Page 50 of A Heart On A Sleeve

twenty-nine

Olive

It's Practically Magic

“What time did they say they were going to be here?” Sam asks, pulling me closer to him under the covers of my bed.

“Five, I think,” I reply, scooching back against him, the feel of his naked body pressed against my skin soothing me.

“It’s only three thirty. You know what that means . . .” Sam peppers kisses along my shoulder.

“Yeah, that I need to shower and start getting ready because it’s later than I thought.”

“Not what I was hoping you would say, but okay.” Sam blows out a breath and rolls onto his back taking most of the covers with him.

“You’re insatiable.” I roll with him, grasping for a bit of warmth as I place a quick kiss on his lips.

Sam spent the night after he got off work yesterday.

We christened every available surface in this place at least twice and then again after breakfast this morning.

I can’t deny that there is chemistry between us.

Sex with Sam is the hottest thing I’ve ever done.

And it never gets boring. He’s always trying new things and working to learn what I like best. I don’t think I could deny him, even if I wanted to.

But right now, the anxiety of knowing I’m a few short hours from facing Irina again, a few hours from making a potentially life-changing decision, I guess that’s the mood killer I never thought I’d have.

“I promise it’ll be worth the wait.” I wink at him, hopping up from the bed. The lie churns my stomach. I doubt after he finds out I plan to go see her that he will want anything to do with me.

“I’d be celibate if it meant I could spend every day with you, it’s fine. Just go get ready so we can have some fun with our friends.” Sam lifts up, scooching toward the edge of the bed and hugging me around the middle.

“That’s a lie, but okay, Sam.” I chuckle as I shake my head and go to shower. Somehow, he always knows exactly the right thing to say. But I’m naked, so maybe my arm told him what I want without my consent.

An hour later, after showers are had and costumes are put on, I walk into the kitchen and find Sam, who very much looks like Johnny Rose if he had a beard, mixing up what appears to be a cocktail.

“What’s this?” I ask, peering around him into the glass pitcher he’s stirring.

“I’m not sure what to call it, but it’s basically hooch.”

“What the heck is hooch?” I ask, hovering my face over the pitcher to sniff the concoction.

“It’s like . . . Didn’t you ever go to parties in college where they mixed a bunch of alcohol with fruit punch?” Sam asks.

“No? I don’t think so.” His eyes nearly bugging out of his head when he realizes I have no clue what he’s talking about.

“What are we saying no to?” Ariella’s voice chirps from the entryway.

“Nothing, I was just—” I step around the corner to greet my friend and am stunned. How the heck could this have happened? “Who are you supposed to be?” I blurt out.

“No fucking way. This is so perfect,” Ari sings.

Sam follows me and immediately starts laughing. It’s a deep, throaty laugh coming from his belly, and all I can do is join him. My best friend is standing across from me in exactly the same costume. We are both Moira Rose.

“I didn’t know, you didn’t tell me,” I mumble between wheezes.

“Hey, I was just getting this from the car . . .” Howie announces, waltzing in with big bushy eyebrows and dressed in a suit that couldn’t be a more perfect match to Sam’s.

“Bro, you look great,” Sam quips, walking over to Howie to give him one of those handshake hugs that men do. I can’t help but roll my eyes.

“What happened to ‘no one else will be dressed like us’?” Howie asks Ariella, pinning her down with a stare.

“I mean, I didn’t expect them to copy us, but it’s kind of funny. I’m actually really happy about this development. It’ll be a great conversation starter at the party,” Ari justifies.

“Come on, Sam made hooch. We are going to need it to help explain our matching outfits,” I say, motioning for the three of them to follow me into the kitchen. I grab four glasses from the cupboard and fill them up, passing them out so we each have one.

“To a witchy night and no one getting cursed,” Ari toasts, raising her glass as I glare at her.

She just had to throw that reminder in there.

I can’t seem to escape it for more than three minutes at a time.

My heart races. I desperately hope I’m getting rid of a curse tonight and not adding a new one.

After two drinks each and lots of laughter, the hooch is gone and we are ready to head out the door.

I walk into my bedroom to grab the flyer for Irina’s shop and tuck it into my purse.

I wish I could avoid this, but reality is a bitch.

It’s now or never. Howie startles me as I turn to make my way back into the hall.

“Hey, sorry. Uh, did you see the flyer?” he asks.

“This one?” I pull it out of my purse and unfold it, handing it over to him. At the same time, he pulls one out of his pocket.

“Yeah, looks like we both found one. Are you going to go see her?” Howie asks.

“Yes, but I don’t think Sam wants me to. He doesn’t think I need to change anything.” I give Howie a look that I hope conveys my feelings on the situation.

“Ari and I will go with you. Sam will be okay. When we see the shop, you can just explain it to him, and if he’s worried, he won’t need to be because I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

I start toward the bedroom door but stop. “Wait. Why do you want to go?” I eye him suspiciously. I won’t let him get cursed by her. I refuse to allow this to happen to anyone else.

“I’m not . . . Jesus, the look on your face. I’m not asking her to help me with anything. Ari and I just don’t want you to go alone,” Howie declares.

“Okay, no, you’re right. Thanks for offering to go with me.” I smile softly at him. Howard is a good friend, maybe one of the best I’ve ever had. I am so thankful I met him and that I can trust him and Ari with this.

I nod my agreement slowly then walk past him, joining Sam and Ariella by the front door.

We head out, a pit of dread filling my stomach as I flip off the lights and lock the door behind me.

I know in my soul that tonight is going to change everything.

I want this thing gone, but I’m afraid that it’ll cost me Sam, that it’ll cost me everything.

The four of us crunch leaves with each step we take toward Mage Hollow. I’ve avoided smashing them for the entire time I’ve lived here, but something about today feels like I have permission to break things. The irony isn’t lost on me.

“You okay?” Sam asks as he threads his fingers through mine.

“Yeah, I’m good. You?” I don’t look at him as I ask.

“You’re going to be shocked by the number of people. It’s double the amount that come for Hollow Hearts.” Sam is digging, desperate to make a conversation, and I wonder if he can tell my mood has shifted. He can’t see my arm, but does he know I’m feeling pensive anyway?

We round the corner into Mage, and I notice instantly that he wasn’t kidding.

There are swarms of people in costumes trailing up and down the street, weaving in and out of shops.

There must be thousands of ghosts, goblins, and witches all ready to celebrate the holiday.

The energy is magnetic, but how many of these unsuspecting strangers will wake up tomorrow with a curse they didn’t know they were asking for?

I guess that’s not fair—I did know, but I didn’t know all it would entail.

We move among the people, careful not to lose anyone in our group as we work to enter Union Tavern. The plan was always to grab some food before enjoying the real party, but the odds of getting a table look slim to none based on the number of people standing in the entryway.

“Howard, can you pull some strings, or is this a lost cause?” Ari asks, batting her ridiculously long fake eyelashes at him.

“Probably not. My uncle wasn’t thrilled that I wanted the night off. I doubt he’s going to do me any favors,” Howie retorts, looking at his shoes in what I suspect is guilt.

“I have some food at Eerie. I thought maybe this would happen so I grabbed some subs and threw them in the fridge just in case.” Sam motions for us to follow him back out into the masses.

We weave through the crowd once more, taking triple the normal amount of time to walk the block to his business.

Sam’s hand never leaves mine and it brings me a sense of calm.

A peace in my soul that I know he doesn’t want anything to happen to me.

I feel nauseous. The guilt at what I know I’m going to do eats at me.

We push into the tattoo shop, and Sam quickly locks the door behind us before approaching his fridge and pulling out four carefully prepared hoagies.

“Where did you buy these?” Ari asks, looking over the Saran Wrap packaging suspiciously.

“I didn’t say I bought them, I picked them up from Mabel.” Sam smiles, a deep but semi-guilty grin. It’s kind of adorable how close he is with his mom. I mentally add that to the list of reasons why hurting him, which I know is inevitable, is going to be even harder than I could imagine.

“Your mom is the best. I might have to start dating Max just so I can get the food hookup,” Ari says as Howie’s face turns three shades of green.

Poor Howie. I nudge him with my foot and shake my head to let him know she’s full of shit.

I want to throttle her. She has a perfect guy right in front of her and she doesn’t even see it.

Meanwhile, I’m over here trying to determine if mine is really into me or if he’s just with me because I have the ultimate cheat code etched on my skin.

I’m going to have a very stern conversation with her the minute we are alone.

“Anyway, what do you want to do when we’re done here?” Sam asks, his mouth half full of his Italian sub.

“I thought the idea was to mingle? Out there.” I point at the hoard of people on the other side of the large glass windows.