop. “There’s another word for bickering, you know.Banter.”
“Maybe,” I concede, because secretly I’ve always enjoyed sparring with Cormac. There’s an energy behind our exchanges, an excitement, as if we’re playing a game that only the two of us know about. “He’s such a nerd.”
I feel a pang of guilt. Not because it’s a lie—heissuch a nerd—but because I like it.
I like a lot of things about him.
I like his pain-in-the-ass dog, and his slutty little glasses. I like the way that he says what he thinks, even when he probably shouldn’t. I like the way his clever mind works, and the incredible inventions that have sprung from it. I like that he chose to play the bass, out of all the instruments in existence, because he wanted to be the sturdy foundation of the music rather than the flashy face of it.
I like him more than I should, and Idon’t want them to know.
“So, tell us everything,” Hannah says. “This is even better than that episode of the Shirtless Chef when he said you have to caress the bread like it’s a woman’s boob.”
I huff a laugh. “Yeah. No one’s kneading my boobs.”
I give them a quick summary of everything that’s happened between us. I’m still speaking when a server arrives with a teapot and pours a cup for each of us. Even though it’s much too hot for warm tea, I drink mine. Dottie wants to read the leaves, after all, and she’s been so sweet to Cormac. That matters to me.
“So what happens now?” Hannah asks once I’ve finished.
“I don’t know,” I admit, feeling a familiar panic weave its way through me. “I guess we’ll figure it out as we go. We agreed that we’d take things as they come.”
“Or you’ll figure it out when your good friend reads your tea leaves,” Dottie says, bustling up to our table with such ideal timing I have to wonder if one of my friends texted her.
“What suspiciously good timing,” I say, raising an eyebrow.
She taps her forehead. “My third eye is very attuned.”
“Trust in the process,” Hannah says. “I doubted Dottie. But no longer. This woman is a genius.”
Dottie smiles and runs her fingers over the crystal pendant at her neck. “Thank you, dear. But the genius all belongs to the universe’s designs. I’m only an interpreter.”
Christ, if I didn’t adore this woman, I’d find an excuse to slip out.
“All right.” I push my mostly empty teacup toward her. “Let’s do this. If it’s bad news, tell me quickly. I’m all about the Band-Aid approach.”
Dottie laughs softly, then upends my cup onto the saucer, rotates it several times, and lifts it.
“Oh dear,” she says, sounding distressed.
“Shit.” Hannah leans forward. “What do you see?”
“It looks like a snake,” Sophie says with a dramatic intake of breath.
Dottie reaches for my hand and squeezes it. “I’m afraid that’s exactly what it is.”
“And I take it a snake’s no good?” I ask.
“Betrayal, dear.” Dottie sucks in her bottom lip. “I’m afraid dishonesty lies in your future.”
I try not to show them this bothers me. After all, I’m currently secretly fake dating my stepbrother whileactuallysleeping with him. I’m also doing my damnedest to break up José’s engagement. Dishonesty has basically become a way of life for me.
It’s only later, as I’m leaving, that I remember that I didn’t give my friends a single update about the José and Pansy situation.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CORMAC
THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS GROUP CHAT
