Page 42 of Were-Geeks Save a Kitten

“Wait—” Coffee said as he stepped forward. But before he could say anything else, Gamfay jerked hard on his leash. Suddenly, the collar was choking him, and he wheezed as he struggled to breathe.

“Now, now,” Gamfay admonished. “No interference from the peanut gallery.”

Kit jerked forward, grabbing hold of the choking Coffee. “That wasn’t part of the rules!”

“You’re right,” the fairy conceded. “That wasn’t part of your bet, but it was part of his. And I control when my slave talks and when he doesn’t.”

Kit saw misery in Coffee’s eyes and felt his heart lurch. There was nothing he could do right then to help. Nothing but win his current bet.

“Okay, okay,” he said to Gamfay. “But don’t kill him. It’ll really tank the game show ratings, don’t you think?”

“Hmmm,” Gamfay said, clearly unconvinced.

“Pat Sajak never choked his assistant.”

“Fine,” Gamfay said as he held up the leash.

It slowly loosened, and Coffee managed a shuddering breath. Fine. That was something, but it was clear there’d be no more help from Dwayne. Except, there had been something, right? He’d been trying to tell them something.

Kit turned to Yordan, who was on the same page.

“There’s a loophole,” Yordan said. “Something we haven’t figured out.”

“Always,” Kit said. It was a fairy bargain after all. “So, what is it?”

He tried to remember everything there was to know about fairy deals and love spells. There was a lot, and all of it might or might not apply to this situation. It was so much that he pressed his hands to his temples as he tried to force himself to focus.

It didn’t work. He needed a sounding board. He needed Yordan.

“What do we know about love spells?”

“That they’re stupid,” Yordan grumbled.

“What?”

“They’re stupid. They never work.” He waved his hand. “The genie in Aladdin even says he won’t do them. He does stuff to make Aladdin more attractive to Jasmine, but he can’t force anyone to love another.”

“Right. Right!” Kit’s eyes widened.

“But that was in a movie,” Yordan countered. “Who knows how they work here? Nero and Josh are stupidly in love. And don’t get me started on—”

“No, you’re right. Love spells are stupid. They can’t actually make us fall in love.”

“But—”

“Let’s say a spell can create a hard-on. Maybe it can make me tingle every time I see you. Maybe it puts humping thoughts into my head, but that’s not love.”

Yordan wrinkled his nose. “It feels like love.”

“Maybe. But it’s not going to give me that feeling of safety whenever I’m with you. It’s not going to make me crave talking to you or change the joy of figuring out hard stuff with you.” He gripped Yordan’s arm. “It wasn’t any spell that made me hold you when you were grieving Coffee, and it sure as hell wasn’t any fairy spell that had me wanting you at the very beginning. I like being with you. I’m impressed by who you are. And I feel wonderful when we’re together because you make me happy. That’s not some fairy spell. That’s love.”

He could feel the truth of his words as he spoke. He knew it was true even as he saw Yordan’s expression soften into hope. He was listening. He saw the possibility.

“I don’t know if we’re going to live happily ever after, but I can damn well tell you that whatever bullshit he’s spouting—” he jerked his head at Gamfay “—doesn’t change how I feel about you one damn bit.”

Just to prove it, he slammed his hand down on the big red button. Right on cue, the arrow dinged loudly as it pointed straight at TRUTH.

“I love you,” Kit said. He knew it in his bones to be true.