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His hand in mine.
His legs tangled with mine in bed.
And for the first time since meeting him, I include myself in my drawings.
* * *
MAGNUS
When I get home from work that evening and enter the apartment, I half expect to see Sem sitting there waiting for me. A crushing wave of disappointment crashes over me when I realize that my apartment is empty.
“Shit,” I mutter. “Get it together. That’s not what this is.”
I glance down at my phone, hoping that he’s texted me, but the screen only contains texts from Colin.
Oh crap, he wants to go out with me Thursday. I don’t even really want to go, but my mind flashes back to Sem last night, telling me to go for it. I war with myself for a few minutes beforereluctantly sending a message back to Colin and agreeing to dinner and a movie.
I stare at the words, and when the anxiety begins to bubble up within me, I turn off my phone, setting it face down on the counter, and tug on the ends of my hair in frustration.
This feels wrong. In my gut, it feels wrong and I don’t want to go through with it anymore.
I lift up my phone again to cancel when I see that August is calling.
“Hey,” I say, slightly concerned because I just saw August at work, and henevercalls me.
His deep voice echoes in my ear and he sounds upset. “I need your help, Mags.”
My heart triples in speed, worry prickling my skin. “Ok, what’s up?”
“I need you to come with me to pick up Emery.”
“What? Why?”
“Because that asshole just called me, and he’s drunk as shit.”
“It’s only five o’clock….”
“Do not even get me started. I don’t know if I can look at him without killing him. I need you there to make sure I don’t dump him into the ocean.”
The vehemence dripping from August’s voice makes me pause because August likes everyone. I know he and Emery have never really gotten along but I’m surprised at how much he seems to hate his soon-to-be stepbrother.
“Okay, yeah. I can do that. Come get me, and we’ll go together. I’ll make sure you have an alibi if you do decide on homicide.”
I consider calling Sem but decide to keep him out of it. August can take care of himself and me if need be.
I think.
August arrives shortly after we hang up, and I slide into the passenger seat of his SUV.
“So, he really called you?” I ask, curious why Emery would call August when he seems to go out of his way to avoid my best friend.
“Don’t ask me what goes through that messed up head of his. I was as surprised as you,” he says and runs a hand through his hair. “My momcannotfind out about this, okay? She always sees the best in everyone, and I don’t need him dragging her into his shit right before her wedding.”
“My lips are sealed,” I say and lean back in my seat, watching as we move into a more crime-ridden part of town. The streetlights are dim, many of the storefront signs are broken, and there are steel bars across all the windows.
“Jesus, where is he hanging out?” I ask, glancing around nervously.
I feel if Sem found out where I was, he’d freak out. He’s turning out to be incredibly protective of me.
