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“Maybe it just wants to remind us how long it’s been watching.”

A chill swept down my spine. That was disconcerting. “Maybe. What did you feel that night? Was there anything going on inside your head that I don’t know about?”

A small smile played on her lips. “I kept hoping you’d kiss me. There was no way I was going to share that with you, though.”

“Oh, yeah?” I pulled her on top of me, rubbing my muddy hands up and down her back. “Isn’t that funny? Because I was very tempted to kiss you.”

“I know those days are long gone, but I’m here now, and you’re here now…”

I leaned up and took her mouth with mine. The little sigh she let out every time our lips met was a life serum that could sustain me for days. I kissed her long and deep, a reminder that the past didn’t have to control us anymore.

She let out a gasp and pulled back. “Regret.”

“Already?” I gave her a half-grin.

“No.” She slapped my chest as she sat up on my lap. “That’s what the curse is trying to make us feel. Regret. For missed opportunities, lost time, moments we should’ve done differently. It wants us to wallow in those feelings and lose ourselves to them.”

That sounded on-brand for the curse. “I think you’re right. It fits in with the other memories it showed us. Seems as if it doesn’t want us to stay connected.”

“We know that, though. It’s already shown us how it feels about our magic. But I think there’s something else. Something we’re missing.” She tapped a finger to her lips. “I need to turn this over in my head some more.”

The first rays of sunrise stretched across the dirt trail, illuminating the forest in soft golden light, not unlike Audrey’s. “We should probably get moving,” I said.

“Oh, God.” She jumped to her feet. “I forgot where we were for a minute.”

We’d lost an hour, if not more, to dealing with the curse. The first of the morning joggers would be coming through at any moment, and there was no way we could hide what was going on between us when she was wearing my underwear. I stood and took her hand, picking up the pace and keeping an ear out for the sound of footfalls headed in our direction.

Though it wouldn’t bother me in the least to stand in the middle of Stardust Parkway and tell anyone who passed that Audrey was mine, I wanted to respect her feelings and let her be the one to decide when we’d go public.

We made it to her condo without running into anyone, but we’d see if I’d be lucky enough to make it all the way home without being spotted. Any excuses I could come up with wouldn’t matter. If I was spotted anywhere near her place, people would talk.

That wasn’t my biggest worry at the moment, though.

Audrey and I had a lot of obstacles on our own, without an ancient curse dragging up old memories at every turn. But before I could dig too deep into how we could better combat the smoke wall, and what its next move might be, I’d have to figure out what I’d tell my brothers when they asked me why I was wearing a fucking suit in the summer.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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