Page 22 of Evergreen

His hands came up to cup my face, and I felt the warmth of his magic seeping into my skin like sunlight. My own magic responded eagerly, crackling through my veins in a way that should have felt chaotic but somehow felt... right. The air around us grew warmer, and I could have sworn I felt the snow melting beneath our feet.

I broke away from the kiss, breathing hard, my forehead still pressed against his. “Why did you do that?” I gasped.

“I don’t know,” Linden admitted, his voice rough. “I just… wanted to I guess.”

I wanted to make some smart ass comment, wanted to push him away and pretend this wasn’t happening. But I couldn’t seem to make myself do it. Not when he was looking at me like that.

“We should probably get back,” I heard myself say, even though the last thing I wanted to do was leave this clearing, leave this moment where everything suddenly felt different. “Your friends are probably wondering where we are.”

“Yeah,” Linden agreed, but he didn’t move. His hands were still on my face, his thumbs tracing gentle circles across my cheekbones.

When he didn’t move, I reached up and grabbed his wrists, gently pulling his hands away from my face. “Believe me,” I said softly. “You don’t want to get involved with me. It’ll just be trouble for you.”

“I’m willing to take a chance,” he offered.

“I’m not,” I replied, hating the way those words tasted on my tongue. “It’s not worth it, I promise.”

He stepped back, and I watched as his expression shifted from hope to resignation. It was like watching someone close a door, and I hated myself for being the one to slam it shut.

“Okay,” he said quietly, his hands dropping to his sides. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is,” I lied, turning away from him before he could see through the bullshit. Before he could see how much I wanted to take it back, to pull him back down and kiss him again until the world stopped making sense.

“I need to grab some things,” he said, turning away from me. “Wait here.”

For ten minutes I waited at the heartwood tree while Linden wandered up and down the grove. I couldn’t tear my eyes away as he pushed aside the snow to gather seeds, dig up small saplings, and fill a couple small pouches with earth. The silence nearly killed me.

We made the walk back to the teleportation circle in silence as well. The aurora had faded completely now, leaving only the stars and the distant glow of the academy in the distance. My heart was still pounding, my lips still tingling from the kiss, and every cell in my body was screaming at me for being such an idiot.

He’d kissed me. Linden, this massive, gentle, impossibly kind dryad, had actually kissed me. And I’d thrown it back in his face like it was nothing.

Because it would be trouble. Because I was trouble. Because getting involved with him would only end with him realizing what a complete fuckup I was and wishing he’d never wasted his time on me in the first place. Better to push him away now than to let him get close enough to hurt me when he inevitably left. Not to mention, my parents would have a fucking conniption about me dating a non-witch. None of the people they wanted to be friends with so badly allowed their children to date outside of the witch circle, so I doubted they wanted me to either.

That’s what I told myself, anyway. It didn’t make the knot in my stomach any easier to bear.

When we got back to the greenhouse, Nerion and Teddy were still there, though they’d made significant progress with the painting. I could see the outline of the ruined structure taking shape on the canvas, rendered in hauntingly beautiful shades of green and gold that somehow made the destruction look almost intentional. Beautiful. Artistic.

“You two took your time,” Nerion observed, not even looking up from his work. But I could hear the knowing tone in his voice. He knew something had happened. Somehow, he just fucking knew.

“We were just getting some specimens,” Linden said, his voice carefully neutral. “Nothing exciting.”

“Uh-huh,” Nerion hummed, finally turning to look at us. His eyes darted between me and Linden, cataloging every detail. The way we weren’t standing close to each other. The way Linden’s lips looked slightly swollen. The way I couldn’t quite meet anyone’s eyes. “Well, Teddy and I probably won’t be here much longer. It’s getting too dark to paint.” Nerion looked between Linden and I. “We’re gonna break into the athletic building and go swim. Want to come?”

“I probably shouldn’t be causing any more trouble,” I said quickly. “I’m on thin ice as it is with the Dean.”

“You should go,” Linden said, and I hated how quickly he said it. Like he was relieved to have an excuse to get away from me. “I should stay and put this stuff away. You can go though. We’re done for tonight.”

Nerion’s expression shifted to disappointment, but he didn’t push Linden. He and Teddy started packing up their supplies, and I helped without being asked. Anything to keep from looking at Linden, from thinking about the way his hands had felt on my face or how much I enjoyed that kiss.

“Come on, Cass,” Nerion said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “You look like you could use a swim. Clear your head or whatever.”

I knew I should stay there and face whatever I was feeling toward Linden. But the coward in me won out, and I found myself following them toward the athletic building anyway. Better to run than to stay and face what I’d just thrown away.

As we walked across campus, I could feel Nerion’s eyes on me. He was definitely going to ask questions, and I definitely wasn’t going to have answers. The smart thing would be to just tell him to mind his own business, but something told me that wouldn’t stop him. Nothing seemed to stop that guy once he got curious about something.

“So,” Nerion said as we reached the athletic building, “what happened in the grove?”

“Nothing,” I said flatly.