If Blossom competes next year, I don’t know that I could put in my all. I never want to see that adornment on a head other than hers. She looks beautiful in my creation.
“Figured out the secret message of my pumpkin, huh?”
She scowls and crosses her arms over her chest. “Could you be any more obvious?”
“I don’t know. Let me try.” I lean forward and hold my hands out, palms splayed in surrender. “Blossom Fernmore, I’m gone for you. Please know that as much as I love teasing you, this is the truth. Please believe me when I say, you’re all that I want, and your happiness means everything to me.”
She’s silent for an agonizing stretch, then extends her hand.
On it, I see the ring. The one I made.
I wondered if she would ever realize who the gift was from. I half expected her to know the moment she opened the box.
And then to chuck it at my head.
But I overheard Heather ask about the ring once, her eyes on me. My best friend knew I’d grown interested in metalworking and that I’d convinced a local dragon artist, Dimitri Novac, to let me apprentice under him. He taught me until he passed away a couple of years ago. I still miss that grumpy old mythic.
Now that I work for Owen at his recycling company, I have access to plenty of scrap metal for my hobby.
The crown was the first piece I fashioned that Dimitri approved of.
The ring was the second.
But Blossom told Heather that their dad had gotten it for her as a gift. That was when I realized the story she’d made up for herself.
One that Heather didn’t believe, but was a good enough friend to keep her mouth shut about.
Now that I think about it, that must have been Heather’s first hint that I was in love with her sister.
“I can’t believe you never told me. You’re a sneaky wolf,” Blossom chides with affection in her voice, and I preen under the hints of her caring for me.
But will she stay?
Can I do anything to keep her here?
The problem is, I don’t want to force Blossom into the decision. No more bets or tricks. I want her to choose Folk Haven on her own.
I want her to choose me.
“Let me know if you want a complete set,” I tell her. “Necklace. Bracelet.”
The wood witch saunters up to where I sit in the grass, back braced against the trunk of an apple tree. I told her to meet me here because even if she didn’t show, I’d still have the scent of her around me. Still be able to stare at the flattened patch of grass where I held her last night.
Blossom sinks down, settling in my lap as her legs straddle my waist. “Nipple piercings?”
I rear back in surprise, shoulders hitting the tree trunk. My wolfish libido roars to the forefront, taking the joke entirely too seriously.
“Yes.” I growl out the word, hands encircling her waist. “But I need to see the flesh I’m working with.”
Blossom snorts. Then, her face turns thoughtful as she speaks. “Jenny owns a house on the lake in the human section.”
Confused by the change in topic, I offer a confused nod. “She does.”
Blossom wraps her arms around my neck and fiddles with the hair at the base of my skull. “Heather was saying they were going to move into Jenny’s place permanently. Not go back and forth anymore. Heather’s going to sell her house.”
I remember my friend mentioning this too.
“She asked if I wanted to buy it.”
