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Chapter 13

Thirteen

M aple

“If I’m gonna kiss you, you have to want me to. And you might not want me to kiss you after I say this.”

Oh god. What could be worse than spending the entire day trapped and forced to pretend to be something else? Nothing this man can say will make me hesitate, not after everything we’ve been through.

“Go on.”

“The reason I gave the account to Brayden and not you was not that I thought Brayden was more fun, or because you were too stuffy. And it wasn’t because you didn’t do shots with me at the office Halloween party. It was because of you. I was attracted to you from the beginning, and if we had to work closely together, it would be a problem for me.”

I stare at him blankly. “You were concerned that I would be a distraction.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

Wow. That’s crappy. He knows that’s fucked up, and that’s a good thing… but I need a second to process this.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the wispy red bob moving around. “Uh, kids? It’s getting close to midnight. Time to summon the wish demon now.”

Ignoring Magda, I share a story with Hollis because I’m not ready to let this go. It’s not a comfortable story for me to discuss, but it needs to be said. “In fifth grade, I was more developed than most other girls in my class. None of the usual kid clothes fit me, and my parents weren’t swimming in money. So one day, I wore my brother’s Celtics jersey to school. I figured it was fine because half the boys in class wore jerseys whenever they wanted to. The principal called my dad to ask him to bring a change of clothes for me because, according to my teacher, I ‘was showing too much skin and was a distraction to the boys.’”

Hollis winces and drags his fingers over his forehead. “That’s shitty. I’m sorry they made you change clothes.”

I laugh. “Oh, they didn’t make me. My dad came to the school and told everyone to ‘stick it where the sun don’t shine,’ and they never brought it up again. Do you understand the point of this?”

“Deeply,” Hollis says, his throat bobbing.

“Would it really have been that difficult to work with me just because you’re attracted to me? Is that really a valid excuse?”

I feel the regret pouring off of him. “No. I went about it all wrong. I just…didn’t want anyone to think of it as favoritism. Because I wanted to go about it the right way and not have people think you got what you wanted because you were sleeping with the boss.”

I nod solemnly. “That part makes sense.”

“I’m really sorry I hurt you. I should have talked it out with you from the beginning.”

“Probably,” I reply with a teasing smirk. “Honestly, I was relieved I didn’t have to work the weekend like Brayden.”

He winces. “Oh my god, where’s Brayden?”

I chuckle. “He’s fine. I left him at the hotel with the company credit card. Hope that’s okay.”

Hollis barks out a laugh, and I cackle wickedly.

“Yes, everything’s going to be fine,” he says.

Magda is getting agitated. “Kids, it’s no skin off my nose if you fail, but it’s down to the wire….”

I blink down at Hollis. “Thanks for staying on the phone with me today.”

“Thanks for putting up with me being a bad boss.”

“You’re not a bad boss. You’re a good egg.”

I take a step closer, and so does he.

“How good of an egg? Scrambled? Omelet?”

I chuckle. “Poached.”

“I don’t know what that means, but I’ll take it. Hollis Hard-on is going to kiss you now.”

“You read my office chats!” I shout. “You little?—”

And that’s enough of that. I don’t get to finish yelling at Hollis. Our mouths are now way too busy with other things.

Our shared dream may have been full of hot kisses, but this feels like the first time. Hollis fits our lips together and kisses me until I melt against him. Forgetting I’m the big one and he’s the small one, he nearly stumbles backward, but I catch him and pull him back, crushing him against me with a forceful kiss.

There’s no more overthinking it. Our mouths are sealed together, and it’s just us. I’m here, Hollis is with me, and this is good.

Hands roam over these shoulders and this chest, and the sensation is new and exciting; every inch of me wants to give in.

He presses his mouth against me harder, teasing open my lips with that tongue. Now is not the time to hold back, so I let my feelings out, moaning into his mouth.

He growls, and I feel him reverberate in my chest.

Magic is happening.

Are we switching back?

His warm, firm hands are everywhere, spanning my back, cupping my bottom.

Random people chuckle and comment around us, but no one tells us to get a room. Because we’re supposed to be doing this.

At least Hollis and I are somewhat secluded from the peering eyes of outsiders from within this circle of witches, as strange and foreign as this may be.

Our tongues slide together, licking and tasting, building the burning need in this body. The electricity arcing between us is powerful enough that I could imagine me blocking out everything going on around us and simply dragging him to the ground, right here in the beer tent.

His hums, his grunts, the way he runs his hands over me push me to the edge of reason, or what’s reasonable in public. I’m beyond caring because we’re under the spell of a demon or a curse, and we’re both desperate to fix this.

Hollis crushes his mouth against mine, redoubling our efforts with teeth clacking, tongues spearing, and hands grappling everywhere.

I sense that more people—or beings of one sort or another—are gathering around to watch.

I don’t care; I just want to keep kissing Hollis and feeling him press that body against mine. I want to be putty in his hands. I need to?—

A great whooshing sound, like a flock of frightened birds darting from trees, has us jerking apart from one another, breathless, in time to see a gust of wind rip the beer tent from its stakes and send it flying.

Startled screams are followed by a black, swirling cloud descending into the middle of the circle like a dust devil from hell.

The swirling dust and smoke eventually form a human shape, and Hollis pushes me behind him, putting himself between the entity and me.

Once the dust settles, what stands before us is the same kid who was working the beer tent last night.

“Ah shit,” says the tall man in a black hoodie, realizing where he’s been summoned. He scans the dozens of faces that range from scared to curious to outright furious. “What did I do now?”

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