Page 46 of Best Hex Ever
And then again, when they played a round of Pictionary, Dina became particularly frustrated with her team’s inability to guess what she’d scrawled on the board, and she pulled her hair free of its updo. Dark brown curls cascaded around her face as she locked eyes with Scott, and he wanted nothing more than to wrap that hair around his fist and have her paint his cock with her lipstick. She had unleashed something in him.
As it grew closer to midnight, Scott noticed that Dina, Immy, and Rosemary had begun exchanging furtive glances with complicated facial expressions—the secret language women hadwith their friends that he had no hope of understanding. There was something in the air tonight though, even he could feelit.
He looked over at Dina, currently playing darts in a corner of the parlor, her skin glowing a burnished gold by the firelight.
Was it her magic that he felt? His brain was still trying to define what he’d seen her do with the moonlight. Mostly, he felt relieved. He’d always wanted to believe in magic, to believe that the world was bigger than what he saw around him. He’d tried so hard to believe. In a way, he’d dedicated his work to it. But Scott didn’t have to try anymore. Dina was the manifestation of everything he’d so desperately wanted to believein.
Being alive meant being vulnerable, and she’d trusted him with the most vulnerable side of her. He wanted to be worthy of that trust. He wanted to earn it, and continue earning it, for as long as she’d have him.
“I recognize that look,” his mum said, coming to sit beside him on the window seat. Juniper jumped into the space between them, wriggling around on her little legs until she found the perfect spot to nap, her head nuzzling into Scott’s side.
“What look?”
“The way you’re looking at her,” Alex said, tipping her head in Dina’s direction. “Why didn’t you tell us you had a girlfriend?”
“I don’t.”
“I see.”
“It’s all very new.”
“Pssh,” his mum said, waving her hand dismissively. “New doesn’t matter. When you know you know. I told Helene I loved her on our second date.”
“Not everyone can be that lucky. What if…what if she doesn’t want what I want?”
“Did she say that?”
“In so many words.”
His mum reached out and squeezed his hand. “Well, maybeI’m biased, but seeing you two together, it doesn’t look like just a weekend thing. I worry about you getting hurt. I just…I don’t want to lose you again because a relationship went south and you need to escape.”
Scott glanced at his mum. She wore a sorrowful expression.
“If it doesn’t work out, I won’t leave again. I promise.” He tickled Juniper’s head and she wriggled further onto his lap, her belly splayed upward for more scratches.
“I should never have left in the first place,” he admitted. “I didn’t know what I was doing, I just had to get out.”
Alex smiled. “I get it. You don’t need to justify yourself to me. You know we both love you, whether you’re here or on the other side of the world.” She pulled him close and pressed a kiss to his temple.
“I love you too,” he said. They sat together for a moment more, until Juniper began dreaming, letting out small yips in her sleep.
“Better get this one to bed,” his mum said, scooping Juniper into her arms. “She gets cranky in the mornings, just like Helene.” She smiled, love written all over her face. “Goodnight,” she said, “and whatever you get up to tonight, I don’t want to hear about it.” Then she winked and left the room.
Scott sat for a little longer by the window, enjoying the crisp air and view of the full moon, until something moved in the corner of his eye. Outside, walking through the fields, was Dina. He watched her, paying particular attention to the sway of her hips as she walked, until she disappeared into the treeline. Where was she going this late on Halloween? Shortly after, he spotted Immy and Rosemary heading the same way.
“Ah, spotted them did you?” Eric said, walking over and handing a beer to Scott. They clinked the bottles together then moved back to the worn leather sofa by the fire.
“Where did they go?” Scott asked.
“Ah, um, it’s a secret bachelorette thing.” Eric was slurring his words a little.
“I see. A secret you can’t even tell your best man?” Scott laughed.
“Don’t pull that card. Look”—Eric took a small sip of his drink—“I am under oath not to tell anyone about the field.”
“What field?”
“Ah shit. The north field. Look, just…don’t go there, okay. It’s a private thing they do every year. Something, I dunno, magical.”
