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“Welcome to my world.” He stepped back as Penny straightened her blouse. “Can I call you? While we’re gone?” His uncertainty was oddly endearing, but Penny wasn’t willing to surrender. Bash needed to suffer a bit.
Chapter 22
Penny sagged against her apartment door, but quickly reopened it. Maggie stood opposite her, looking lost and alone. Earlier that evening, she’d told Lucas she was a witch, and when he’d laughed, she’d shown him. It hadn’t gone well. Cal had rescued Lucas from his panicked escape through the parking lot, and the coven had comforted Maggie.
The Buchanan witches had a mixed history with men. It was rare to find an accepting man, but from Penny’s brief chat with Lucas while Cal drove them home, she knew Maggie had found one. But for now, Maggie needed to follow Elspeth’s advice and give Lucas space to process and focus on football. Elspeth had money riding on the games, and she didn’t want to lose.
After the game at San Francisco, the team was flying to Seattle and practicing at the University of Washington’s facility for the week. The coaches and staff didn’t want the team distracted by the holiday festivities, so they thought training and staying in Seattle for the week before the game would be a good idea. Bash and the other team leaders had argued against it, but the head office had made the arrangements months before.
“Want to join me in another glass of holiday whiskey? We can sing sad Christmas songs together?” Maggie said, as George purred at her feet.
“Pass. I don’t want to spend the night listening to you sing Blue Christmas, and I’d rather have tea than whiskey.”
Sleepover? George looked excitedly between them.
“Do you still snore?” Penny asked Maggie, warming to the idea of a sleepover.
“Do you still kick and hog the bed?”
She does not snore. It is a loud purring exhale and the only one who’ll be hogging the bed is me. Now go get your jammies on. George lifted his front paw and pointed at Penny before licking it. And brush your teeth. I don’t want my whiskers singed by morning breath.
“Says the cat who licks his privates.”
I’m flexible, and jealousy doesn’t suit you.
Penny looked at Maggie. “Whatever you’re letting him watch needs to stop.”
“I know. I’m a bad cat mom. Don’t leave me alone with him.”
Hey!
“I could use some more TLC, and I bet you want to talk.”
“I’m good,” Penny said, studying the carpet.
“So, you don’t want to talk about Gloria Sebastian being Bash’s mom?”
Whoa, whoa, whoa, what? Tall, dark, and rude is the famous writer lady’s son?
“You heard?” Penny asked, ignoring George.
Maggie chuckled softly. “Lucas’s family buying Brewster’s space out from under me wasn’t the only secret spilled tonight.”
“Plus, your extraordinary gifts.” Penny said.
“And Bash’s origin story.”
“I called it his alter ego, but origin story is better. Maggie, it was so weird. Gloria was cold and critical. He’d been in the store chatting with teammates and signing autographs for almost ten minutes before she came over to him. Our mom would have vaulted over the table and tackled us in a hug.”
“Maybe she was tired?”
“I don’t think so. It was hard to watch, even though I’d like nothing better than to hex him.”
“The disadvantage of being a good witch,” Maggie said, and the sisters shrugged. As teenagers, they’d begged Elspeth to let them learn about spells and hexes, but she’d held firm, insisting that powers like that were curses, not gifts. With age and maturity, the desire to hex had lessened. Otherwise, there’d be several women in Cascade City with incurable acne and men with premature hair loss and falsetto voices.
Busy night. Almost as good as a Real Housewives episode. Grab your jammies while Maggie makes tea and we’ll reconvene in the horizontal meeting room. He sauntered into Maggie’s apartment.
“You’re a manipulative, self-serving, demanding cat,” Penny said to his back, shaking her head while Maggie smiled indulgently at him.
