Page 27 of Witch Please

“I haven’t had samosas since—wait, I see what you’re doing! Don’t change the subject.” Crossing her arms, Clem attempted to look stern.

In response, Danica tried an innocent expression. “What do you mean? You asked about my night, and I’m telling you what I ate.”

“Are you seeing him again?”

Danica shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably. We kissed, and it was…” She pretended to wipe sweat from her brow. “You don’t find chemistry like that every day, so I’m having a hard time pulling myself away, you know? I feel like it would be an irresponsible use of sexual tension if we don’t orgasm together at least once.”

Her cousin’s eyes widened. “That good? Just…be careful, I guess. And remember our deal. Things only stay calm as long as we’re neutral like Switzerland.”

It sucked that any choice she made regarding her personal life could be considered taking sides. Gram would video call Danica’s mom if she got serious with someone from a vetted witch family and be all “in your face” about it. Her mom would probably not react so triumphantly if she hooked up with a mundane, but it would certainly fuel the conflict. She sighed and waved a hand in her cousin’s general direction.

“Trust me, I’m aware,” she said finally. “Can we table this for now?”

“Of course. You get that I’m worried, right? I don’t want you to get hurt again. Even if you don’t admit it, even if you weren’t all in on that relationship, I know Darryl messed you up. I still want to punch him over how he strung you along and—”

“Aw, Clem,” Danica cut in. She hugged her cousin and breathed in the familiar, comforting scent of her favorite lotion, sweet melon and pineapple. “I’m honestly fine, I promise. What I need is a rebound fling, and this one fits the bill. If I catch feelings, you’ll be the first to know.”

Clem hugged her tight and then eased back to ask, “You sure you don’t want to hex Darryl? I’ve got multiple ideas, and Kerry would help! Oozing sores or crusty—”

“Eh, no. He’d know it was a magical rash when it didn’t respond to medical treatments, and I’d be first on his list of suspects. He’s the type who would report us to the council, and we don’t need the paperwork.”

“I hate taking the high road,” Clem muttered.

“You’re not askingmeto cause trouble for your ex.”

“That’s different. I only dated Spencer for four months. You wasted years on Darryl.”

Danica had to admit that Clem had a point, but she still wasn’t down for vengeance. “Anyway, what did you do with Kerry and Priya? You hung out at their place?”

Clem nodded. “They’re all settled in, and they redecorated to incorporate both their styles. Aggressive elegance is what I’d call it. And to answer you, we had wine and cheese while bingeing four episodes of that new Netflix original.”

“Which one?”

They talked a bit more about the plot of the show, then Danica showered and headed to her room. It was almost midnight, but she couldn’t settle, even after she got in bed. Clem’s fears echoed in her head—I don’t want you to get hurt again.Danica didn’t want that either, but in the privacy of her room, she could admit that she was way more attracted to Titus than she ever had been to Darryl.

Time to put on the brakes.

While she wasn’t in too deep yet, she needed to take stock and consider whether her original plan was possible. It might not be feasible to have a fling with Titus with her whole being clamoring for more. She finally fell asleep at close to two in the morning and woke up late, cranky and fighting a headache. She had the vague sense that she’d been dreaming, but she couldn’t recall any details.

Must’ve woken up in the middle of REM sleep.

Sometimes she wished she was a vivimancer instead, capable of magicking away her own aches and pains. But it was tough to make a living in that field, and most witches held mundane jobs to pay the bills, though a few worked as “holistic health practitioners.” The council didn’t like it, but there were enough mundane frauds in the field that most people couldn’t sift through them to find those with real power.

With a mumbled curse, she swallowed a couple of ibuprofen, and before she could think better of it, she drafted a message to Titus.We’re slammed at the shop this week, so I won’t have time to do lunch. We’ll catch up when things settle down.

Before she even made herself a sandwich, she got a reply.Okay, thanks for letting me know. Don’t work too hard, and hit me up if you need a break. I could use an impartial review of the healthy gingersnap recipe I’m developing.

Reading that, Danica closed her eyes and wished for strength.The man wants to feed me cookies. Cookies…and maybe the best sex of my life. How am I supposed to resist?

She fixed a stern look on herself in the mirror as she pulled her hair into a high ponytail. “Be strong. You can do this.”

On her way to work, she got a call from her mother. “I’ll be in town tomorrow. If you have time, would you like to get together?”

That was the difference between Gram and Danica’s mom. Gram never took no for an answer while Minerva would be hurt if she didn’tmaketime despite the short notice, but Mom wouldn’t say anything. Danica could certainly hang out for a while, especially since she was avoiding Titus.

“Sounds good. Do you want to come for dinner? Will Dad be with you?”

“He’s working, but he sends his love. Invite your grandmother too. She’ll feel left out otherwise.” That was Minerva, trying her best to keep the peace.

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