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“Giving them or receiving them?”

“A little bit of both, but I’m terrible at planning stuff like that.”

“Then leave it up to me. In the meantime, go home, get warm, and get some rest. We can talk more tomorrow.”

“I’ll text you when I get in,” she said, stopping just outside her car so she could kiss me on the lips. If she was worried about public shows of affection before, it wasn’t a concern right now.

Breathing her in, I arched my back, losing myself under her kiss. By the time we separated, I was out of breath and had completely forgotten whatever it was I’d wanted to say.

She kissed me one last time, then passed me a knowing smile. “I’ll text you later,” she said again, showing me her phone, “and I’ll drop by the shop tomorrow.”

I stood on the sidewalk outside of Ferdinand’s and watched her go, touching my lips where hers had been. With the streets clear and all of the commotion happening inside the restaurant instead of out on the sidewalk with me, I took one last look at the night sky before getting in my car to go home.

The entire way there, one thing made its way to the front of my mind. Cassidy kissed me. In public.

And on Friday night, she’d spend the entire night with me.

I could hardly wait.

Thankfully, when I asked my sister for the silly dragon decorations she’d used last Halloween, she didn’t ask me what

they were for. Why she still had them on hand was anyone’s guess, but it was way better than buying them online or trying to make them on my own. If there was one thing my sister was good at, it was using her hands.

She was amazing when it came to crafts. I always felt she’d be better off working in one of those art stores, but she said they bored her to tears. She made stuff all the time, usually for people who didn’t deserve that level of thought or dedication.

And when it came to Halloween? No one did it better.

“You want the party hats as well?” she asked once she’d stopped by to drop off a box of decorations.

“Party hats?” As kind tiaras and crowns?

“You know, like one of those princess hats.”

“Oh! Oh…” I checked inside the box, smiling at the felt dragon and its bright orange scales. “No. I think this should be okay.”

“What is it for, anyway? Are you throwing a wizard party?”

I choked back a laugh, then nodded, deciding it was as good of an excuse as any. “Yeah. We’re supposed to do a reading, but the back isn’t really that exciting to look at.”

“Well, Charlie here should help.”

“

Charlie? You named the dragon?” Why was I not surprised?

“Duh. I name all of my decorations.” She followed me over to the counter, then turned back for the rest of the store. “Are you sure you don’t need anything else? I could stop by and—”

“No,” I almost yelled. “No. Everything’s fine.”

“Uh huh.” She crossed her arms over her chest and gave me a suspicious look. “So what’s really going on?”

For the next several minutes, I told Bridget how I planned to decorate the tower. All the while, the smirk on her face got bigger and bigger.

“You know what you really need?” she asked, her smile as wide as it could go and her voice giddy as hell.

“No. What?”

“A servant.”