Page 5 of Bonded By Tea and Tarot

Regardless of how unlikely it is, I can’t stop hoping. I could use a walk before my Saturday afternoon classes, and Main Street isn’t too far from where I live. So I force myself out of the apartment, putting yesterday’s idea into practice and going to all the places I don’t normally go.

I start at the coffee shop, convinced her warm, earthy chai scent is lingering in the air, although my brain tells me it’s probably just the actual tea being served to customers. Then I wander up and down the street, eyes swiveling this way and that, darting to every brightly-colored skirt and golden-blonde head, only for my shoulders to drop when it’s never her.

When downtown yields no results, I tell myself I might as well walk through the park. It’s only a little further away, and so what if she’s often there in the videos she posts on her social media? I doubt she will be today. I’m only going because it’s been too long since I’ve enjoyed it. I swear I catch a hint of her scent weaving between the trees, but it’s so fleeting I could very well have imagined it.

My heart pangs when I turn around, resigned. I sigh and my steps slow as I plod back the way I came. I stop by the coffee shop on my way home, and when the barista asks what I want, I nearly ask them to brew an extra sweet masala chai for me.

But I don’t. Because I’m not that far gone.

I tell them to pick their favorite, then I pout into the tea when it doesn’t taste or smell like what I wanted.

I don’t even know what I’d do if I did see her.

Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t.

Chapter Five

Siobhan

I’ve been waiting for this for days. It’s finally our second tai chi class, and I can’t stop bouncing with excitement. I did my best to practice what I could remember over the last week, and I hope it shows during the lesson today.

Foolish though it may be, I want to impress Aury.

Sage and Wren meet me outside the community center, grinning at me as they nudge their elbows into my sides. Vee, one of Sage’s alphas, is propped against the brick wall further down, and I wave. She smiles and offers me a chin-jerk in response.

“We have it all worked out,” Wren says when I get close enough, placing a delicate hand on my forearm and squeezing in reassurance. Her voice is calm, matter-of-fact. “We’ll have our stuff ready to go this time, so at the end of the lesson we can duck out, and you can stay to chat with him.”

“Wait, what?” It takes me a second to catch onto what she’s saying, and then I can’t get the proper words out to tell them that’s not how it is. Yes, I think he’s cute, but I don’t need to try to start anything. “I don’t— That’s not⁠—”

Sage is nodding with what I think is supposed to be an encouraging look on her face. “You can do it! Do you want us to wait after? We can wait for you out here if you need moral support!”

And now I feel pathetic, though I know she doesn’t mean it that way.

“No, no. That’s fine, you don’t need to wait around for me.”

“So you’ll do it?” Sage says, her big brown eyes wide with excitement.

Did they just talk me in a circle until I agreed with them? I blush and shake my head.

“Fine, yeah,” I mutter, tugging them along with me into the building. “Whatever.”

My nerves turn to butterflies when I walk in to see Aury stretching. He’s sprawled out on the gleaming hardwood floor, body contorted in ways I can’t fathom and muscles flexing with the stretch he’s doing. My mouth goes dry and I come to an abrupt halt, causing Sage to run into my back.

“Oof,” she says, bouncing off me. “Siobhan?”

At my name, Aury’s head snaps up and a thin silver necklace swings from the abrupt movement. His dark brown eyes pierce me, flaying me open and sinking into my soul. I wouldn’t be surprised if he told me he could read my thoughts right now.

And then… is he blushing?

It’s hard to tell with his warm skin tone, but no. It’s probably exertion from whatever exercise he’s cooling down from. I doubt it has anything to do with me.

I convince my feet to move again and we file into the room. Sage and Wren are chatting quietly, and I try to tune into what they’re saying, but my mind is fixed on Aury behind me. Is he watching me? Does he feel whatever this draw is between us, too? Or is it just a me thing?

The lesson at least helps me relax, forcing me to focus on my body as we review the stretches and walk we learned last time, then start learning some of the forms. Aury demonstrates each one first, then goes through the motions one step at a time. His back is to us, so we’re all facing the front, and every so often our gazes collide in the mirror that covers the entire wall.

My heart skips each time it happens, and I bite my lip when my perfume starts to leak into the air around us.

“Shit,” I whisper, and Sage side-eyes me.