Page 22 of Charmed, I'm Sure

He slowly pats my back. What…the…

“What are you doing?” I demand.

He shrugs, as if he isn’t essentiallypettingme. “Matilda said you love hugs.”

I blink slowly. “Who the hell is Matilda?”

He hesitates, suddenly looking like someone who said something they shouldn’t have. “You know…the matchmaking ghost? She said she knew you.”

Don’t tell me…Did she tell him all her failed attempts? She’s literally the reason we have a headless man riding a Vespa around town.

I stare at him for a long beat. “You need better friends.”

Nyx snickers from the corner of the building. He knows exactly who Matilda is and the fuckery she gets up to. I mean, who matches a vampire with a vegan? There are so many things wrong with that.

I shove at his chest until he reluctantly lets go of me, stepping back like he expects me to miss his warmth already.

Spoiler: I don’t.

“Want to run that by me again?” I say, taking a sip of my coffee that miraculously survived the attack.

Miles’ ears turn a light shade of pink. “Matilda. She’s a…uh…ghost.”

I take a long, slow sip of my coffee. Allowing the silence to stretch into an uncomfortable area before I finally speak. “A ghost told you to…hug me?”

“She’s really wise and well dressed,” he says quickly as if it will make it all better. “She said your love language was affection and that I should show you that you can trust me.”

Nyx gives the fox equivalent of a snort, which sounds an awful lot like a cough. He’s not even trying to hide the gleam in his eyes or the pure humor he finds in this whole situation.

“My love language,” I repeat flatly. “From a matchmaking ghost with a horrible track record?”

Miles brightens. “Exactly! See you get it.”

I walk over to the bench along the sidewalk to set my coffee down. I need to fully commit to this if I’m ever going to get him to understand. Brushing off my shoulders and smoothing out my black lace dress, I turn to face him head-on.

“Dog Boy, I don’t know if it’s because you are new to town or because you’ve been dropped on your head too frequently as a young pup, but let me make this perfectly clear,” I say as I walk back over to stand in front of him again. “I do not accept unsolicited hugs. Not from strangers, not from friends, and certainly not from people following ghost dating advice.”

“That’s fair,” he says, nodding like I’ve just given him a piece of valuable intel. “So it’s safe to say that affection isn’t your love language?”

I just stare at him, blinking, with my mouth in a thin line. “Obviously. What about me gave off the impression that it was?”

“It’s definitely your warm smiles and expressive eyes. They really call me in.”

Nyx actually chokes this time. I swear he’s laughing. Meanwhile Miles is still staring at me with hearts in his eyes with one side of his lips tipped up in a half smile. The street lamps reflect in his glasses as I watch him patiently wait for my next move.

I slowly step back from him, turning to grab my coffee again. He might want more affection if I stay close to him. Even if I liked his arms around me, I’ll burn at the pyre before I admit that to him. Before I walk away from him, I say, “Keep your paws to yourself, Dog Boy.”

I’ve made it all of three steps away in a graceful, coffee-fueled escape when a familiar voice cuts through the morning.I’m never going to escape this hellhole.If there is a way to open the straight route to hell, now it would be ideal.

“There you both are!”

I glance over to see Elora striding towards us with an oversized canvas bag slung over her shoulder and theI’ve got a plan and you’re going to hate itsparkle in her eye. Is it possible for lightning to strike right now and take me out of this? I roll my head back and glare up at the perfectly blue sky without a cloud in sight.Of course not.

Miles perks up immediately. “Hey, Elora.”

She ignores him completely and narrows in on me. “Perfect timing. Both of you. Let’s go.”

“Go where…” I don’t even get to finish my sentence before she grasps my arm and drags me back up the road towards Hex & Harken. And to think I almost made it to my shop.