“I’m sure. I always have been, to be honest. I just don’t get… feelings like that for other people.” She looked at her pizza as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. “I pushed it down in high school. You know”—she glanced up at me—“because I was the head cheerleader and popular. Ethan and I were expected to date. I hated it. It’s part of why I was so mean. I was fighting so hard to keep all these things I really didn’t want.”
It was at that moment that I realized how similar Lauren and I were. I’d always envisioned her as higher than me. Somehow better because she was taller and more graceful and seemed to have it all together. I assumed her casual cruelty in high school was part of her personality. I’d never even hated her for it, though.
“I get it.” I reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Apparently, I’ve done a lot of that, too.”
“Anyway”—the blush disappeared and Lauren’s sunshine returned—"once I started with Agatha and slid into my power, the past just sort of dissipated. Ethan and I were both relieved when we divorced. Our friendship was always more natural than our romance.”
“I don’t know that I ever called Jeff my friend. We’d been part of the same group in college, pals in the sense that we were always at the same bar or parties. But friends?” I bit into the pizza, taking a moment to relish the ooze of it on my tongue. “Nope. It went straight from ‘I know that guy’ to ‘I’m dating that guy’ to ‘I’m married to that guy’ once I got pregnant.”
“He wasn’t right for you.” Lauren, sinking into our new gal pal dynamic, inhaled her pizza. I grabbed another slice and dropped it on her plate before loading my own. Like I said, there’s not much in this world that can’t be fixed with good food. “There’s someone else out there.”
There might have been a catch in her voice. I couldn’t quite grab it,and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. We ate in silence, enjoying the ambience of Gino’s pizzeria, even on a Tuesday. I drank more beer.
“I hope it happens for Ethan.” Lauren sat back with a happy sigh, dropping her napkin to her plate. “He still hasn’t met his fated mate. Keeps marrying women clearly not right for him.”
“Fated mate?” The words had been uttered so casually; I wasn’t shocked when Lauren looked at me like I had broccoli coming out of my ears.
“Yeah, you know.” Her eyebrows disappeared behind her bangs. “His destined soulmate.”
“No idea what you’re talking about,” I said into my beer. Whatever Lauren was saying, I was not getting it.
“Ethan is a wolf shifter, Simone.” Lauren shook her head, taking a dainty sip of her wine. “I assumed he told you in high school?”
I set my beer down, staring into it like I was reading tea leaves. Had he mentioned it in high school? I didn’t think so. He’d expressed frustration that I ran faster than him. We’d joked about physical fitness levels.
He definitely had not mentioned being a wolf shifter.
“Ethan Mosely,” I murmured. “Leading the Pack in Louisiana Justice.”
“His stupid personal injury slogan.” Beside me, Lauren scoffed. “I told him it was a bit on the nose.”
“I’ve seen a wolf around town.” My stomach churned again. I stopped and swallowed. I was not going to throw up all of that wonderful pizza and beer. “It seems like it’s… guarding me.”
Lauren tilted her head and scowled, but she didn’t speak.
“Long, dark fur. Hauntingly familiar eyes.” Even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t Ethan. “Not Ethan. Now that I think about it, it’s definitely not him. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that I know the wolf.”
Whatever Lauren was thinking about, she didn’t let it show. The scowl cleared, and her lovely face blanked. Wow. Was that a witch thing? I couldn’t read a single emotion off her.
She sipped her wine, watching me work things out. But the tension that grew between us, and this new info about Ethan I needed to digest, threw me off guard.
“If I were a better witch, I think I could force you to tell me what I’m missing.” I’d meant it to come out lighthearted, but there was an undertoneto my voice I didn’t recognize. Like I was testing the waters with a threat I didn’t intend to fulfill. “Couldn’t I?”
“As Ephemeral Supreme, Simone, you could direct me to tell you anything you needed to know.” Resentment coated her words like icy slime. “Assuming I knew the answers.”
Oof. I wanted to shrink in my chair. I’d touched a nerve.
“I’m so tired, Lauren.” It was true, and it had come out without me thinking about it. The panic attack earlier in the day, my attempt to learn magic, all this new information, and a belly full of beer and pizza finally all landed on me like a leaded door.
I didn’t want more tension with Lauren. I didn’t want her to hate me. I just wanted to go back to the house and sleep.
“I’m not interested in forcing you to do anything. I want and need you on my side.” I finished the last of my beer, fishing for cash from my wallet to leave on the table. “I’m here because you said you wanted to talk. Just tell me what you need to say, and we can call it a night. You’re not my enemy, and you never will be.”
In the same moment my throat relaxed, Lauren’s shoulders dropped. Her usual chipper smile returned to her face, lighting her pretty blue eyes.
“Your money’s no good here.” She shoved my cash back at me and set her credit card on the table. It had the business name on it. This was technically still a business dinner. That was smart of her. I had a lot to learn.
After the waitress left, Lauren propped her elbows on the table and focused on me.
