She pursed her lips. “And before that, in the summer, what happened?”
Elliot narrowed his eyes, thinking. “I healed that dog who got run over by the car, remember? The one with the ruptured spleen?”
“And earlier that day you were with Damon?”
Elliot rolled his lips. “Uh huh.” He remembered that day vividly. They’d been invited to a pool party, which devolved into a game of chicken. Damon had lifted Elliot onto his shoulders. His big hands had wrapped around Elliot’s thighs and squeezed them to keep him steady.
After their team won, Damon had been elated. He’d tossed Elliot over his shoulder like he weighed nothing. Damon ran around the pool, shouting their victory. He’d slapped his ass—in a very manly, platonicdudes in sportskind of way—but Elliot’s body didn’t recognize the platonic part. When Damon finally put him down, Elliot’s body slid across his best friend’s wet, naked chest in torturous slow motion.
Elliot had to excuse himself because his lust-killing spell was not working, and in fact, his powers were churning in his veins, heating him from the inside out.
By the time he finally got them under control, his shift at the clinic was in an hour and he had to leave.
“The first time your powers manifested, it was because Damon was hurt,” Grandmama said. “He’s the key. Your powers react to him.”
“What?” Elliot asked. “No one else’s powers work like that.”
She shrugged. “Prove me wrong. Go make up with him and come back here. I bet your powers are jumping from your skin.”
Elliot shook his head. “I spend like every day with him. If he was the key, why don’t my powers work every day?”
Grandmama pinched the bridge of her nose, looking put upon. “Because I’m guessing that there is a very specific energy that you’re tapping into with him on certain days?”
Elliot blushed. His grandmama wasn’t really saying he needed to be horny to get his powers to work, was she? Horny for Damon because his powers certainly didn’t get boosted when he messed around in the backseat of his car with guys from school.
“Give it a shot. Let me know if it works.” Grandmama said. “But keep the details to yourself.”
Yep. That was exactly what she was saying.
Elliot had been a wreck for the past week and a half. He missed Damon so much. Going to his house. Sitting on his bed. Just being near him.
He couldn’t live this way anymore. He needed Damon in his life, and he didn’t want to hide who he was.
Damon already knew he was gay, so telling him that Elliot was a witch probably couldn’t be much harder…
And then Elliot could hang out with Damon again and know that he’d told his best friend all of his secrets.
Well, almost all of his secrets.
All of the secrets that actually mattered.
Elliot stayed after school on Thursday and settled himself on the uncomfortable metal bleachers outside the baseball field. It didn’t take long to find Damon. Elliot’s eyes were magnetized to the long graceful lines of his body and the rippling of his muscled arms as he threw the ball to his teammates in the outfield.
The clouds parted, and the sun shined down on Damon like he was an angel. His brown skin glistened. His every movement, divine.
Elliot left his bag on the bleachers and walked toward the chain-link fence to get a closer look. Parents and other adults lined the edges, talking to their kids before the game.
He didn’t know how Damon knew that Elliot was there, but Damon turned and looked straight at him.
Elliot held his breath.
Damon grinned, and he tossed the ball to someone and jogged over.
Elliot hooked his fingers into the chain-link fence and pressed himself as close as possible. Being in Damon’s sightline made something inside of him feel lighter, his magic fizzing in his veins.
Damon pulled his glove off and tossed it on the ground. He grabbed the chain-link fence on his side, his hands just inches away from Elliot’s.
“What are you doing here?” Damon asked, out of breath, despite only jogging a few yards.
