“Hanlen!” I scolded.
“Nope, nuh-uh. You don’t get to keep these secrets from your friends.”
They all came over.
“What’s up?” Sky asked, twisting the bright pink streak in her jet-black hair around a finger.
“Birdie has something to tell you.”
I glared at my friend. “I don’t, but it seems our nosy PI isn’t going to let me keep any secrets.”
“Does this have anything to do with the interesting colors in your aura today?” Dakota asked with a smirk.
“Ugh. Padre was right. Nothing’s sacred,” I grumbled.
They all laughed.
“So, who’s the lucky guy?” Harper asked and gave me a playful shove.
I looked around at the faces of my dearest friends, the family I had chosen, and wondered why I was hesitating. This was what girlfriends did. They chatted about guys and relationships and sex. My stomach took a little tumble, but I couldn’t pinpoint if it was nervousness or excitement.
“It’s Kholt.”
“Shut the front door,” Lennie said. “How? When? Details.”
I chuckled. “We went out for dinner last night on Lagniappe Isle.”
“You did?” Lennie asked. “You know that Van and I are looking to possibly purchase a business on the island, right?”
“I knew you guys had been over there a lot, but I haven’t had time to ask you for any details.” I was weirdly grateful for the change in topic but knew they wouldn’t let this deviation go on too long.
“Yeah,” she said. “With that inheritance we got from Gran—rest her soul—we decided to buy an old, abandoned building over there and turn it into a tourist attraction. There are a million things to see to and discuss and figure out, and a bunch of red tape, but we’re really, really excited. It will be totally freaking epic.”
“But, wait,” Hanlen said. “Does that mean you’re leaving the show?”
“What? No.” She shook her head. “Not at all. We’ll do it during our downtimes, and we’re hoping to get some help from our siblings. We’re not even sure if we’ll have it open year-round. It may be a seasonal thing. As I said, there are tons of particulars still hanging. But I digress. Lagniappe is great, right?”
“It’s amazing. I’d never been, and now I can’t wait to go back.”
The rest of the ladies agreed.
“Get back to the good stuff,” Hanlen said.
I shook my head. “Well, I came clean to him over dinner. It was so freeing, you guys. Telling you all was wonderful, but coming clean to someone from my past like that and being able to open his eyes . . . It was better than I even imagined. It sort of changed things in a big way. And fast. My magic’s been acting weird lately. I think my emotions are affecting it, and it’s been flaring at odd, strange, and inopportune moments. Hence me being able to suddenly see spirits like Dev can. Anyway, at one point, I got a read on Kholt without realizing it and discovered that he had more than just platonic feelings for me all those years ago. And,”—I paused again—“those feelings never went away.”
“Oh, my gosh.” Dakota shoved me playfully this time. “He loves you?”
Hearing the words out loud made something in me bloom, and I felt a flutter of excitement, quickly followed by a small wash of anxiety. I wiped my suddenly damp palms on my pants. “He did. And I think he still harbors those feelings. But we’re very different people now. Still, I started seeing him differently. And I’ve been super attracted to him from the moment he walked into Irene’s for our blind date. That only grew with each day we spent working together. So, I went for it.”
“Yeah, girl.” Hanlen gave me a slow clap. “And? How was it?”
I couldn’t stop the memories of him over me, inside of me, the things he whispered in my ear. Shivers skittered down my spine. “Amazing. All-consuming. All the things you’d want me to tell you.”
“Welcome to the club of fricking amazing and life-changing sex, my sister. Can I get an amen?” Sky held up her hand and bowed her head and we all burst out laughing.
I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. I loved seeing my friend so happy, but it still made me laugh that our staunch atheist was so happy being brought to her knees—literally—by a man of the cloth—well, not anymore, but still.
“But how are you feeling about him still having ties to that place?” Harper asked. Leave it to our psychologist to bring things back to reality. The elation I had felt just a moment ago came crashing back to Earth in a fiery burst.