Page 5 of The Secret Life of a Witch

Truthfully, I know my fleeing escape won’t do any good. Even before we started college a month ago and decided to rent a house together, Hunter never let me off the hook from much of anything. And now I don’t even have the option of running away and hiding out at my own place.

He chases after me, his boots thudding against the floor. “Don’t run off. We need to talk.”

I quicken my pace, taking the stairs two by two. “There’s nothing to talk about. I swear.”

“Then why are you running away from me?”

“Because I don’t want to be late for class.”

“That’s not the reason.” He runs up the stairs behind me. “You’re avoiding telling me why you took that class.”

When I reach the top of the stairs, I stumble over the threshold and into the messy laundry room. “I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal about this. So I took a class about experimental magical treatments. It’s not some life changing decision.”

After tripping over three piles of dirty clothes, I make it to the hallway and scramble toward my bedroom. He jogs after me, and I take off into a run, swerving around the boxes littering the hallway.

“This isn’t just some class you took because you were bored,” he says from right behind me. “I know you, and well enough that I can figure out the real reason.”

“There isn’t a real reason. I’m not that mysterious. And you should know this by now—” I trip over a box and lose my balance. My wand and book fly from my arms. Sparks shoot from the end of my wand and blast the light green walls with spots of the most awful shade of brown.

Crap. My roommates are going to be so pissed.

But I have bigger problems to deal with right now. Like not falling flat on my face and escaping.

I move to regain my balance, but Hunter trips into me from behind. We lose our footing and both go down hard. I land flat on my back, my head knocking against the hardwood floor.

Cursing, Hunter tumbles on top of me, managing to put his hands out and stopping himself from completely crushing me. Although, I must say, if I had to die, getting crushed by him would be a pretty decent way to go; with his hair tickling my forehead, buried in his scent, squashed beneath his solid chest.

Mmmm … He smells so nice …

With a hand positioned on each side of my head, he holds his weight up and stares down at me. “Are you okay?”

Those damn butterflies I just told to shut the hell up are no longer listening to me. Thankfully, I’ve spent many yearslearning how to sound cool as a freaking freeze spell during hot, fiery, skin damping, breath catching Hunter moments such as these.

“Am I okay?” I playfully pat him on his scruffy cheek. “Hunter, Hunter, Hunter, my dear sweet friend, with how many times you’ve seen me bust my ass, you should know better than to even ask that question.”

He bites back his amusement. “And you should know better than to think I’ll stop asking you if you’re okay. Besides, this fall was kind of my fault.”

I nod, secretly hoping he’s forgotten about why he was chasing me. “Man, you’re such a meanie, pushing down a girl like that.”

His brow quirks. “Push?”

I nod, fighting back a grin. “And I always thought you were a gentleman, but I guess I was wrong. Makes me wonder what else I don’t know about you.”

An undecipherable look flashes across his expression. “Actually, there’s a lot of stuff you don’t know about me.”

I can’t tell if he’s joking or not, but the idea doesn’t sit well with me. I mean, we’ve been friends for almost eight years. That has to mean we know each other inside and out, right? Then again, he doesn’t know I’m in love with him. That’s one tiny, little thing, though.

No, he has to be teasing me.

“You’re such a liar,” I say with a grin. “I know everything about you.”

“Everything, huh?” A challenge dances in his eyes. “You really think so?”

I feel like I’m walking into a trap, but I dive in, anyway, hoping to entirely distract him from the reason we fell to begin with. “Um, yeah. We’ve been friends forever; how can I not?”

His eyes twinkle wickedly. “Prove it, then. What color underwear am I wearing?”

My nose scrunches. “Ew, gross.”

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