Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

LAKE

91 bobas left until we both die … (same night)

“Please don’t ruin this for me,” I tell the girls, standing in front of them at the boba shop. The theme of this one is basically nineties kids. It’s got faux chalk hopscotches on the floors, posters for Nickelodeon and Power Rangers on the walls, and an entire selection of cups, lids, and straws with Pokémon on them.

It’s … something else, I’ll give you that. Looks like pictures of my youngest aunt’s childhood bedroom.

My friends and my cousins and my brother peer innocently back at me as I stand in front of them with my hands on my hips, waiting for the gravity of the situation to sink in. If they mess this up for me, they’ll kill me. But also … part of being honest is being vulnerable.

I’m going to show Tam a piece of me by showing him a piece of my family.

I even have a picture of Joe’s tree on my phone, but we’re not close enough for that.

“Joules.” I say his name, and he smiles mysteriously back at me. Luna leans forward to look at him and blushes. I don’t have to worry about her around Tam because she’s too in-lust with Joules to notice any other man.

“Lake.”

“Joules.”

“Lake.”

“Joules.”

“Canoe,” he growls back, shoving up from his seat. He stalks over to me, crosses his arms, and then peers down at me menacingly. Doesn’t bother me. He’s been doing that since I turned eight, and he was twelve. I poke him in the center of his chest, but he snatches my wrist and doesn’t let me talk. “No. Stop that. How dare you give me a lecture about this. I care more about you surviving this curse than you do.”

“Really? Then stop threatening Tam. Stop texting rude things to him. Stop glaring at him. In fact, don’t come around him at all if you’re not going to be nice.” I’m in Joules’ space now, but he’s ignoring me, gaze shifting to the side. “Did you hear me?” Joules smirks but still doesn’t respond. “Leave. Tam. Alone.”

“Or what?” Joules challenges, absolutely refusing to look at me.

“I’ll tell Tam to get a restraining on you because you’re helping run the cult that’s keeping me trapped and regularly threatening—” It’s supposed to be a joke—before Joe died, Chloe thought the Frost family was a cult—but it doesn’t work on Tam.

He’s right there in an instant, getting between me and Joules.

Again.

“Leave her alone,” he growls out, and my brother absolutely loses it. He throws his head back and laughs. I don’t know if he’s in a different universe than I am or what, but Tam is not playing around. He is this close to punching Joules in the face.

“Hey, relax, it’s a joke.” I put my hand on Tam’s upper arm, surprised to find his skin bare beneath the sleeves of his T-shirt. For some reason, I was expecting him to be wearing a hoodie. Since we met in winter—and it’s been a cold one for sure—I’ve mostly only seen him in long sleeves. This is different.

Tam glances down to the spot where my fingers are resting gently on his bicep.

My friends and cousins sit patiently and quietly without getting up from their chairs. Their disinterest is feigned, almost comical. I bite back a smile.

Lynn crunches on the end of a pretzel stick from the bag she got out of a vending machine outside. Her hair is bloodred, contrasting oddly with the vibrant lime green of the Gak slime poster behind her head.

“Hey, there are hopscotches in here. I bet you that your song—“Hopscotch Lovers”—will play before we leave this shop. If it does, will you do the bridge portion of the dance video on top of one?” Lynn nibbles innocently on the end of her pretzel, as if she didn’t just ask a megastar to do a private dance for her.

Tam keeps his eyes on mine, and I’m so nervous that I could pass out. Lynn, what the hell are you doing? Even Joules isn’t laughing anymore.

That emerald gaze—cold, calculating—shifts across my face, reading cues in my expression and my body that I’m not even aware of. Drawing down. Over my chest. My hips. To my feet and then back to my face. Staring into my eyes, penetrating my heart.

Everyone thinks that Tam is going to bolt. I guess he deserves more credit than that. He turns his head slowly to stare at Lynn, blinking several times as he realizes that one) there are other people in the room and two) that I brought this many people with me.

“If the song doesn’t play, and I win the bet, what do I get?” Tam asks with a frown, and Lynn takes another bite of her pretzel stick. Luna is staring at Tam like she no longer remembers my brother’s name which is just … you know, that’s lovely. Chloe is texting someone, and Maria is reading a book on her Kindle and hasn’t looked up.

Ella’s glasses are steamed-up from the hot Earl Grey she ordered and just picked up from the counter. She sips it loudly as she stares at Tam. Her attention moves to his bodyguard next, that stony-faced monster perched in the corner. Daniel returns her look briefly before refocusing on the real threat: Joules.

“What do you get?” Lynn thinks for a few seconds. “I have fifty bucks cash?”

“Done.” Tam crosses his arms and then smiles, standing in the middle of that tea shop like he isn’t a beloved worldwide superstar. He just looks like a man in short sleeves and a pair of jeans. The only real giveaway is the pair of obviously expensive sneakers on his feet, these black ones with pale pink trim that are trending everywhere right now. “Fifty bucks.”

Lynn nods, satisfied, and then turns to poke Luna in the shoulder. Joules takes it upon himself to explain Luna’s behavior.

“Don’t worry about that crazy one. She usually leers at me the way she’s leering at you. She’s obsessed with men and needs to get a life.”

“Coming from the guy who spends more time at random women’s houses than he does his own.” Luna scowls, but she’s not entirely wrong. My brother isn’t a fuckboy, but he is a serial dater.

Joules gives Tam a look, and then gestures at Luna. She’s fuming, but she does have a point.

“I date. I’m not a manwhore, so stop making me out to be one.” Joules saunters lazily past Tam and me, pausing to look over and cock a brow. “What do you want, so I can finally order?”

“I’ll buy her drink,” Tam says casually, and now he’s frowning with a plush pop star mouth at my brother. Whoa. That’s a power move if I’ve ever seen one. Does … Tam like me already? Or does he just really not like Joules?

I’m leaning toward the latter.

“Excuse me?” Joules retorts, turning fully around to face him. See what I mean? I whirl around and glare at my brother until he drops his attention to me. His expression softens. “What do you need, sweetheart? I’ll pay for it. We wouldn’t want Tam’s girlfriend getting the wrong impression, now would we?”

“I’ll buy everyone’s drinks.” Tam is stoic, silent, his frown edging up toward a mean smile. “Yours, hers, anyone else who hasn’t ordered yet. In fact, I’ll leave my credit card number and pay for every single customer tomorrow. All day. Open to close.”

Oh, that’s nice.

“Paying it forward, I like that.” I nod at Joules and then take him by the shoulder, pushing him to the side. Tam looks all the way freaked out when he moves up to stand beside me. We turn to stare at each other, and we’re also sort of alone for a second which is nice. “What? Don’t look like that. I know you were being a dick and just trying to piss over my brother’s piss, but seriously, I’m sure all the people who come here tomorrow who just need a cup of sunshine to get through their day, they’ll be happy. Does it matter if you were being nice to be a dick? Nope.”

“I—” Tam reaches up and rubs at the back of his neck. “I shouldn’t say things like that, should I?”

“Why did you feel the need to win over Joules? He’s just annoying. Ignore him.”

Tam drops his arm to his side and then turns back to look at the flavors on the wall. He seems excited to be here which makes me feel excited to be here. I guess, I’m excited to see him. That’s … that’s quick progress, right?

“See, that’s the problem. I’ve never once let anything go. Ever. Which is why I am where I am, I suppose. I’m … sort of an entitled asshole, Lakelynn.” Tam steps forward and flashes a cute smile for the employee as I gape at his back. “Can I get a mango green tea with honey aloe?” He looks back at me and cocks a single dark brow, like he’s innocent.

Oooh, this fucking guy.

He’s going to challenge me. I might end up hating him before I love him. That’s possible.

“I’ll take seven.” I point to the ones I want, and then look in challenge at Tam, smiling warmly back at him. “Keep shaking up the number of bobas I have before I die. I approve.” I pat him on the shoulder and then leave him to pay, wandering over to the pickup counter for my drinks, and then to my cousins.

Tam rejoins us as Joules plucks one of the drinks at random from my arms, stabs a straw into the top of the cup and sucks loudly. I give the rest to Lynn, Chloe, Maria, and Luna. Ella doesn’t need one; she ordered her tea the moment we walked in the door and paid in cash. I keep two for myself because, yeah, I’m the only one out of me, Joules, Lynn, and Maria whose curse mark has been activated.

Tam comes back to stand with us, his own drink in hand. He opens his mouth to say something and then … the song that’s playing lightly in the background switches to “Hopscotch Lovers”, one of his bouncier tracks. I don’t hate-hate it, but … I do dislike it.

“Shit, seriously?’ Tam puts his drink aside, sweeps his hands over his pretty hair, and then steps into the center of one of the hopscotches painted on the floor. “Why did I agree to this?” he asks as Lynn starts laughing, and Maria finally looks up from her book. All five of my girls turn to stare at Tam as he fists a hand in the lower half of his shirt and yanks on it like he’s trying to fan himself. The move shows off a lot of his midsection which I think is intentional.

“He doesn’t even know he’s doing it,” I whisper, turning to Joules. “He’s always flirting and teasing everyone. Literally. Every single person that he interacts with.”

“While that last bit is correct, the first statement is a load of shit.” Joules gestures as Tam bounces foot to foot briefly, like he’s warming up. “He’s perfectly aware of what he’s doing, and he loves it. Don’t let him lure you into a false sense of security. Lake, look at me.” I turn fully to Joules because his voice is so dark, so low, so serious. That scares me. We meet eyes. “No matter what: you do not confess before he does. You don’t move in on him. You don’t try to kiss him.”

“Huh?” I blurt, lifting a skeptical brow. “This is the exact opposite of everything you’ve been telling me to do!” I kick him in the shin, and he lifts his lip at me in a scowl. “That’s for the stupid tip about the lingerie.” I shove Joules aside, so that I can see better. The song gets to the bridge, and there Tam goes, performing this insanely complicated bit of dance with footwork that makes my head spin. The lyrics are about how sad it is to say goodbye to childhood, and I’m like … seriously questioning how I called him heartless.

Fine. I don’t dislike this song either.

Especially when he finishes, when he turns, when he smiles right at me. His eyes stay on mine, and I think about how he jumped between me and Joules, like he was trying to protect me. I try not to like that. Seriously. It’s shallow and stupid and … I know that Joules is right.

Now that we’ve really seen Tam for who he is, I see that he’s right: he never lets anything go. Ever. If you hurt this man, he will make space between you. I cannot do anything that he perceives as a breach of trust—up to and especially including romantic gestures.

That’s not great news.

My cheeks flush, but I turn away from Tam, so that maybe he’ll assume it’s the boba that I’m blushing over. I do get quite a rush when I order and drink one. I’m starting to think that maybe I have an addiction and that I should seek help so that I Heart Boba isn’t my entire personality.

Tam turns fully around and then walks over, reaching past me to grab his drink. He’s right there in my space, brushing up close to me. And then pausing. He looks down and sideways at me and smiles again.

“Sorry. Just trying to grab my drink.” He takes it and heads back over to where Maria is sitting, taking a seat beside her, and pointing at her phone. “What book are you reading? I just finished that one where the girl sleeps with ghosts. It was trending on BookTok last week.”

“He mentioned BookTok,” Joules says blandly, looking back over at me. “I really do hate him, Lake.”

“I know you do,” I reply gently, but I’m not looking at my brother.

I’m watching Tam Eyre, and I’m wishing with everything I am that I could have a sneak peek into that mind of his.

Cunning little fucker.