Don’t think about him using those hands creatively onyou.
Thankfully, his eyes glazed over like he’d followed a thought down a rabbit hole and didn’t notice the way I bit my bottom lip from the images of his hands on me.
Friends, Tempie.
Friends don’t salivate over each other.
“That sounded fun too. But I didn’t want to overcommit, so I chose herbalism.”
“Makes sense with the rant you went on at the apothecary last night.” He chuckled, and I rolled my eyes.
My baby familiar needed more time to hatch, so the vendor had told me to finish shopping at the fair, and I would be notified once she was all done. At the apothecary tent I found out that Nathuria knew many remedies for sicknesses we didn’t, and I crashed out.
All those nights I spent up late with Piper while she had major ear infections? Could have dropped a little bit of oil and Hylia, a natural growing herb in the other realm, in her ear.
But noooo…. I had to hold my feverish baby while she cried without much help.
I needed to know more and was pleasantly surprised when Cealian, the apothecary vendor, was listed as the club leader.
“You gotta admit with the Nathurians’ knowledge,” I said to Rylan, “we’re going to have a lot more medical breakthroughs.”
“That’s my hope. Ever since the incident, I’ve been trying to figure out how to improve our realm. We have a long way to go.” Rylan relaxed against the paint-chipped railing. Muscular arms lifted behind his head, and I tried not to stare at his chest… or his crotch.
Rylan’s soft chuckle told me he saw me staring, and I turned my head so fast to look at the lake, I nearly gave myself whiplash.
The water was slick as ice, and the sun just started peaking over the trees ahead.
“It’s wild to think how different our lives were just two months ago.” I’m not sure why I said it. I guess the view and the list had me thinking of my life pre-magic.
“I’m glad for it,” he said. “I have more clarity on what I want now than I ever did.”
His words made me pause, but I still didn’t face him.
“I think it’s pushed me to seek clarity in ways I wouldn’t have back home.” I let my thoughts flow, and I hoped I could trust him with them. Which made me think of Lucas and home. Then, I laughed through a big grin. “Hell, I wouldn’t have left home if it weren’t for magic. I’d have likely kept working at the bank and maybe got a hobby to pass the time.”
So far, I’d been going through the motions of school—go to class, listen to teachers, eat, hang out with Remy, and now learning about snake life.
I had to give myself credit for making it through my magic education to this point, but I wanted more for myself. I wasn’t that old Temperance anymore.
“It doesn’t sound like a bad life,” Rylan murmurs, “but I think you deserve better.”
That time I did look at him. His words were something I’d say to someone I cared about. As I scanned through my mind, I couldn’t remember the last time someone besides Piper said something like that to me.
We held each other’s gaze in silence as the sun fully crested over the trees. I wondered what he was thinking, and instead of only wondering, I did something from my list.
Do something brave every day.
I asked him even knowing he could unravel me. Stupid, hot billionaire that I couldn’t stop admiring. “Why would you say that? That was a kind thing to say, but we hardly know each other.”
“It’s the truth,” he said simply, shrugging his shoulders. “I think you were born for magic and deserve to blossom into the person you were meant to be.”
Those were not the words I expected, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Don’t swoon, Tempie.
Friends, remember? Friends don’t swoon around each other.
“I’m still learning,” I said with a sigh. “Sometimes it feels like I won’t ever get it right.”
