Page 25 of A Dream of Stars and Curses

I sigh again. I do and I don’t. Although, this could be great practice. I’ll have to act normal during the event, too. Maybe I should allow just one shirtless Leverett to join me under this tree... If I can keep my cool with him around, I can definitely pretend during the party.

Next to me, a warm hand takes mine. I make the mistake of looking over and end up with my face mere inches away from Leverett’s very naked chest. I look up, and he smiles at me. I blush so severely that the grass and leaves around me turn red. For a moment, my shadow forest experiences its first autumn.

‘Nope,’ I say. ‘Bad idea.’

I will him away and bury my head in my hands. I can only hope that the other Veiled at the party will be so lovely and welcoming—or that I’ll be in so much danger—that I’ll barely even notice Leverett.

That’s probably impossible at this point.

‘You should tell him how you feel,’ Mischief says. ‘He might still reject you, but at least you’ll know.’

I groan and sink deeper into my hands. I know she’s right. I know it’s the grown-up thing to do.

But what if he does reject me and every visit to the bookstore is awkward after that? What if it ruins our still very new friendship, too?

I fight the temptation to summon Leverett again for the rest of the dream, if only to spend more time with him, but I meant what I told Mischief before:

I don’t want him like this. I’ll either have him for real or not at all. Even just having a conversation with him here feels wrong. The way he took my hand feels like a betrayal.

But Mischief didn’t pick up on any bad magic on me, which means I’ve really just been unlucky. So, there’s that.

‘Are you ready?’

Bonnie has been pacing all morning. Sunitha will be over any minute now, and from the way Bonnie has tidied the whole house several times, she really likes this woman. Because of the wasp incident, we didn’t get around to asking Kate about mermaid present ideas, but my sister made brownies last night, and I know she’s about ready to fall to her hands and knees and beg for forgiveness. Not that she’s even done anything yet—she overreacted and I won’t argue it, but she hasn’t told anyone that Sunitha is a mermaid. Well, except me. And no one would have believed her anyway.

‘Sit down,’ I say when Bonnie doesn’t answer. ‘You’re making me nervous now.’

‘Sorry.’ Bonnie sits on our sofa where Lady is already lounging. She starts tapping her foot instead. ‘I should have done more. I could have at least bought her some flowers.’

‘Do you even know which ones she likes?’

Bonnie shakes her head too quickly. ‘I should have asked her, shouldn’t I? A good date would know. I should have—’

I squeeze myself between Bonnie and Lady and make her look at me. ‘You’ve been on two dates. If she expects you to know everything about her after so little time, that’s her problem.’

Bonnie nods again, but her eyes have spaced out, like she’s trying to remember every single word Sunitha has ever said to her on the off chance that she’s mentioned her favourite flower once.

We hear a car pull up, followed by a car door falling shut. Bonnie flies over to the window.

‘It’s her!’

I hurry over to her and give her a quick hug. ‘You need to calm down, Bonita.’

She pouts at me. ‘You know I hate it when you call me that.’

I smile, because she’s stopped pacing, at least for the moment. ‘Shall I wait in here?’

She nods but the movement flows into a head shake, which flows back into another nod. ‘Probably best if it’s just me? Or I don’t know, that might tell her you’re not here. Open the door with me? You can always go, but at least Sunitha won’t think it’s just her and me.’

Bonnie jumps a little when Sunitha knocks.

‘Come on.’ I open the door before Bonnie can run and hide. ‘Sunitha! It’s lovely to meet you, come on in. I’m Esta, Bonnie’s sister.’

She’s a petite woman with warm brown skin and warm brown hair, but her smile is warmer still. If she has any lingering resentment over Bonnie fleeing the beach, I don’t see it.

‘Hello. Thank you for having me over.’ Her timid voice has a slight Indian accent.

Bonnie scoots in next to me. ‘Hey.’ She clears her throat; I make a mental note to tease her later about the most put-on, cool-sounding hey ever. ‘Thank you for coming. I mean, come in.’

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