Page 37 of Their Promise

“I hate making bets with you,” he grumbled. “You and Trey.”

“That’s because we always win them,” I said with a wink.

“Name your stakes,” he said with a sigh.

“If I win, you have to spend a day with me in your avian form.” He wasn’t opposed to his bird form, but he preferred to be in his human form.

He scowled. “I get to shift if you’re in danger.”

I nodded.

“Fine. If I win, you have to send those earrings back to the dragon douche,” he said.

My eyes widened. They really hated Luca. Was it for more than the interactions I’d witnessed? Why give back my gift? They were a birthday gift, not a courting gift.

“Fine,” I agreed and held out my hand.

He shook my hand, smiled wide, and waved for me to play. “Ladies first.”

I hit the ball, but it bounced off of the side of the unicorn’s mouth and back towards me.

Mason put his ball down, hit it, and it sailed straight through the unicorn and into the hole, giving him a hole in one.

My mouth dropped and I said, “Beginner’s luck.”

After four more tries, I finally got my ball through the unicorn.

The next hole was a dragon themed hole where you had to hit it up the dragon’s tail, up and over its back along its spine, and down off its nose into the hole.

Once again, Mason got a hole in one.

“How are you so good at this for your first time?” I asked.

“I never said it was my first time,” he replied as he spun the club.

I scowled and asked, “When did you play this?”

“On a double date with Trey, we played and I got obsessed with it afterwards. I played occasionally after that, too.”

A painful ping went through my chest. “A double date, huh?” I asked, trying not to let him see that hearing it upset me. I set my ball down and prepared to try to hit it.

“His mom set him up a few times and he begged Kay and I to go. We took turns going with him,” he continued, oblivious to my discomfort.

“Hm,” I replied and hit the ball. My hit was too hard and it bounced off the dragon’s tail and zoomed right back towards my face.

Mason caught it right before it hit my face and scowled at me. “You okay?”

No. No, I was not okay hearing that they had gone on dates with other women. I hadn’t gone on a single date. I hadn’t kissed a single person after the last time I had kissed Mason.Not a single guy in college. I knew I was acting crazy, but I couldn’t stop my emotions as they swirled higher and higher out of control. As the spell activated and tried to alter my normal emotions further. As the darkness begged for me to break something … someone.

“Fine,” I ground out and tried to snatch the ball from his hand.

“Lily, why are you upset?” he asked.

“I’m not,” I lied.

He grabbed a strand of my hair and showed the glowing piece to me. “Liar.”

Exhaling harshly, I admitted, “It upset me to hear you went on dates.”

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