Page 33 of The Soulmate Bakery

‘Yeah, he’s on a streak,’ Sofia said sympathetically, and then pressed her arm against mine sweetly. ‘But you know, the tides could change.’

They didn’t. By half-time, I was sure they wouldn’t and Orion’s plan of having me sit in the front row was stupid. I wanted to text him and tell him that, but I was too engrossed by the half-time entertainment. Aka, Diya Jaan snatching the microphone from the commentator box to read a poem about her love for the rugby captain.

‘Silas Moon,’ Diya cried into the microphone, and my heart plummeted.

‘Oh no,’ I murmured, wanting to crawl under the bleachers and hide. As someone who consistently embarrassed herself, I felt unbearably guilty at the thought of being the cause of someone else’s humiliation.

‘I love you to the moon and back,’ Diya continued, holding the microphone with an ironclad grip. ‘If I could, I would climb to the sky and find every star and bring it back – get off me, Dane!’

We watched as Diya’s brother wrestled the microphone out of her hands, the scuffle vibrating through the speakers. I tore my gaze from the pair to look at Silas, who was standing on the field, cheeks flushed red, blonde hair plastered to his forehead. He must’ve felt my stare because, quick as a flash, our gazes collided.

I watched recognition light up his irises, and he looked like he was about to say something, but the coach cut into his line of vision. My heart was thrumming in my throat and I felt shaky inside. I was pathetic, wasn’t I?

The game started again, and I settled in for another forty minutes of nothing interesting.

Except then things suddenly started going wrong. It started small – a fumble with the ball from Silas, another player tripping on the shifting grass. And then, before we knew it, the glowing red scoreboard was showing that the opposing team had caught up.

When a time out was finally called, I watched as Silas stalked to his bench, looking bewildered by the turn of events.

‘What happened?’ I asked Sofia and Raven, my mouth agape. ‘Literally, what happened?’

Sofia shrugged. ‘The tide changed.’

Raven sat up and then sighed. ‘The tide, unfortunately, didn’t change. He just happened to be here.’

I followed Raven’s line of vision to over our shoulders and to the top of the bleachers. And there he was – Orion. Not wearing even one of the school colours, his mouth covered by a chunky scarf like his sister. But I could tell he was casting spells, from the way his silver eyes gleamed brightly in the night.

Orion Hawthorne was cheating.

Our eyes met, and I waited for him to look sheepish, embarrassed, anything. But one annoying corner of his mouth lifted, and he gave me a little five-fingered wave before turning his attention back to the game.

I stood up automatically, affronted and disbelieving, but Raven yanked me back down. Sofia looked beyond amused by the entire exchange, which told me how she felt about this.

‘He’s helping you,’ Raven said, in a rare show of agreement with her brother. ‘And now you need to help you. Go offer Silas a macaroon before the game restarts.’

‘We can come with you,’ Sofia offered, and then laced her arm in mine after sharing a look with Raven.

Raven also linked her arm with mine, and then the two practically marched me down the field. Dew-dappled grass made the hem of my jeans wet, the air was cold and Silas’s form was coming closer and closer.

I wanted to dig my heels into the ground and force them to stop.

‘Stop right there.’ Trent, the vampire who’d bullied me all those years ago, stood in our way. ‘No speaking to the captain.’

‘He’s not a celebrity,’ Raven shot back, looking around Trent’s large form. ‘He doesn’t need a bodyguard.’

The vampire huffed, and his eyes narrowed on us.

‘Trent,’ Silas said, standing behind him. ‘What have I said about doing this overprotective schtick? It’s embarrassing, dude.’

Trent blanched and then stepped out of the way. ‘Sorry, it’s just, it’s – you know. It’s the girl –’

‘Maya,’ Silas interrupted. ‘Her name is Maya.’ Then he turned away from his teammate to face me. This close I could see the sweat clinging to the blonde strands of his hair, and the gold rings around his blue irises.

‘I – uh –’ my mouth was filled with ash; my body was wound tight. This was my nightmare and my daydreams coming to life before my eyes.

‘Maya baked good-luck macaroons. You’re losing badly; I would suggest eating one,’ Raven interrupted, and thrust forward the box in my hands.

‘You baked these for me?’ Silas asked, taking the box delicately from my hands.