Page 42

Unfortunately, they heard footsteps sounding, and that pulled her out of her lust-filled haze. With a start, she shoved him off her, willing her heart to stop beating so fast.

She spotted his crumpled glasses on the floor and grabbed them. She temporarily mended them with magic, then tossed them at Grayson, warning him to get a new pair. He fumbled but caught them, sliding the specs on just in time to watch Lucy stomp away.

Lucy returned to the cash register, keeping her back to the store as she whipped out her phone to text Bia, who she had been keeping updated on her daily war with Grayson. She needed to tell someone, and as Lucy’s best friend, Bia had the privileged and unfortunate role of hearing every single one of Lucy’s thoughts, no matter how unhinged.

he’s soooooo

Bia responded a few minutes later.

control urself woman, i’m in a meeting

but he’s SOOOO

bitch ur ovulating

how tf do u know that???

bc i am too and our cycles are linked

lmao

Lucy switched out of her messages to check her period-tracker app and laughed out loud.

lmaooo ur right

aren’t i always??

Lucy avoided Grayson for the rest of the day, and he did the same, though she kept stealing glances at him, unable to shake how good his body had felt against hers. She ached.

She wanted more.

But that was stupid. He was here temporarily. Starting anything with him—even hate-sex—was a very bad idea.

At the end of the night, they cleaned up in silence. Lucy put the chairs up with magic while Grayson vacuumed. With a wave of her hands, the fairy lights unplugged, and with another wave, the candles blew out.

“Almost done?” Charles asked, walking over with the help of his cane. Usually by the end of the day, he was tired, but today he looked brighter, his blue eyes lit up behind his large glasses.

“Just about,” Lucy said, finishing up. Grayson put the vacuum away, and they all grabbed their coats to head out together. When they left the store, Lucy locked up.

“Let’s go grocery shopping,” Charles said to Grayson, smiling. Charles might not have had enough energy to attend game night tonight with his friends, which usually ran long, but a trip to the grocery store wouldn’t be too tiring.

“I already went,” Grayson replied.

Charles deflated. “Oh.”

Lucy’s heart twisted. Charles loved grocery shopping. Years ago, it used to be his and Sophie’s midweek date. They’d apparently spend hours going through the aisles.

Lucy had asked them about it once, but neither could explain the significance with a straight face or any coherence; they would both just start giggling. One might assume that they’d had incredible sex in a grocery store in their youth or something for all the fond feelings they had for it, but Lucy knew that it was simply the joy of running errands with someone they adored.

Love was its own magic; it had the ability to turn even the most uninteresting chores into moments of deep connection. Making the silence full, not empty.

She was sure Charles now wanted to spend that time with Grayson, to tell him about those fond memories with Sophie, but Grayson had shut him down.

Irritation sparked through Lucy. Charles was doing a bit better—looking healthier as well—but Grayson was still so strange with him. He didn’t even try.

Lucy hated to see Charles disappointed. She knew the feeling all too well: reaching for her parents over the years, trying to make plans, to build a relationship—only for her parents to be too busy.

It was always so painful. Even now, she hadn’t learned her lesson, and that hope always remained, as did the inevitable disappointment that followed. She hated to witness Charles experiencing the same thing.