Page 69 of Blue Moon Mistress

“Not tempting fate, just you.”

Thomas pulls my coat off the hook and holds it out to help me into it. “If you wanted to walk us out, you should have put on clothes, old man.”

They share a half hearted glare, and I step between them, kissing Chase lightly. “I’ll see you soon. I promise.”

Thomas winks at him before we leave, and I pretend I don’t notice.

But as soon as the door closes behind us, Thomas scoops me up and carries me down the cement stairs.

“Those shoes look awfully wobbly.”

“Sure,” I say, knowing he didn’t expect me to believe him.

When he sets me down, he doesn’t let me go. “You know,” he says, dipping his head to brush a gentle kiss across my lips. “We are going to need a ranking of bed comfortability, eventually.”

I kiss him back, barely pulling away to say, “Mine’s going to win.”

I feel her before I see her, and when I peek around Thomas’ shoulder, she’s there, staring at us with all the righteous indignation I’d expect.

“Good morning, Mrs. Miller.” I say with a cheery smile, though I open my eyes a little too wide when I look back to Thomas. “Get an eyeful?”

She lets out an enormous harrumph and hurries back inside.

“So you know,” Thomas says, leaning down to kiss me again. “She came over yesterday morning to let Johnny know you were cheating on him with Joshua.”

“And how did she take it when she found out you’re sharing me?”

He grimaced. “He didn’t tell herthat. But he did make it clear that no one in the house has any specific claim over you.”

Before I can say anything, he presses a finger to my lips. “Not that we don’t all want to possess you in every way possible… We just know better.”

“We’ll see what we can figure out.” Because I want to possess them too. And that is a dangerous path to travel.

Many a witch has tried to hold onto a supernatural creature… and to my knowledge, all of them have failed.

“Come to the game on Friday night?” Thomas asked, bringing my hand to his lips to brush a kiss across my knuckles.

“I’ve never been to a high school football game.”

“There’s a first time for everything.” He holds my door open and watches me as I sit. “The energy is kind of inexplicable.”

“I don’t have a good track record with teenage boys. They tend to want to know me when I’d rather turn them into frogs.”

“I would love to see that… There are a few I know who deserve it. But it’s probably a bad idea.”

“Definitely a bad idea.

With a smile that tugs straight at my heart, he says. “You should make a repellent. There’s got to be a potion for that, right?”

“I’ll think about it. The game, I mean. Not the repellent.”

“If you do want to, meet the guys here. Six o’clock, tomorrow night. They can protect you from the high schoolers. And maybe you can protect them too.”

He laughs and lets me shut my door.

I watch him walk away, the high school is visible from here, a pale building set on a hill, looking like a prison. And likely feeling like it to the students sentenced to its standardized testing.

When Mrs. Miller comes back out, tiny spade in her hand, I start the car. When I give her a cheery wave, and her eyes narrow even more sharply. I imagine she wants to stomp down the steps and wield the tiny shovel at me.