Page 92 of Hopelessly Teavoted
“Fine.”
She took out a pan and glanced over her shoulder at him.
Goddess, what he would give to brace her over the counter and rail her until she screamed his whole name and dropped the smirk. It was impossible, of course, or if it was possible—and he wasn’t saying hehadn’tconsidered the logistics of, say, a full latex suit—it would be different enough that they would need to talk about it more than just a little bit of banter over vegetables, or the lack thereof.
“Can you crack the eggs?”
He snapped his fingers, and music drifted from the speaker of his phone as the eggs flew through the air and cracked gracefully against each other to the rhythm before dropping into the pan.
“Would it be so bad, Vickie? To live like this? Together, at a small distance, touching carefully? Protected.”
“Azrael.” Her voice was a warning. “I can’t cook distracted, especially when you’re smoldering like that.”
“You’re making instant noodles.”
“Exactly. They require precise timing. Can we just pretend it’s a normal dinner date, between two people who aren’t cursed not to touch?”
Shit. She’d meant that kind of pretending. Which he could do. He swallowed. “I’ll drop it. I promise. Listen, let’s eat, and then we can plot out everything we know about the Big Bad and have a few more drinks.” Her eyes narrowed for a moment, and he held up his hands in an offering of peace. “A few more safely distanced drinks, and then maybe I can take the couch.” He gestured to the couch, pressed up against the wall shared by her bedroom.
“That couch is not comfortable enough to sleep on.”
He snapped his fingers, and it extended. The cushions fluffed and moved outward. It was big enough now to stick out into the edges of the hall.
“Fine.” She stared at him. “But we stay far enough away from each other to avoid any temptation. And you put my couch back to fitting in my living room when you’re done.”
Swallowing, he nodded. He wasn’t sure there was any distance long enough to do that, but he’d take what he could get.
By the time they were done with the instant noodles, he couldn’t believe they were from a package.
“You’re impressive,” he said, digging in.
“I aim to please.” She swirled a fork around in her bowl, catching noodles and eating for a few minutes before pausing. “So, asshole boss?”
“I’ll follow him this week. I should have done it earlier, but I got caught up in grading and anxiety, and since we knew whoever it is won’t really make a move until Halloween, it kind of kept sliding down my to-do list.”
“I get that. Even the end of the world feels like it could get pushed back when things get hectic at work.”
“Shop busy?”
She sighed.
“I’m running myself ragged. I need to hire more help now that Hazel’s only weekends and early dismissal days. I just worry about money, and I told myself if I work hard enough, I can handle working all day and baking and prepping late into the night. Doing the bulk of everything else on Wednesdays when I close the store.”
“Vickie,” he started. He couldn’t reach for her hand, so he snapped instead, warming the apartment to the perfect temperature. “It’s okay to ask for help sometimes.”
“I know,” she said, biting her lip. “Do you think you could maybe set up some of the baking prep work with magic? I suspect that’s how your mom made things run so smoothly.”
“Shit,” he said. “Yes, of course. That would be so easy. I cantake care of it tonight, and set it up so the prep work happens up here, so Hazel doesn’t notice anything amiss. But you have to look for more help in the shop too. You deserve rest.”
“While we are on the subject of burnout,” she began. “I think you could ease up on the weekend-long grading stretches.”
He frowned. “Won’t students—or their parents—be upset if they don’t get work back right away?”
Vickie shrugged. “Probably some will. But most will probably understand, and even the ones who don’t, I bet they’d be more upset to lose you as a teacher if you keep up this kind of unsustainable hustle to return every assignment so quickly.”
“Fine,” he said. “It’s a deal, but only if we both agree to set aside some time for solving magical mysteries.”
“And for personal pursuits.” She pushed the empty bowl away from her, and he smiled, snapping his fingers to take care of the dishes. “Can you get the ones I left in the shop too?”
