Page 52 of Witch You Weren't Here

Harry answered with a brief smile. Then he half-carried her back into Leon and Alex’s living room and laid her on the sofa. She probably could have done a lot of it on her own if she’d tried, but it was too nice having him so close, his arms all around her.

‘Where you going?’ She caught hold of his untucked shirt as he straightened up after pushing a pillow underneath her head. She tugged hard and he had to put his hands out either side of her to stop himself from toppling onto her. Boo hiss to his quick reflexes. His taste filled her mouth, and she wanted more of it. Goddess, she wanted to feel the weight of his body on top of hers so much, her mouth was watering.

‘I have to …’ He took a shaky breath and shook his head. ‘I have to get us ready to leave.’ He pushed himself up. ‘I’ll be back in a minute. Will you be OK without me?’

No, she wanted to say. Stay. But that was too reminiscent of how she’d felt as a teenager and she was a grown-up now, after all.

‘Sure,’ she said in what she planned to be a nonchalant voice, but it came out weirdly high-pitched, as she flopped her heavy arms back over her head.

Harry blinked, his gaze travelling up her, before he stood up straight, driving a hand into his hair. ‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ he repeated and headed for the door.

The sofa was really comfortable, almost as comfortable as the booths downstairs, and she ran her hand over the throw, back and forth, feeling the silky threads, the bumps against her palm, the odd place where they were starting to fray. There was an art deco style lampshade above her, hovering like a spaceship. Such a gorgeous shade of blue. Like Harry’s eyes.

But no. His eyes weren’t blue apparently. Would she ever see the right colour, and if she did, would it be because of how she felt, or because of how he felt? What she needed was evidence, if he wasn’t going to tell her.

She rolled onto her side, scrabbling for her tote, digging around for her phone. It wouldn’t be odd to text Joe and ask him for a photo of Harry, would it …

‘We need to leave as soon as possible. Is there anything you can make her?’

Harry was back, and Kay realised she’d shut her eyes and drifted off, her mind full of bright shapes, like the lampshade and the stained-glass window downstairs. She pried her eyelids up to see her head was level with the coffee table, one arm and one leg hanging off the sofa.

‘Not really, H – my magic is emotive, rather than physiological. She has a drug in her system. You can’t counteract that with good vibes. I mean, I could help if she’s feeling paranoid?’

‘Not that I’ve noticed,’ Harry mumbled.

Kay wondered why he sounded so shifty about it. Maybe because the only real emotion she’d been showing him was that she was horny.

She giggled.

‘Hey,’ Leon crouched down by her head and she grinned at him. He raised an eyebrow. ‘Someone is buzzing.’

‘I don’t think it’s just because of the cookie,’ Kay whispered. ‘I kissed Harry. Shh.’ She pressed her finger to her lips and giggled again.

Leon laughed and whispered back, ‘Glad to see he hasn’t lost his touch.’

‘What about coffee or … orange juice?’ Harry sounded like he was a million miles away. Kay forced herself up onto her elbow, saw he was actually just in the kitchen with Alex, and flopped onto her back again. ‘Does that help or was it just an urban myth I heard back at uni?’

‘It can help,’ Alex said. ‘Since she ingested it rather than smoked it. She might feel more stoned to begin with, but she’ll digest it quicker.’

‘That doesn’t necessarily sound helpful.’

‘Harry, it’s OK, it’ll pass. She’ll be fine.’ Leon’s voice moved further away and Kay realised her eyes were shut again. They were too heavy to open, even though she wanted to see what was going on.

‘I need to get her on a ferry. At the moment, she can’t even stand up. If we miss that ferry …’ his voice cracked and there was some movement in the room.

‘I know. I know.’ Leon’s voice was soft and when Kay forced her sticky eyelids open, she saw Alex had one of his huge hands on Harry’s shoulder, squeezing him with a comforting gesture. Why was he comforting Harry? Sure, he wanted to get them back for the wedding, but he wasn’t going to get that upset about it, was he? Her own desperation must have been leaking off onto him.

At least her magic hadn’t been leaking. A miracle, considering how she’d felt so full of … sparks. She couldn’t help but give a hum of satisfaction.

‘She really didn’t eat that much. Are you sure she isn’t just drunk on you?’ Leon’s voice was full of barely contained amusement.

‘Stop it. I feel terrible. I didn’t know she’d eaten anything. Goddess, why am I always such a disaster around her? Even when I think I’m doing the right thing, it turns out to be selfish and ends up hurting people—’

‘Now you stop it. You said it yourself; you didn’t know. And you stopped as soon as you realised.’ There was a pause where Harry must have nodded because that was the truth. ‘Did you talk beforehand?’

‘A bit. Not about everything, we got distracted …’

‘Are you going to make sure you pick up the conversation again …? Harry?’

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