Page 18 of Forged

Nick wasn’t so sure about that. Several days on, and it was his heart he was most worried about.

“I wish it would snow more in England these days,” Bax commented as they strolled briskly through one of the wooded sections of Hawthorne House’s grounds. “Imbolc is the celebration of midwinter and all about looking forward to spring. There are a few rituals I’d like to bring into my practice that require snow, but that certainly isn’t going to happen this year.”

Nick felt unaccountably bad about that. He felt bad for not being able to give Bax a load of snow to play with. That didn’t make any sense at all.

“So that’s what this festival is, then?” he asked, his breath puffing in the frosty air in front of him as they walked up a small incline. “It’s a snow thing?”

“No,” Bax laughed. “It’s kind of the opposite, really. Imbolc is a fire festival. It’s the festival to honor the goddess of the hearth, Brigid.”

“But it’s celebrated in the middle of winter?”

Bax shrugged. “What better time to celebrate the warmth and light of fire than at a time when everything is cold and dreary outside?”

“You’ve got a point,” Nick said.

It was definitely something to think about. He’d always loved working in the forge in winter. The contrast of blasting red and orange heat inside and cold grey and brown outside had a sort of poetry in it, like opposites attracting.

He glanced at Bax just then and found him smiling and pink-cheeked. That smile sent a rush of warmth through him that made it feel like he had some sort of smoldering forge fire growing within him.

It was a silly thought. Bax was a friend, the closest friend he’d had since Raina had died. Maybe he was just so starved for connection with an adult that he had put more significance into their friendship than he needed to.

Then again, when he’d been over-attached to his friends as a kid, they’d always let him know by pushing him away. Bax definitely wasn’t pushing him away.

“I guess I can make do and figure out another way to celebrate the holiday without snow,” Bax went on as they reached the edge of the woods and started across a swooping, frost-covered field that was filled with wildflowers in the summer. “It’s more about the fire and the feast anyhow.”

“You should hold your ritual, or whatever you call it, in the forge,” Nick suggested with a sudden smile. “The forge is all about fire. We could even set up a barbeque of some sort so you could roast a pig or something.”

Bax laughed out loud. The sound sent shivers down Nick’s back that he tried to ignore.

“I wouldn’t know where to start roasting a suckling pig over an open flame,” Bax said. “But maybe I could find some sort ofDutch oven and a chicken or something and roast it with a bunch of root vegetables.”

“Is that what you’re supposed to do for an Imbolc feast?”

They’d reached a bench that Robert’s father had installed that looked out over the view of the field, and Bax veered off the path to sit for a moment. Nick sat with him, glad they weren’t in a rush to get back to the house and everyone else in his life.

“You can do whatever you want for an Imbolc feast,” Bax explained, stretching his arm out along the back of the bench. That brought his hand into contact with Nick’s arm, but he didn’t seem to notice. “I might have been in charge of planning the ritual for Imbolc, and pretty much every other holiday, in my old coven, but my friend Gerald, who was an excellent cook, was in charge of the menu. He used to come up with something weird and different every year. He said it was an exploration of culinary proportions.”

He laughed, but that laughter faded quickly. Nick’s chest squeezed as he watched Bax’s smile fade and his expression turn wistful as he stared out over the field. He wanted to do something. He wanted to make Bax’s world better.

If he was honest, he wanted to throw his arms around Bax and hug him the way he had when Bax had been removed from that group chat. He’d been trying hard not to read too much into that simple gesture, but it had felt good. Bax’s body was solid and fit, even though he was on the small side. There was nothing feminine about him, so Nick had dismissed his feelings as just being friendship.

“I could help with your celebrations, if you need help,” he offered.

He should not have felt so nervous about making the offer. It absolutely should not have made him jumpy and worried about rejection or being laughed at. He wasn’t asking Bax out on a date or anything.

Bax turned to him, his smile lighting up once again. “Really?” he asked. “You’d want to help me celebrate?”

“Of course,” Nick said, then rushed to add what felt like a necessary, “That’s what friends are for.”

He caught the slightest flicker of something in Bax’s expression. His eyes dropped quickly to Bax’s lips, which were soft and pink from the cold. The pulse of excitement Bax’s lips gave him made Nick quickly snap his eyes up to meet Bax’s, but that didn’t help the roaring uncertainty and…discomfort? Was it discomfort that buzzed through him, settling in places he didn’t want to think about?

“You’re a good friend, Nick,” Bax said, brushing Nick’s arm.

His touch lingered. The air between them seemed charged, like a storm was about to break out. Their eyes stayed locked, and Bax pressed his lips together like he was going to say something. Or maybe do something. Bax definitely had an energy about him that said he was about todo something.

Nick held his breath. Did he want Bax to do something? He’d never been particularly physical with his affection, except with Raina. That was more about what Raina wanted than what he did. He certainly hadn’t kissed anyone since Raina.

Why was he thinking about kissing anyhow? Kissing Bax?

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