Page 34 of Charmed, I'm Sure

I take a seat across from her, balancing a cupcake on my knee as I smile sweetly back to her. “Are you ready for a day full of partnership, teamwork, and a light bit of toad management?”

She groans. “I’m already regretting not casting the banishment spell over the shop this morning.”

Taking a massive bite out of my cupcake, I try to ignore the “help me” coming from it as I chew. She tries to hide her chuckle by taking a sip of her coffee. I heard it, though she can deny it all she wants.

“You are like an overgrown child.” She points to her nose. “You have icing on your nose.”

I look around. I didn’t grab napkins. Idiot. Why wouldn’t I grab napkins if I was bringing cupcakes? A grim look etchedher features as she slowly blinked her eyes. She sighs before she stands and finds a linen napkin. It’s even adorned with that frilly stuff along the edge like a grandmother would have. It smells like her too.

I swipe the icing off my nose and glance at her over the cupcake. “So…what are you going to teach today?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” The single word dangles between us as my pulse stumbles. I thought we’d made progress, but maybe I was wrong. “But I brought coffee. And cupcakes. Surely that’s earned me a teeny lesson in witchcraft. And look! I didn’t knock over the jar full of frog toes.”

She raises a brow. “You mean the jar of newt spleens.”

“Semantics. The point still stands.”

She sets her coffee down with a clink. “You’re not here to learn anything. Why would a wolf shifter even want to learn witchcraft? Besides, you’re only here because my sister thinks you’re adorable and wants to meddle in my life.”

“I am adorable.”

“Sure and I’m Izora Sinclair.”

“Who?”

She sighs. Nyx snorts. And I’m left confused on what’s happening.

I fold my hands into my lap and cross my ankles. “Fine. I’ll just sit here. Be a good boy. Watch quietly while you stir your mystery potions like the gorgeous, broody witch you are.”

Bellamy doesn’t say a word as she stands and walks over to her cabinet, pulling down ingredients. “You sound like a dog trying to earn a treat.”

“Do I get one?”

“No.”

“Rude.”

Nyx hops onto a bench with a fluffy dog bed lying on top of it. Oh, so the familiar has a spot here, but I don’t. I’ll have to see about remedying that. He stretches, yawns, and lays where he can watch the show. He observed the day's events with the same rapt attention one gives to thebest television show they've ever seen.

Bellamy moves around the shop as if she is trying to ignore my presence. But I see her looking out of the corner of her eye, I see the small twitch at the corner of her mouth, and I know that she might be pretending, but I’m winning.

Grabbing the dusty, ancient tome laying next to me, I crack it open and decide if I’m going to sit here being quiet, I might as well learn something.

I dust off the cover and read the title.

Foundational Principles and Theoretical Frameworks of Multi-Generational Binding Agreements: Volume I.

I blink. “This sounds dreadful. Do people actually read these things?”

“Not unless forced to by the elders. One time Elora tried to read it to us because it was ‘required,’ and Nyx fell asleep before she finished reading the summary. I swear I left my body during it.”

“That sounds like a nightmare,” I whisper, my voice filled with dread.

“It can be, but if you die from boredom, I’m not reviving you. You will lay there and dry out only to become a ghost stuck here for the rest of your life.”

“You say that as if I would have a problem being stuck with you for the rest of my life. To me every second I’m in your presence is a blessing, and I cherish all of them. So, the idea of eternal stalking of my leading lady? Best possible outcome.”