Page 61 of Hexed & Hazy

“Fuck it,” he grunts.

This time, he grabs my face in both hands and leans in again, kissing me. Harder. He’s answering a question I still haven’t found the nerve to ask, one I’m too afraid of, no matter how many bites of that pie I had.

I push my tongue into his mouth and finally get a good taste. The groan he lets out warms my bones more than magic ever could.

Maybe this is how we break the hex.

But of course, it isn’t, and that’s the thought that brings it all crashing down.

He peers down at me, and rather than finding the desire I want to see reflected in his eyes… there’s an apology. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

One kiss, two kisses, it changes nothing. He’s still hexed. And if what Maple says is true, if Seth wants me, we need to do it right. Whatever we’re to become can’t begin until he’s ready, and he’s not.

Not yet.

“I know,” I say. “So… find me when you figure it out.”

Chapter 20

Rowan

Two days pass.

Seth doesn’t reach out.

I know I shouldn’t wait around for him—in a way, I’ve been doing that for too long. I told him to find me when he’s ready, and now that the confidence charm has worn off, I’m unsure if that will happen.

How do I know if kissing meant anything to him?

But then why did he kiss me again? Why did he hold my face like I mattered—like I meant the world? Why did he kiss me as if he needed me?

But he hasn’t called, and a few kisses can’t make me forget my prior engagements. So, when Dave texts me to ask if we’re still going to the ball…

I say yes.

Aspen has too much fun dressing me up, and I suppose my sister’s happiness makes it worth it. She curls a piece of my hair around her finger. Most of my hair is held back, with just my bangs and a few face-framing pieces at the front.

“I know that look,” she says conspiratorially. “You’re thinking about him.”

By him, she probably means Dave, and I wish I were. That would have made it all so much easier.

“How did you know?” I ask in a dry voice.

“A love witch can always tell.”

A love witch. Right.

Love, a field of magic and life that I feel so completely ill at ease with. Lost. My goddess, Athena, has no interest in helping me with love—and I have no interest in enlisting her in it. Perhaps Aspen will help me instead, but rather than asking, I accept her blessing and finish getting ready.

I slip on my shoes and meet Dave outside in his nice, reliable car. A kind, intelligent, hard-working, creative man. The sort of person I would like to be with; he’s so much closer to any of my exes than… well, than Seth.

But I’m still thinking of Seth. Still glancing at his house. Still wondering how I arrived here, at this place with someone so different.

Dave smiles, and I smile back, but my heart isn’t in it.

“You look stunning,” he says.

“You too.”