Still reeling, I gaze around us, as if the environment will help this make sense. But, no, we’re just in a shadowy alley that smells like dirt and dust. Georgiana tucked us away in the shadows to take what she wanted from me. Just like she always has.
“You dragged me into this alley to kiss me in secret.” I glare down at her. “Like something shameful.”
“No! It’s just that … I just wanted to talk to you. In private.” She stands taller and reaches out to place her hands on my chest. “I still want you, Bo.”
I step back, dodging her touch.
“Still want me?” I shake my head, flummoxed by this whole turn of events.
“Yes.” Her voice is breathless, pupils wide as she reaches for me again, and the wall at my back halts my retreat. “We were young and wild together. I miss that. I miss you.” She drags her touch downward, as if cataloging my muscles through my flannel. “I want to be with you.”
My brain clicks back online, and I slide to the side toward the alley’s entrance.
“Do you?” I ask, my voice hard. “Because that all just sounded like you want to fuck me.” I frown hard, hurting, like rusty nails are in my stomach. Not because I was hoping for Georgiana to want me again, but because it’s painful, being reminded how little I mean to someone I used to see as my world. “Are you ever going to stop trying to use me? Just because I cared for you once doesn’t mean I’m going to be your twenty-something side piece because you’re bored, married to your human doctor.”
Georgiana flinches back, eyes wide, manicured nails glinting pearly white as she presses her fingers against her lips.
“I was always your dirty secret. Now you’re looking to repeat the past.” The anger drains out of me as fast as it rose. I was never great at staying mad. My next words only carry exhaustion. “Maybe you do actually want me. ButIdon’t wantyou.”
My eyes drop to the hot latte in my hand, where I see Sonya’s sloping handwriting.
Bo & Mor.
“Bo, please?—”
“Bo?” a voice asks from the mouth of the alleyway, and I turn to find Ame in a set of scrubs. “Is Georgiana bothering you?” the witch asks, not caring for tact in the slightest.
Gods, I love the Shelly family.
The siren, whose voice sounded vulnerable and hopeful just a moment ago, tucks those emotions behind a haughty mask. Or maybe it’s the other way around. I guess I’ll never be sure.
“Talking is not bothering, dear,” she huffs, then struts her way out of the alley, as if she didn’t just try to proposition me.
Ame steps aside to let the siren pass, and then the witch waits for me to join her on the sidewalk in the bright autumn sunshine.
“You have great timing,” I tell her.
“I heard a bigI want to fuck Bo Folandesire and thought it was Mor.” Ame stares up at me, expression unreadable.
“I hope that’s what Mor wants,” I mumble, staring at the sidewalk between my boots. “I’m not going to ask you to keep what just happened from her. But I’d like to be the one to tell her, if that’s all right by you.”
Ame stares at me. “You’re very bad at shielding your emotions. Did you know that?”
“I … no.”
“You are. Mor will know right away that she’s the only one you want. If you’re going home right now to tell her what happened, feel free to FaceTime me if you want someone to corroborate your story.”
“FaceTime?”
“Video call.” She holds up her phone. “But I don’t think you’ll need it. I believe you. Mor will believe you.” Ame takes a step back, and then she runs her eyes from the top of my head down to my boots, then settles back on my face. “Would you like a hug? Jack likes when I hug him, but he’s also obsessed with me, so I don’t actually know if I’m any good at it.”
This witch. She’s kind of hilarious.
And when I consider her question, I find the answer almost immediately.
“I would like a hug.” I spread my arms, hands still clutching coffees, but that doesn’t stop me from wrapping them around Ame as she encircles my waist in a firm hold. “You’re good at this,” I tell her because she is.
This is a high-quality hug.
