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“I didn’t know you recently graduated from Hogwarts. Are you going toPetrificus Totalusme?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.
Smirking, I leveled him with a glare. “I was always partial toStupefymyself, butTarantallegrais my favorite.”
Narrowing my eyes, I lowered my wand to his legs, waving it around as I threatened to perform the dancing charm on him. I hadn’t meant to grab the wand. I’d been hoping for a letter opener or a pair of scissors, but if it came to it, I could stab him in the eye with it. But when he laughed some more and then danced a jig, I found myself lowering the wand instead. If he knew obscure Harry Potter spells, how malicious could he be?
“Gah, you’re adorable.” He smiled, and this one lit up the whole of his face. Holy Guacamole! I’d forgotten how charming he was.
“Answer the question, or you’re toast!” I threatened, trying to gain some control. “I can run fast, and I’ll have one of the burly guys from downstairs beating up your pretty face before you can blink.”
He sobered, nodding. “Right, and that’s a good plan. Would you feel more comfortable if you also grabbed your phone and had 911 on speed dial?”
“Just get to it, and we don’t have to mess with anything, buddy!”
My adrenaline had skyrocketed, and my legs shook from fright, but I held my ground despite having to casually lean against the desk for support. I gripped the wand out in front of me, and it gave me courage despite not being an ideal weapon. Instead, it was as if I was channeling Hermione and all the other kick-butt women in the series, their confidence filling me.
“I know your name because Slade told me. The night you guys met up? I was there at the bar. I was the one who helped you in the hallway.”
His words had me dropping my wand as I tried to focus on the memory and what he said. Had he been there? I remembered blue eyes and being called gorgeous, but that was it until a flash of Slade smacking me awake before I vomited on him. He could’ve been there, but it didn’t prove anything yet. Plus, I wasn’t convinced he was the real Thane. He couldn’t be. Because if he was, then it meant the man I’d known and trusted for the past few months was a liar.
“Nice try, buddy, but I already metThane, and you’re not him,Zack.”
His face screwed up at my words, and he took another step toward me, making me lift my wand again. “I don’t know who you think you met, but I can assure you, I’m Thane. We did meet years ago as Zack and Kelly, and then you never called me.”
My face heated at the reminder, and I couldn’t mistake the hurt I heard. “Uh, yeah, well, I suck at keeping track of things, and I lost the napkin. I went back to the bar a couple of times, but I never saw you again.”
“I started school at UT the next week.”
“Ah.”
“So, you were planning to call me?” He smiled softly, hope in his eyes, and I didn’t want to admit it made me feel things. All the butterflies from that night rose to the surface, and I found myself shifting my legs. I nodded. It was all I could get out.
“That’s a relief. I thought about you all the time and wondered what happened to you. Then when I was visiting my brother, I found you at that bar with some asshole towering over you. I threatened him, and he left, thankfully. You hit your head on the wall, and I went to get you water. When I returned, Slade was there. You um, got sick, and Slade and I began to argue.”
“Why were you arguing?” I found myself asking, completely leaning against the desk now. The adrenaline had left me as the arousal had risen. I crossed my arms, no longer feeling the impending danger as I waited for him to make sense of things.
Zack blew out a breath, the movement making the hair in the front lift slightly. He was more gorgeous than I remembered. His dirty blonde hair hung in waves around his head, mussed from sleep and only adding to the whole sex appeal he had. His eyes were a calming blue, the shade of a summer’s day. It was the dimple and scruffy beard that got me every time.
I traveled further down, his shirtless torso as distracting as I’d expected at a closer inspection. I sucked in a breath when I found only a pair of boxer briefs below. Biting my lip, I discovered he was barefoot as well, his tall frame on full display. A clearing of a throat had me lifting my head, ensnared by his captivating eyes once again. One side of his mouth lifted up, making the dimple pop. Mother trucker, he was too good-looking.
“You get enough?”
Rolling my eyes, I motioned with my hand to carry on, hoping to cover my embarrassment at being caught.
“It’s a long story. One I need to tell you, but if I start with it, then I’m afraid I’ll never get the chance to show you who I am.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound convincing at all,Zack.”
“I really am who I say I am. And I know it’s not the best way to start a conversation. I have a lot of sins to bear, things from my past I wish were different, but I learned long ago I couldn’t go backward, and living in the past isn’t a life at all. I can only acknowledge my failures, my mistakes, and vow to be better, and I think I have, or at least I’m trying to.”
“Yeah, well, I get that, but it doesn’t excuse things either.”
“I know. I was young and stupid, and then… desperate. Neither makes for excellent problem-solving methods.”
“You’re putting me into a weird position because I feel I need to know what I’m dealing with here to trust you’re not going to murder me, but you want me to get to know you first. How can I get to know you if you don’t tell me things? Plus, I’m not convinced you’re Slade’s brother.”
“Okay, you’re right. That’s fair, and I think if I share some of the past, it will prove I am Thane. How about… I tell you something good and then something I’m not proud of. Maybe it will give a better reflection of who I am.”
“Why didn’t you deny you were going to murder me?” I asked, focused on his answer.
