I don’t reply, and instead choose one of the blocks that I know will collapse the entire tower.
“No, wait?—”
She launches across to try and stop me, but she isn’t fast enough. The blocks crash onto the table, scattering acrossJasmine’s books and the basket of fries Juniper had left on the table earlier.
A man a few tables away begins a slow clap, and Juniper shoots him a glare that could easily make someone reconsider every decision they’ve ever made.
“Damn. I guess I’m not as good at this as I thought,” I say.
“Or you’re just avoiding my question,” Juniper suggests.
“Like you’re avoiding mine?” I counter.
We stare at one another for at least twenty seconds, and in those seconds, I feel as if the rest of the room is melting away.
“How long before your shift is over?” I ask.
“An hour,” she replies, voice hoarse.
“The most agonizing hour I’ll ever experience,” I sulk.
“Who said you’d get any relief after?”
There’s a coy smile erasing whatever dejection might have been in her eyes a few moments earlier. It spreads and dilates her eyes, darkening them to the point that I’m forcing myself to sit still and not shift. My cock twitches under her stare.
“You’re going to make sure I’m out of air before you save me from drowning, aren’t you?” I ask.
The corner of her lip rises higher. “On the verge of death.”
I blow out a jagged breath and begin gathering up the Jenga blocks. “Vixen,” I taunt her.
She huffs amusedly as she stands to go back to work. “Do you need anything?”
“You.”
Her head shakes, and she backs away from me without another word.
I’m in pain, watching her finish her shift.
By the time she starts her shift-end duties, I’m already gathering her coat and mine at the door. She’s telling the guys at the bar that she’s out for the day when I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket.
Blaze
How’s it going? Is she okay?
Of course he has to check in.
You and I are no longer friends.
Why? What did I do?
Because you’re the reason I’m in distress right now.
I can hear my brother’s laughter in the breeze.
Excellent.
How is your magical rediscovery going? Back to your glorious self yet?
