“Not tonight, I’m having dinner with Selene.”
Hux grins. “Say no more. You two have a good night. I’ll see you on Sunday.”
SELENE
“I can’t believe it. First my baby sister and now my baby girl. When did she get old enough to date? I swear she was only just taking her first steps.” Gwyn’s handling the situation better than I expected given how protective she is of her daughter. Eve stopped by the shop after school to talk to her mum about going to the Halloween dance with Michael. As promised, I was ready to jump in as the voice of reason if needed. Luckily, Gwyn kept her ‘my little girl’s growing up’ panic inside until after Eve left.
“You and Brooks have done a great job raising her, but she’s sixteen now. It’s not unusual for someone her age to be interested in dating. At some point you’ve got to let her go out and make her own choices and trust that when she makes a mistake, you’ve given her the tools she needs to deal with that.”
Gwyn looks up from where she’s laid her head on her arms atop the sales counter. “When did you get so wise?”
“I’m a moon witch, we know things,” I joke.
Gwyn perks up. “Do you think you could?—”
“No.”
She straightens, putting her hands on her hips. “You don’t even know what I was going to ask.”
I laugh. “Oh, Iso do—and the answer is no. I will not peek into the future to spy on my niece’s love life for you, so stop giving me the ‘mum’ stance.”
Gwyn drops her arms to her sides with a sigh. “You’re annoying when you’re right.”
“Mmm hmm.” I go back to sticking prices on the bowl of individually wrapped plastic vampire fangs.
“Am I doing the right thing? Letting Eve go to the dance, I mean.”
Lowering the price gun, I meet Gwyn’s eyes, doing my best to ease her concerns. “I think so. She’s got a good head on her shoulders, and Michael’s a sweet kid. She’ll be OK.”
Her shoulders slump on her exhale, and she walks over, wrapping me in a long hug. “Thank you.”
“Any time.” I give her one last squeeze, then step back. “Are you going to be alright here?”
“I’ll be fine. Brooks is only a call away if I find myself having another meltdown. You go. Enjoy your date with Jared.”
No matter how much time I’ve spent with Jared over the past few weeks, excited butterflies still dance in my stomach like it’s a first date while I walk through town to meet him at Hunter’s Moon for dinner. The town is decked out in its finest Halloween decorations, ready for the opening night of the festival next Friday. We’ve switched over the usual stock at Threads of Magic for the human-safe costumes and nick-nacks at the beginning of this week. The black cat plushies Jared found so amusing when he helped me organise our delivery a while back sit in a pet bed on a shelf near the front of the shop—I’m looking forward to seeing his reaction. Making my serious mate smile has become a new hobby of mine.
Speaking of, the secret of our mate bond continues to weigh on my heart. Dove, Cordelia, and even Huxley, all think I should just tell him, but they’re not thinking about this from a human perspective. While Jared’s really come into his own thanks to his demon lessons from Huxley, occasionally assisted by me, he’s still only had a month to adjust to his new life here. I was about to tell him last night before Eve’s call interrupted. Maybe I can tell him after tonight’s dinner instead.
It shouldn’t be this difficult, but every time I think about telling him, I remember the look on his face when he asked me if we could take things slowly—he seemed so lost. I could tell he was afraid hitting the brakes would mean losing me and, while the mate bond would offer reassurance I’m not going anywhere, it’s also a lot of pressure, especially for someone who wasn’t brought up hearing about fated mates. I can make sure Jaredfeels secure in our relationship all on my own—I don’t need to risk making him feel trapped by the mate bond.
He wanted to take things slowly, so we have been. Is it driving me up the wall having my mate so close without being able to go beyond some heavy making out? Of course. Jared’s smart, kind, and fucking hot. But we’ll have a lifetime to enjoy each other physically. We only get one chance to build our relationship from the ground up and I’m more than happy to take the time to make sure our foundation is solid before we go any further.
Leaning against the wall of the bar, Jared waits for me looking sinfully good in dark-blue jeans, boots, a forest-green shirt, and his brown leather jacket. His tortoiseshell glasses complete the ensemble and, when he nudges them up the bridge of his nose, I’m reminded of the way he looked putting them back on last night with glassy eyes and kiss-swollen lips after we hit pause once again. I tug my lower lip between my teeth. Spotting me, Jared stops propping up the wall and smiles in a way that tells me he knows exactly what I’m thinking about.
“Hey, handsome.” I press a kiss to his stubbled cheek and slide my hand into his. We’ve kept the PDA to a minimum these past few weeks, but we’ve not exactly been subtle either. The town definitely took notice when we started spending more time together. Any gossip is like gold in Crystal Lake, but news of our budding romance lasted longer than I’d expected. Probably because the supes here know I don’t date, and Jared being new to town meant he was still something of a novelty. Luckily, everyone’s pretty much used to us now, and the looks of surprise and interest have all but stopped. Neither of us was a fan of the attention.
Jared ducks down to press a kiss to my temple as I walk through the door he’s holding open for me. “How was your day?”
“Good. The delayed order of Halloween accessories finally arrived, so I put them out on the shop floor. Only a few people stopped in to grab costumes, but I’m not worried—next week will be busier.”
“I’ll remind everyone at The Chronicle to stop by.”
Simple as that. I never realised how much having someone in my life who cares about the little things would mean to me. Jared’s shown me he’s here for more than just the highlight reel. He’s constantly finding ways to bring his own brand of magic into the mundane routine of our lives. From stopping by the shop with coffee for me and Gwyn a couple of times a week, to walking me home from work when I’m on the closing shift. He even fixed my garden gate without me so much as hinting at it. A couple of days after our first date, I got home one day to find it fixed. At first, I thought maybe Brooks had done it even though I’d told him not to worry. Then I found the dark chocolate and cherry cupcake in a box from Sweet Dreams on my doorstep, and I knew it was Jared.
I’ve well and truly fallen for my fated mate, and he doesn’t even know the bond between us exists. There’s comfort to be found in the fact I’m pretty sure Jared’s fallen for me too, even without the bond influencing his decision. He cares about me for me. I only hope that when I do come clean, he’s able to understand why I kept the information to myself for so long.
JARED
