Page 36 of Evergreen

“I’m the best, and you know it,” Nerion said, reaching over and stealing one of my fries. “But seriously, you need to talk to him. Figure out what this is. Because if you don’t, you’re just going to spend the next few months pining and being miserable, and I’m not going to let that happen.”

“Why do you care so much?” I asked, genuinely curious. “I mean, I get that you want me to be happy or whatever, but this seems like a lot even for you.”

Teddy and Nerion exchanged a look that I couldn’t quite decipher. It was the kind of look couples gave each other when they were communicating something without words. Finally, Nerion shrugged.

“Because I know what it’s like to be scared of letting someone in,” he said quietly, and there was something in his voice that made me take him seriously. “And I know what it’s like to almost lose someone because you were too stubborn to admit how you felt. You had a front-row seat to my idiocy and I don’t want that for you.”

I didn’t have a response to that. Nerion wasn’t usually serious about anything, so when he was, it hit different. I picked at my food, thinking about what he’d said. About Cass. About whether I actually wanted this to be something more than just sex.

The answer came immediately and with surprising clarity. Yeah. I did.

“Okay,” I said finally. “I’ll talk to him. After our shift tonight. I’ll take him back to my room again.”

“Ah-ha!” Nerion shouted, pointing a finger at me. “I knew it! You two did bang it out!”

“I’m going to kill you,” I said flatly, but there was no real heat behind it. Nerion just laughed, completely unbothered by my threat.

“You love me,” he said, stealing another fry. “Now come on, spill. Details. I want to know everything.”

“Absolutely not,” I replied, but Teddy was already grinning at me like he was looking forward to hearing this. I sighed, realizing I wasn’t going to get out of this without giving them something. “Fine. But I’m not giving you play-by-play commentary. That’s private.”

“That’s fair,” Teddy said, shooting Nerion a look that suggested he should probably rein in his enthusiasm. “So things went well?”

“Yeah,” I admitted, feeling that warm flutter in my chest again just thinking about it. “Really well, actually. He was very patient. And he didn’t make me feel like shit about the fact that I had no idea what I was doing.”

“Surprising,” Nerion said. “That’s who Cass is behind that asshole facade, huh?”

“He’s not an asshole,” I found myself saying, defending him almost automatically. “He’s just scared. Of disappointing people. Of not being good enough. Just like everyone else.”

Nerion and Teddy exchanged another one of those looks, and I realized I’d probably just revealed more than I intended to. But it was true. The more time I spent with Cass, the more I understood him. Underneath all that grumpiness and defensiveness was someone who actually cared deeply about things. He just didn’t know how to show it.

“So you like him,” Nerion stated, not bothering to phrase it as a question.

“I... yeah,” I admitted. “I do.”

“Good,” Teddy said, nodding approvingly. “Because he obviously likes you too. The way he looks at you when he thinks no one’s watching is pretty much a dead giveaway.”

“How would you know that?” I asked, slightly defensive. “You’re not around us that much.”

“I was there in the greenhouse the other day,” Teddy reminded me. “While Nerion was painting. And I saw the way he watched you while you were working. His eyes were glued to you almost the entire time.”

I felt my cheeks warm again. “I’m just big. It’s hard to miss me.”

“It’s not that and you know it,” Nerion said, leaning forward. “He’s infatuated with you. Trust me. I’ve seen that look before on men I’ve enchanted. He wants you real fucking bad.”

Teddy rolled his eyes but didn’t argue, which I took as confirmation that Nerion was probably right about this. The thought made my stomach flutter with a mixture of hope and anxiety. What if Cass actually did feel something for me? What would that mean for us at the end of the semester? He still had two years left and I would be graduating. We would be worlds apart.

“Can I ask you something, actually?” I replied, looking between them both. “When you two first met… did you feel something different about each other?” I glanced over at Nerion. “You’ll fuck anything that has a pulse⁠—”

“I beg your pardon⁠—”

“So what made Teddy different?” I finished before he could argue further. “Why couldn’t you just move on to someone else?”

Nerion was quiet for a moment, his usual smirk fading into something more thoughtful. He reached over and took Teddy’s hand, threading their fingers together like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“It wasn’t a choice,” he said finally, his voice softer than I’d ever heard it. “I tried to keep it casual. Tried to convince myself it was just sex, just fun, just scratching an itch. But then he’d say something stupid or sweet, and I’d feel this... jolt. Like electricity. Like my magic was literally drawn to him.”

Teddy squeezed his hand, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.