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Audrey
Timemovedtoaslow crawl after Saturday night. I couldn’t even blame Wes for being frustrated with me.Iwas frustrated with me. My home and the lives of everyone I loved depended on our ability to partner up and rebind the curse, and I was failing them because I couldn’t get my feelings in check. The curse didn’t show me anything I hadn’t already lived through, and it didn’t tell me anything I hadn’t thought myself hundreds of times. Yet, I’d let it get inside my head.
This would’ve been easier if Wes had never mattered so much to me in the first place.
And maybe he was right to give me space, but we still needed to practice our magic. Which we couldn’t do without each other. Now that the curse had gained enough strength to mess with our minds, we didn’t have a ton of time to waste. I thought for sure he’d cool off overnight. Every time the bell chimed above my shop, I’d hold my breath, hoping he’d walk through my door with that slow grin that made my heart race.
He didn’t come by all day, though.
After I locked up my shop, I waited around my condo for another hour, then decided I was being stupid and spent the rest of the night at my grandma’s. She noticed my morose mood, but didn’t push me to open up. She couldn’t have helped me anyway. I needed to work this out on my own. I spent most of the evening in her garden, practically begging the curse to make another appearance so I could prove to myself that I had it in me to fight its influence. But not even a wisp of smoke touched the air.
Wes didn’t reach out to me on Monday either. Instead, Cole brought over some additional paperwork concerning my spring. When I casually asked how Wes was doing, he said, and I quote, “Do you want me to pass him a note like a little grade school crush, or do you want to be an adult and pick up the damn phone to ask him yourself?”
So much for that one time I’d felt sorry for him.
By Tuesday, I’d had enough. I hadn’t used my magic in days and it felt like I’d severed a limb. I kept poking at my chest and arms, trying to get some kind of movement going, but it was useless. My powers flat out didn’t work. I needed Wes, but he was too busy being pissy to suck it up and deal with me.
And it’s not like I was dismissing his irritation. I understood where he was coming from, but it would’ve been nice if he’d given me a little leeway, too. My hesitation to trust him wasn’t without justification. It was so easy for him to say I needed to let go, like I didn’t already know that myself, but I couldn’t just snap my fingers and shut off four years’ worth of hurt and resentment. It was unreasonable for him to expect that from me.
Sick of moping, I called for an emergency girls’ night out, where there would be no thinking about, talking about, or caring about Wes. I closed my shop an hour early and texted Brooke and Violet to meet me down at Leo’s for drinks. I was so ready to get messy and dance with men who didn’t make me feel too much. I wanted simple. Uncomplicated. Nothing like the storm of emotions Wes drew out of me, strong enough to change the weather.
The Leo’s Den had a simple décor, with dark walls featuring old tin advertisements for liquor that was no longer on the market, and red vinyl seat covers, but the ambiance always made it feel warm and welcoming. Like it had been touched by the sun. It was Zodiac Cove’s only bar, and as such, became the hot spot on the island. Every few years or so, a mainlander would try to open a competing business, but soon found out how loyal locals were to our own.
Kenna Everett, who had been a year ahead of me in high school, ran the place. Her dad, Sol, passed it to her last December when his husband, Miguel, wanted to spend winters on a sailboat off the coast of Nassau. Ever since she took over, the entire vibe of the bar had changed. It had become more of a destination rather than a default.
She nodded to me when I walked in, her long, fire-engine red hair swirling around her as she hustled drinks to a group of college guys. They fell all over each other, trying to get her attention by giving her the largest tip. She’d make a killing tonight. Just another Tuesday night in Kenna’s world. Tall and willowy, with sea green eyes that tilted at the corners and a small, upturned nose, she was the kind of beautiful that made people do a quadruple take. She also had a mean case of resting bitch face, which caused a lot of people to jump to untrue conclusions about her. In reality, she had an incredibly warm heart, and her bar sponsored almost as many charity programs as the Lathams’ sprawling organization.
Brooke and Violet hadn’t arrived yet, so I pulled up a stool and ordered a shot. It was a whiskey-and-bad-decisions kind of night.
Kenna set the shot in front of me. “This one is on the house.”
“Why’s that?” Not that I was complaining about the free drink. I tipped it back, letting that sweet burn spread through my stomach. Oh, yeah. I’d be having a few more of these.
“I ran into Wes at Constellations yesterday.” She gave me a secretive smile. “He looks like absolute hell, so I can only imagine the kind of week you’re having. Another?”
“Please.”
Hearing that Wes was having a rough go of it should’ve made me feel better, but it didn’t. He was making both of us miserable for no good reason. While I completely owned my faults, knowing they had caused my magic to become a downright pain in my ass, at least I was trying. Which was more than I could say for him right now.
Kenna set a second shot in front of me, and I turned it on the bar, letting the amber liquid catch the light. “How’s your first summer as owner going?” I peeked over my shoulder at the packed dance floor. “The band seems to be a hit.”
She’d pushed her dad to hire live musicians for years. Sol didn’t want to incur the expense though, and as the only bar in town, he didn’t really need to. But as soon as Kenna took over, she started transforming Leo’s into a venue for music as much as drinks. And as a result, the patrons got younger and more influential, and people started to come over from the mainland specifically to see who she had lined up for the night. It would only be a matter of time before music scouts began to set up shop here.
“It’s been steady.” She gestured to the band. “These girls just graduated high school and are already playing at this level. You’ll hear them on the radio one day.”
Violet approached the bar, with Brooke close behind her, and I hugged them both. The band played an upbeat pop song, squeezing more people onto the dance floor. I took my second shot to a recently abandoned table so the three of us could sit comfortably, while Violet stayed up at the bar to chat with Kenna for a few minutes while she grabbed a round of drinks. The two of them had been close since Kenna tutored Violet in high school.
Brooke crossed her legs and a silver anklet peeked out from under the hem of her pale blue hippie skirt. “I’m glad you texted. I’ve been spending so much time in my greenhouse, I feel like I’m starting to grow vines out of my hands. How are things going with Wes?” She gave the shot of whiskey in front of me a pointed look. “Not well, I take it?”
“It could be better.” I downed my drink and slammed the glass on the table. “If he wasn’t such a stubborn, arrogant ass, we could’ve spent the last three days practicing. But instead, I’m stuck and unable to use my magic while he nurses his little hissy fit.”
“I know exactly what you mean.” Violet clunked two beers on the table and tugged the hem down on her cherry-print halter top. “The Latham men are nothing but a bunch of cowards and we’re better off without them.”
That didn’t sound like Violet at all. She was a glass half-full, always see the best in everyone kind of person. She never gossiped or spread rumors, and usually defended Wes when I’d complain about him. “What happened?”
“Donovan broke our Saturday dinner plans.”
I gasped in horror. “No.”
