Page 19 of Novice Girlfriend

It was a whole assembly that now had lunch at the Oliverias. Of course, it was Mr. and Mrs. Oliveria, Link, Taylor, Mr. and Mrs. Reid, Tracey, Jasmine, Professor Wyatt, and now Winter since we were official.

And Clare. Clare had asked to be involved going forward and I wanted to give her this chance. I really did.

“First off, I think we should have this but for Familiar Treasures,” I told Tracey. “Sunday night dinner or something for you, me, Jasmine, Rita, Nina, and Keke. You can have lunch with the store, factory, and truck managers.”

She gave me an impressed look. “I couldn’t agree more. Well done.”

I beamed at her. “Thanks. Looking at Mrs. Reid’s list of how to de-stress and Clare helping me figure out where to start was a good step. No sessions this week is—yeah, refocusing is the right plan for break.”

“Agreed,” several people said supportively, which I appreciated.

That nice moment was short-lived when Winter filled us all in on what happened. I threw my pen on the table so hard it got serious airtime and almost hit Link.

“Sorry,” I grumbled.

He chuckled and slid the pen back at me. “I feel the same. It’s like… I feel the same.”

Never-ending bullshit for sure.

“How much money was I worth?” I snarked.

Tracey snorted.

“I didn’t count, little sexy,” Winter drawled.

“Okay, well, now I’m curious too,” Link admitted, giving a half shrug when I looked at him. I mean… I was too.

“Is Winter in trouble?” I worried once I realized that might be an issue.

“It was handled and legally so they couldn’t try to use their wealth and names,” Taylor promised. “We copied the footage and—we’ll handle it. It’s just maybe time to pivot on your security.”

Tracey flinched, picking up on something. “You want her guards cloaked.”

“Yes, and I want cloaked guards on those closest to her who clearly people would target to get to her,” Taylor added. He hurried on when Tracey opened her mouth. “We need to get people off the board or at least start identifying more of the possible issues. I wouldn’t have put any amount of anything on that little shit being so bold.”

“I agree,” I said quietly, shocking the others. I sighed and rubbed the side of my face. “I don’t know him, but he’s from one of the lowest-ranked top-tier families. A branch of it at that. And that’s bold. Stupid and over the top and doubling down to go against Winter who has clout at school and—this is…”

I shared a look with Taylor and saw we were on the same page.

“People are acting too irrationally since you wiped the board of known players and that status quo,” Mr. Oliveria surmised. “You cleaned off the top chess pieces basically, poppet. Everyone is scrambling to fill those spots, and that means people will scramble to fill their spots next.”

Clare snorted. “The rest of the Shaws certainly are and will never stop trying. I get calls from more and more Google numbers or whatever all the time after I block the last ones.” She gave me a worried look. “But more than that, you broke the mold. You did it in a big way.”

“And now everyone is thinking ‘why her and why not me?’” I surmised, nodding when she did. “They’re looking at alliance matings and miserable futures while someone they see as this blonde bimbo everyone discounted managed it. They will absolutely assume it was easy and—yeah, makes sense.”

“You’re all right and something to take into consideration, but putting that all aside, this isn’t—” Tracey started to say.

“Do it,” I told Taylor. “Put more on me, but cloak them. They’ll get outed, but the ones who are too full of themselves will always think that their magic will sense someone cloaked. We’ll need charms from someone more powerful. Mrs. Reid now that she’s been ramping up and harvesting competitively.”

She didn’t even deny it, shocking both Taylor and her mate. She smirked at me. “It’s not you. It was seeing Headmaster Kerwynn again. I remember when he was—I’m not a petty woman, but I have pride. Knowing his magic is now leaps and bounds ahead of mine irked me. It’s now a priority.” She glanced at Tracey. “You are also very motivating.”

“It’s one of my bumper stickers,” she drawled before focusing on me. “I don’t like this plan. You’ve been hurt too much.”

“Yes, but this time I’m making the call, and it’s not just we’re not being smart or too careful. This time we’re working harder to identify threats.” I softened when she couldn’t hide her worry, and Tracey could hide just about anything. “Not always. I’m not saying just go into an event alone. School. Certain times.”

She let out a slow breath. “Yeah, okay. I just—I need you more in a bubble, Bev.” She shared a look with Taylor that I didn’t fully understand. I sensed some warning but something else too.

Almost acceptance? Weird.