Page 67 of Wicked Witch

“Now, that’s a view,” I holler. Three hot, sweaty, shirtless men is just what my hormone-ridden body wants.

“Come here my little incubator,” Cirrus shouts, and I cringe.

“Nope, never call me that again. Can you all come inside? We need to chat.”

Astor starts my way, so I turn and go back inside where it’s cooler.

Arnie is standing in the kitchen with my fridge open, invisible drooling. “I miss food so much. My brother and I would make the craziest sandwiches on the nights our parents worked late.” He sighs, and concentrates on shutting the door.

“I wish I could heal you of being dead, but I am not into necromancy.”

“Yeah, no thanks. I’ll just stay and haunt you until you join me in the great beyond,” he mutters and I laugh.

“No dice, bestie, as soon as this curse is broken we will find out what happened to you and get you crossed over.”

Arnie frowns and plays with his camera strap. “What if I don’t want to leave. You guys have become my family.”

“I would never force anything on you. But just think about it okay?” He nods, then floats out of the room and up into the second floor.

“That sounded like a hard conversation, you okay, my little cherry pop?” Moving behind me, Cirrus pulls me into his arms, placing his hands on my stomach.

I am even larger than I was last month. Stupid Fae sperm. Sighing, I pull away from him and shuffle toward the pantry.

We bought these lemon biscotti bites at Costco, and they have become my new addiction.

“Why do you hate me so much,” I wail. They are on the top shelf, and I can’t reach them.

“Um, did you forget you’re a witch babe?” Astor asks. He has humor in his tone which I do not appreciate. But he’s right.

Waving my hand, the bag levitates and moves toward me.

“Great now that we’re feeding the hungry monster, what did you need to talk about?” Cirrus says, pulling out a stool and helping me onto the seat.

“So, Halee called and she’s having a hell of a time. It seems the contractor scammed me or something, and the work is still not done. The bookstore is in disarray, and they have caution taped off the stairs.”

Astor pulls out his phone and leaves the room. “I’ll take care of it, baby.”

Sin moves closer and grabs one of my cookie bites. I don’t mind sharing, but I’m watching how many he’s taking.

Costco is known for having limited time things. Who knows if I’ll get them again.

My lower lip trembles at the thought, and Sin drops the cookie. I smile, then snatch it and greedily shove it into my mouth.

“Do you think you need to pop back to Texas? I could probably portal us.”

I nod, finish chewing, then groan.

“Yeah, Halee isn’t equipped to handle all of the stress. She’s an amazing bartender and waitress though.”

“Um, dove, if we’re planning to live here don’t you think we need to discuss selling Books & Brews, or appointing someone to take the reins?”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that a lot. I was going to ask my cousin, Autumn. She has a business degree and lives in Texas. I’d like Halee to become a co-owner with her though.”

“I’ll have the contracts written up,” Astor says, returning and catching the tail end of our conversation.

“As for returning to Texas… do you think that’s okay? I mean this in a loving way, dove, but you’re pregnant.”

“No, shit, Arsen, thank you for that wildly observant statement. I had no idea. Ya know now that I think about it, though, the having to pee every twenty minutes, constant nausea, and breaking out into tears randomly is starting to make sense.”

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