Page 429 of Small Town Firsts
Damn him. He was always sneaky about nudging me into doing what he wanted. “Lawyers,” I muttered and put the ham steaks in to broil.
I washed my hands and heated a pan for the eggs just as my phone rang.
Since no one actually called me, I hurried over to make sure it wasn’t just a spam number. Surprised to see Luna’s name on the screen, I picked up and put her on speaker.
“Hey, girl. What’s up?”
“Ry? Are you home?”
I frowned and turned off the pan. It wasn’t like Luna to sound panicked. “No. I’m at Preston’s.”
“Oh.”
“Is everything okay?”
“No. Yes. Yes and no. Oh, goddess. One second.”
The phone clattered onto something. “Lu? Luna, are you okay?”
I heard water running and a groan before she came back on. “Ugh. I swear, I don’t have anything in my body to throw up, and yet it still keeps coming.”
“Oh, hell. Are you okay? Do you have the flu? I can come over and bring broth or stop at Georgia’s shop for supplies.” Luna’s superpower was making her own elixirs from our friend’s apothecary.
“No, I have something a little more permanent.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“Of the demon spawn variety. Freaking teacher. Imma kill him. He’s never known the hex that I’m going to put on him. His ancestors for a thousand years will hate him.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Ugh. One more second.” The phone hit the table or the floor—I couldn’t be sure which one.
I rushed over to the stove and pulled out the ham before I burned down Preston’s very nice kitchen. I slammed the pan on the stovetop and waved away the smoke. “Shit.”
I ran over to the window and opened it to get the smoke out. The cat, who was obsessed with the window, hopped up and started cleaning his leg.
“Ry?”
“Here,” I yelled and ran back to the phone.
“What’s going on?” Preston came running in, wearing just a pair of jeans. “Is that smoke?”
I waved to him and he saw the overcooked ham. He flicked on the overhead fan and gently pushed me to go sit down.
“What can I do?” I asked Luna.
“I need somewhere to crash for a bit.”
“She can stay here,” Preston said. “She’s family.”
My eyes instantly filled. I had to swallow down the lump. I quickly hit mute on my phone. “You don’t even know what the problem is.”
“It doesn’t matter.” He crossed to me and rubbed my arms. “Tell her to pack a bag, and I’ll go get her.”
“We will.”
He kissed my forehead. “We’llgo get her.”
