Page 46 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?!
“No, I called you sugar butt.”
He blinked, then barked out a laugh. “What the hell kind of name is that?”
I shrugged. “No idea. It just came out.” I winked at him. “I kinda like it though.”
He bit his lip and looked away, but I had no doubt he was blushing. It was too dark in here to see it, which was a shame since he looked adorable when he blushed.
After a brief pause, Lyric patted my hand. “Win’s gonna have to hold both our hands while we’re down here.” Then they added in a fake dreamy voice, “We can pretend to be a throuple.”
Miles and I both whipped our eyes over to them, and I knew I looked horrified. Lyric was my sibling in every way that mattered. No way did I want to think of them as anything other than that, not even if we were just joking around. Blech.
Lyric cackled. “Oh my god! You should see your faces.” They leaned forward and patted my cheek with one hand and Miles's cheek with the other. “Don’t worry, boos, I promise it was a joke. First of all, thinking of Win like that is just”—they scrunched up their face in horror and mock-shuddered—“absolutely disgusting—”
“Gee, thanks,” I said even though I’d been thinking the same thing.
They smirked at me before continuing as if I hadn’t spoken. “And second of all, I would never get in the middle of”—they waved a hand between Miles and me—“all that’s happening here. You two are too disgustingly cute together.”
Lifting my hand from their chest, I gave their shoulder a little push. “Don’t be an asshat.”
My small push made them laugh and take a couple of steps back. I watched in horrified fascination as Lyric’s laughing face turned into one of anger.
“Don’t push me, you dickweed!” They moved closer to me, acting like their tiny ass was going to get in my face.
All I did was put my hand on their shoulder, hoping my touch would stop their anger as easily as it did last time.
Immediately, the anger drained away, and Lyric looked a little sickened. “Shit. That was even more intense than before. Miles, you try.”
Before I could protest that we didn’t need to test it anymore, Miles stepped back, making my hand drop away from his chest.
Anger overtook his expression, and he instantly turned that anger on Lyric. “You really need to stop yelling at him, you douche canoe. He’s been nothing but nice, and you’re being a real jerk.”
Lyric leaned toward me and spoke quietly. “How cute is it that his anger is all about me being mean to you? He obviously likes you back.”
“Hey! Don’t whisper to him! What are you saying? Winter, what’re they saying to you? Lyric, stop being mean to him. You need to—”
Miles cut himself off the second I placed my hand on his shoulder. Unlike with Lyric, I let my thumb rub Miles’s skin on the side of his neck, making him close his eyes and shudder.His skin was so soft there, and I really wanted to feel it with my lips. It almost felt like everywhere we touched was sending little sparks of happiness through my skin. I hoped he let me keep up with the light touches.
“I’m sorry.” Miles’s voice was a hoarse whisper.
Lyric nudged me with their shoulder as we both stared at the still-closed-eyed Miles. Lyric said, “Nothing to apologize for. I liked your use of douche canoe.”
That made Miles snort, and I was grateful, once again, for my best friend.
Miles took a breath, then opened his eyes. “Soooo… clearly the magic is making us angry, and I’m guessing it’s worse down here because we’re closer to the source.”
“That’s my thinking,” I agreed with a hum. “Before we do anything else, let me see if I can suppress it.”
Closing my eyes, I tried to push my nullness outside of my body. To be honest, using my magic in this way wasn’t something I’d needed to do often in recent years—being an exterminator wasn’t usually as exciting as all this—so I wasn’t very good at it. My null magic wasn’t as strong as it probably could be if I trained regularly.
And this magic, whatever it was in the air, wasstrong.
So I wasn’t even surprised when I could barely cover the three of us with my magic, nor was I surprised that trying to maintain that coverage made my head dizzy.
When I tilted to the side, Lyric caught me, saying, “Yeah, no. We’re not doing that, Win. Let it go.”
I blew out a breath and listened to them, letting my magic go.
Lyric squeezed my hand. “Your innate magic is enough to help us as long as we’re touching you.”
