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“Well, yeah…”

Penny and Chelsea both screamed that time, throwing their arms around Sophie’s shoulders and waist.

“Everything all right over there?” Cal asked, making his way into the circle.

Tess shooed him away. “Girl talk. Get lost.”

“Fine, but not without a little—” Cal twirled his wrist then slapped Tess’s butt.

Tess yelled at him as Cal let out another booming laugh and escaped her clutches.

Alana kept an eye on Freya, who looked like she wanted to make further comments. But she watched as her sister relaxed, her demeanor softened as the magic settled in.

The girls descended into a deeper conversation about boys and sex, with a fair share of inappropriate comments and pieces of advice from seasoned veterans like Tess and Kaia. Alana remained quiet, sipping on her drink. It had been a while since she had sex. There was the occasional hookup with strangers in her first year away from home, but she never left feeling fulfilled by the interaction, so she stopped putting herself out there altogether.

Freya remained quiet as well, twirling her empty glass, listening to their conversation with a calm expression on her face. She wasn’t frowning or making comments, and Alana knew that was the assistance of the magic.

She reached over and topped off her sister’s glass, wondering if maybe she would be lucky enough for a decent conversation tonight. “How are you doing?”

Freya blinked up at her. She waited for the usual look of disgust, but Alana was pleasantly surprised as Freya hummed back. “Trying to be okay,” she admitted. “I know we’ve raised a good amount so far, but we’re still nowhere close.”

The fundraiser currently sat at seventeen thousand dollars, which was a significant amount. But they still needed a lot more if they wanted to save the farm, and they only had two more weeks to do it.

Alana nodded. “Do you think Klaus would be okay with a partial payment to start? If we showed up with half, maybe he would give us a little more time for the rest.”

“And by a little more time you mean a few more weeks of posting a campaign against his business?” She snorted a laugh. “Yeah, that would definitely go well.”

Alana smirked back. “Okay, fair point.”

She ran a hand down her face. “I’m kind of surprised he hasn’t sent lawyers yet.”

Alana frowned. “You know we’ve been careful with our language, focusing more on saving the farm and not attacking the Kasners directly. Except for a few…comments about Klaus.”

“It’s still enough to come after us for defamation, though.” She scratched her neck. “Can I tell you what I want?”

This is going even better than I thought. “Of course.”

“My dream is to walk in there with a duffel bag full of cash, barge into his office, and drop it on his desk before telling him off. I want to see his face go white with shock or red with anger. I want him to know that he should never mess with Freya Marien ever again.” She sighed. “That feels like a pipe dream though.”

“We could make that happen,” Alana replied.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

The sentence seemed charged. Alana knew there were words unspoken, but she chose not to press on it. There was luck on her side tonight. “You’re right. But I think if we make our goal, you should do everything you just said.”

Freya straightened her shoulders, then nodded her head. Her eyes flicked to someone behind her. “Chris is here.”

Alan turned to find her ex near the entrance of the barn. He was being greeted by Cal and Garret, then Leo shortly after. He wore a chambray shirt and khakis with those leather boots, and the ensemble still caught her off guard. He looked nothing like the boy she used to date. It was oddly relieving to physically see the ways he’d changed, and for the better.

He lifted a hand in Alana’s direction. She waved back.

“Are you going to talk to him tonight?” Freya asked.

“I already told you that we spoke.”

“You know what I mean, Lana.”

She scrunched her nose. “Why do you care so much if I talk to him?”