Page 32 of The Spell Caster

“I just wanted to talk to you.” He prowled nearer. He was in all black as usual, his tight-fitting uniform that showed off his strong arms, the edges of his tattoos splashed near his collarbone. He had pushed his hands through his already messy hair. I liked it way too much.

“You look… so good,” he said, running his eyes over my body.

I shivered despite being overheated. “You look pretty good too.” I tried for nonchalance, but I couldn’t catch my breath.

What am I doing? This wasn’t good.

“You think so?” His lips tilted up on one side in a teasing smirk.

“Maybe a bit.” I bit my lip against a loopy grin.

“Just a bit?”

I rolled my eyes. “You don’t need me to tell you you’re hot.”

He chuckled darkly. “Yeah, I think I do.” He moved closer to me, trapping me against the wooden railing with a hand on either side. “You gonna tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“Tell me you think I’m hot. I wanna hear it.”

My mind sped out of control, barreling past flashing red warning signs. “I think you’re hot.”

He gave me a wicked half grin that stopped my breath. A final step swallowed up the space between us until he was pushing me against the railing, pressing our bodies together. He smelled delicious, like salt water and alcohol. My body thrilled.

“What’s that?” he murmured in my ear. My heart careened helplessly as this turned into way more than I bargained for.

“I said you’re hot,” I whispered.

“Hmm?” He ran his nose along my cheek.

“You’re hot, Costi. You’re so—”

I gasped out loud as his lips landed behind my ear—

He whipped his head around when the door slid open and a partygoer popped their head through as music spilled from inside. “Hey, is Florin out here? Oh… sorry.”

We jumped away from each other, awkwardly pulling tangled arms and legs back into their own spaces. I glanced at Costi in the warm light from the open door—his face mirrored the exact kind of stunned that I was feeling.

What in the sacred name of fate were we just doing? This was bad, bad, bad. My heart pounded in my chest. No one could see who we were in the dark, right?

“I should take you home,” he said, then coughed. “To… to your apartment. To bed. By yourself.”

I clamped a hand over my mouth to stifle a hysterical laugh. I’d known Costi my whole life, and I couldn’t ever remember him being flustered.

We slipped back through the party, not touching. Outside, a row of solar lights led from the community house to the main walkway. It was a bit of a walk, but Costi seemed to know the way. We were quiet. He seemed lost in thought.

When we got close, I showed him where my coven lived. We stopped at the door, standing in the porch light.

“We need to talk,” he said. His face was carefully blank.

“Yes.” I worried my lip between my teeth.

“Tomorrow?”

I nodded.

He exhaled a breath and leaned into me. He ran both hands up my bare arms, curling them around my biceps, holding me in place. I shivered. He dipped his head and I tilted mine up, lining up my parted lips with his but not quite touching.

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