Page 38 of The Soulmate Bakery

I swallowed roughly. ‘My head just gets loud.’

Orion bit his lip and nodded. ‘Then I’ll find a way to channel that. But this wasn’t a failure, believe me.’

I tried to, I really did. ‘I’m just worried I’m not going to have progressed enough by the time we get to the autumn moon.’

Orion’s gaze softened, and he let out a breath. ‘Let’s progress with another part of our plan in the meantime then. In your study session with Silas, make sure you be respectful to his brothers but don’t be overly nice. He’s the youngest and had to fight for attention among all his raucous siblings.’

I gaped at him. ‘How do you have this information on him?’

‘I’m a detective’s son,’ Orion shot back, all liquid confidence. ‘I may not want the job, but I know how to do some digging.’ I was still staring at him when he continued. ‘Also, a little homework for you.’

‘Homework?’

‘Talk to Rowan Hale,’ Orion said, and then leaned back against the counter. ‘Who better to give you an insight than the big bad wolf himself?’

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Last summer – mid-July

There was no feeling quite as sweet as victory.

‘You cheated.’ Orion pouted as we walked down my street. ‘Stop grinning, you lunatic. You definitely cheated.’

‘You just can’t handle the fact that I can eat more burgers than you, can you?’ I crowed, waving the short, golden trophy Ronnie had given me.

‘You must have magicked your stomach to have more space,’ Orion tried to rationalize. ‘I’m far bigger than you, there’s no way you could eat more than me!’

‘Or here’s a thought.’ I stopped us right outside my house. I turned to him, moonlight casting him in a silvery light, and my heart did that painful, twisting thing that I was starting to become far too familiar with. ‘I’m just better than you.’

Orion rolled his eyes and lifted his hand to the house behind me. ‘Inside, Reverie.’

I glanced over my shoulder. The house was pitch-black, which was expected because Orion and I were out late – well past Mum’s bedtime. Rani was out with her friends and, while I didn’t have a curfew, Mum would hear me come in, wake up and probably have a thousand questions to ask about who I was with and why I wasn’t spending my summer brushing up on spell work.

I felt a tug on the sleeve of my jacket – well, Orion’s jacket that he’d draped over my shoulders while we were walking, but not before reprimanding me for not grabbing a sweatshirt. I turned my attention back to him, to see him watching me with furrowed brows.

‘Want to stay over in Raven’s room?’ he asked, gently. ‘All I ask for are breakfast cinnamon rolls in return.’

‘Does your sister know you’re renting out her room?’ I asked, with a little laugh.

‘Raven knows what she needs to know,’ he replied, and there was a beat of silence between us.

Raven and I had called each other a lot this summer, and I had told her about all the things I’d gotten up to – watching the latest summer romcom, collecting new seashells from the beach, taste-testing every drink on Ronnie’s menu, late-night walks through Maple Falls – but I hadn’t mentioned who I was doing all this with. Part of me was afraid of her reaction – not that she’d be mad at me for hanging out with Orion; we used to when we were younger.

I was more afraid of what she would hear in my voice. She was my best friend. She’d hear the tremor in my words. She’d know that I was crushing on her brother, hard. What she’d think of that, I didn’t want to imagine.

I wished I could say I felt guilt, but it was more a sense of thrill. Ever since I’d come to the earth-shattering realization that I liked Orion, I’d felt the need to do something wild. Something completely selfish.

‘I should go back inside,’ I replied, reluctantly. ‘Rani and I have a whole day planned together tomorrow.’

Was that disappointment flashing across his face? ‘That’s sweet, Reverie.’

‘Think you’ll survive one day without me?’ I probed, teasingly.

He sighed like it physically pained him, making the smile on my mouth curve wider. ‘I think I’ll make it through – though our kitchen will miss you.’

‘I’ll miss your kitchen,’ I said wistfully, thinking of Mrs Hawthorne’s industrial magicked ovens. ‘Maybe you could try and bake something while I’m busy tomorrow.’

Orion shook his head vehemently. ‘You’re the baker in this relationship, Reverie. I’m merely the taste-tester, and dishwasher.’ He grinned. ‘Plus, I should probably use my time tomorrow to look up teacher apprenticeships in Maple Falls.’