‘The two primary suites are down here too but we always leave those for my mom and grandmother,’ Lydia declared, then gestured towards a dramatic staircase. ‘The rest of the bedrooms are upstairs. Mine is the furthest on the left, the rest are up for grabs so y’all run on up there and take your pick.’
I hung back with Wyn by my side, still carrying all the bags.
‘And how many bedrooms are there exactly?’
‘I don’t think I ever counted them all. Six? Seven? Maybe eight, I don’t know.’
She looked back at us, registering the tiniest hint of panic in my eyes and clear discomfort in Wyn’s.
‘Ohhh.’ She laughed, delighting in the awkward moment. ‘Don’t sweat it. There are more than enough rooms to go around, sharing is optional. I’ll let y’all work that out for yourselves.’
With that, she sprinted up the stairs, leaving us to followslowly behind. Did I want to share a room? Did he? If he suggested it and I said no, surely his feelings would be hurt. But what if I suggested it and he said no? With each silent step up the staircase, I wished I’d had more time to think. I’d slowed down time to make better decisions before but seemingly the blessing didn’t think this would be a good use of my magic. Which only went to prove the blessing wasn’t always right.
‘You want to take a look at this one?’
Wyn stopped in front of the first door on the second floor.
‘Sure.’
When it came to the blessing, I had to trust my instincts. A witch shouldn’t second-guess herself or try to force her magic, only feel what was right and go with it. But in that moment, my instincts were a maelstrom, my wants, my desires and my fears all fighting with each other, each of them shouting louder than the last. Everything was swirling so fast, I couldn’t manage to get a grip on one particular feeling.
‘Nice room,’ Wyn said, placing my backpack down on the bench at the bottom of an enormous bed, dominated by throw pillows. ‘Real nice.’
It was nice. Huge and nice. My brain was too busy trying to process every emotion I had ever experienced to think beyond that.
‘Wow, ocean view.’
The ocean.
Sure enough, right outside the windows, the Atlantic Ocean glittered like a sea of sapphires under an aquamarine sky.
‘No wonder I can’t think straight,’ I murmured under my breath, drawn across the room to open the huge French doors onto my very own private terrace. The sea air hit me like a full bottle of tequila. Not that I’d ever drunk a full bottle of tequila but I had to imagine it would feel something like this: light-headed, my thoughts fuzzy, barely able to tell up fromdown. I backed inside quickly, closing the doors before Wyn could join me.
‘Everything OK?’ he asked. ‘You look kind of pale.’
‘I didn’t realize how close we would be to the ocean,’ I replied, feeling foolish. I could’ve asked. I could’ve looked at a map. This was entirely my own fault.
‘And that’s bad because …?’
‘The tides don’t play well with my magic,’ I said. ‘Everything feels a little mixed up.’
He raised his eyebrows and nodded, logging the new information, and for a moment I panicked, the Weres might not know witches were weaker around an ocean.
‘If you don’t want to stay, we can go back,’ he offered, reaching for his phone. ‘I’ll call an Uber, we’ll leave right now.’
A rush of shame replaced my worries. This was Wyn. This was about me and him, not a witch and a wolf. I trusted him with my life. Standing there with his messy hair, T-shirt half tucked into the back of his jeans where he’d got dressed in a hurry, just looking at him grounded me.
‘We can stay,’ I said, steady enough to walk back towards him and place my hands on his hips. ‘I want to stay. With you.’
‘Any time you change your mind, you say the word and we’re out of here,’ he replied, and I pushed up onto my tiptoes to meet his lips, already clearer and more focused. He’d definitely got taller in the last month. I had to crane my head back to look up at him.
‘I’ll take the room next door,’ Wyn suggested. ‘All you have to do is holler and I’ll come running.’
Just like that, he made the decision for both of us. He leaned down to kiss me again then pulled away, taking my breath with him. He was being a gentleman, I was sure of it. If I asked him to stay, he would stay. If told him I wanted him in my room, in my bed.IfI asked him. Raising my arms to encirclehis neck, I opened my mouth, not sure what I was about to say, when the door opened wide.
‘Shit, sorry. Didn’t know y’all were in here.’
Jackson took one step inside before turning his head away but not before I caught the look on his face and every word he’d said in the parlour of Bell House rushed back to me. Was it really only two days ago? It felt like years had passed since then.
