They sat in silence for a few minutes before Briggs said, “It’s getting late, and we didn’t get much sleep last night. We should probably go to bed.”
Her laughter was a little bitter. “I had a great sleep last night. It wasn’t me who was forced to sleep on the floor.”
Waking up to find herself in Briggs’s bed and him on the floor was one of the most shameful moments of her life. He’d explained what happened, and after apologizing profusely for losing control of her magic again, she had vowed never to think about the moment ever again. The humiliation was too much to bear.
She’d thought she succeeded in pretending it had never happened. Until now, when the embarrassment and the worry over her loss of control over her magic returned with a terrifying speed.
Briggs inhaled deeply before saying, “Little witch, I told you this morning that you don’t have to be embarrassed.”
“It’s humiliating, and I’m afraid to go to sleep for God’s sake. Can you please reconsider locking your door at night?”
He shook his head. “I can’t. I won’t waste any extra time helping you at night if necessary. A locked door will slow me down.”
“No one is going to break in. Protection spells, remember?” Cece said.
“I won’t lock my door,” he said, “and I don’t want you locking yours either.”
“I know,” she said.
“It’s no big deal if it happens, okay?” Briggs said. “I’ll just move off the bed again.”
“If you wake up,” she said. “You didn’t the first time.”
“I know, but now I’m expecting it, so like last night, I’ll wake up if they bring you into my room.”
She sighed. “So now you’re not sleeping much either.”
“It’s fine, little witch,” he said. “I promise.”
“At least you’ll have the next two nights to sleep in your own bed without me being dropped on you like a sack of potatoes,” she said.
She immediately regretted the reminder that he was leaving her tomorrow. As if her life didn’t suck enough, now she didn’t even get to ogle a hot polar bear shifter for the next two days.
Who cares? It’s not like we get to do anything but look anyway.
Her inner voice sounded decidedly sulky, and Cece didn’t blame it one bit. It wasn’t fair that she would never get to see Briggs naked. Not one fucking bit fair.
Briggs stood abruptly, his face as stormy as her insides felt. “I think we should both try to get some sleep.”
She thought about arguing her case for sleeping right here in the warm living room in front of the fire and, more importantly, a safe distance from her plants and their newfound interest in getting her and Briggs to fuck. But the look on Briggs’s face made it clear that he wouldn’t agree to it even with the protection spells in place on the house.
She stood and silently followed Briggs up the stairs, saying good night at the top and trudging to her bedroom. She shut the door and studied the plants in the room, specifically the ones hanging from the ceiling.
“Listen up,” she said. “I need you to behave tonight, okay? I appreciate that you’re just trying to be a wingman… wingplant? But Briggs doesn’t want to have sex with me. So I need you to stay put and not carry me to his bedroom. Okay?”
The plants didn’t move an inch, and she took that as a good sign. Already cold and wishing she was back in front of the fireplace, she changed into her pajamas, brushed her teeth, and put on her hoodie before climbing under the blankets.
With one last muttered, “stay” at the plants, she closed her eyes and waited for sleep.
The soft thumping and muttered curses woke Briggs instantly. He slid out of bed and sprinted out of his bedroom when there was another muffled thump in the hallway.
He skidded to a stop in the middle of the hallway, staring in disbelief at the scene in front of him. Cece, wrapped in plant vines from chest to hips, was hovering in the hallway. Her hands were wrapped around the door frame of her bedroom, and she cursed again when the vines gave a terrific yank, and one hand peeled off the frame.
“Goddammit, stop it!” she snapped in a furious whisper.
“Cece,” Briggs said.
She shrieked in surprise, and Briggs winced when the plant vines abruptly released her, and she fell like a brick, face planting into the floor. The vines retreated rapidly into her bedroom as Briggs knelt beside Cece, his hand hovering a few inches over her back.
