Page 20 of How Not to Hex a Gentleman (Witches of Edinburgh)

Chapter Twenty

BENNETT

" W hat do you think they're talking about?" Nicholas' question breaks through my thoughts.

I tear my gaze away from the back of Kennedy's head to glance at him. "Who knows? Lana is probably embarrassing me further."

"I meant Parker and Lily," Nicholas says.

I laugh. "Ah, of course. Parker." I kind of had a feeling Nicholas would be interested because I know my friend and he has a thing for the wild in spirit. He would be flabbergasted to know she’s a witch though, and I’m not sure he’ll have a good time accepting that considering his mission in life is to stay away from the magical.

"Why do you say it like that, mate?" Nicholas asks.

"Because," I reply and then speed up as we reach the fountain.

Lana is still talking, but I can see the girls glance at each other and I know it's time to step in.

"Lana," I say, coming up behind her and taking her by the shoulders, "I need you for a moment over here."

Then, before she can protest, I pull her away. I meet Kennedy's eyes and then nod toward the fountain. She offers me a grateful nod and hurries over to the girls.

"What? What! Why do you need me?" Lana stutters, turning in my arms, but I keep leading her away to where Nicholas is waiting.

"I need you to give Kennedy a moment with her friends, okay?" I say as we stop.

The girl turns and narrows her eyes at me. When she tries to step around me, I stay in her path. "Lana, I'm serious." The quiet firmness in my voice does the trick and Lana focuses on me.

"Are they okay?" she asks.

I nod. "Yes, of course. The fountain is part of the project for Kennedy, so let her have a moment, okay?"

I turn my body slightly so we can look over at the girls. They're walking slowly around the circumference of the fountain, studying the different animals and objects on the base. Kennedy has her phone out, and she's taking pictures or a video as Lily says something to her.

The concentration on Kennedy's face is so attractive I have to blink against the sight a few times.

I feel a slight tug on my jacket and I look over at Lana, who's grinning at me. "She's great, Bennett. She put up with all of my questions and listened like she actually cared to hear what I had to say. Even you two pretend to listen sometimes, but she didn't."

"Hey, I don't pretend," Nicholas argues, but Lana only rams her elbow into his stomach, her attention on me.

"Don't mess this up. I'd like her as a sister-in-law."

Then she takes out her phone and walks over to one of the benches without waiting for a reply. Her words send my mind spinning, but I don't find any of them scary—just exhilarating.

"I can't tell if you raised her well or not," I comment as I turn to watch the three witches walk around the fountain.

Nicholas steps up beside me, sighing a little. "I don't know either, but I do agree with her. Don't mess this up."

I'm trying not to, but I honestly can't tell how well I'm doing.

KENNEDY

"Nothing right?" Parker asks once we've made a circle around the fountain.

Lily and I both shake our heads no. I'm not sure what we expected but it definitely wasn't nothing. I took a lot of videos and photos of all the elements of the fountain, hoping to do more research later. The pictures I've found in books or online are typically from farther away.

"So, what's next? Do we head over to the shop?" Lily asks, glancing over at the other half of our newly formed group. Lana notices our attention and jumps to her feet, rushing over to us. I really like this girl. She's carefree and upfront about her thoughts and feelings in the way I wish I could be. I guess that's the life of a teenager, although my teenage years were much more—repressed.

"Isn't the fountain the coolest? One of my favorite places in the city," she says, arriving beside me. "But sadly, our time together has come to an end. Only for today though, because Bennett must bring you by for dinner one of these days," she says loudly enough for the boys to hear as they make their way over to us as well. I see the way Bennett's eyes grow round and I try hard not to laugh.

"My brother and I need to go, but Bennett has no plans for the rest of the day, so he's all yours. Make sure he eats at some point today. He's really bad about that sometimes. It was nice to meet you." She gives Parker and Lily a little wave and then turns and grabs her brother and pulls him away. "Bye!"

I feel like we've just been visited by a tornado and we're left in its wake. I glance at Bennett who just looks incredulous.

"Let's divide and conquer," Parker says, breaking the sudden silence. She hooks her arms through Lily's elbow and pulls her to her side. "Lily and I will visit the shop, you and Bennett go visit that well you've been talking about."

"What? But I thought—" I start but Parker is already moving away with Lily.

"We'll get the supplies, you get the information. Perfect division of labor." Lily laughs and waves as Parker pulls her away.

And then there were two. I turn toward Bennett slowly, unsure how to proceed, but it feels like everyone else is making the decisions for us and I need to give him some kind of an out to make it fair.

"We don't have to go today. If you had plans?—"

"No plans. Let's go." He beams at me then and I can't bring myself to argue. We have to visit the well anyway, so it makes sense to go together. We planned it before after all.

Yes, Kennedy, that sounds very rational. Stay in the rational.

The silent pep talk helps as Bennett motions in the direction we came from and then toward the other side of the castle. "Shall we go through the park or the back way?"

I glance back toward the park and incline my head in that direction. Bennett falls into step beside me comfortably, and if I'm being honest with myself, this feels nice. The weather is perfect for walking and the park feels like a little oasis in the busy city.

"I'm sorry if Lana was too much. She tends to just bulldoze over people."

"I think she might get that from someone else I know," I say, and Bennett rewards me with a chuckle.

"Okay, fair. I might've been an influence a time or two."

"You're close with the family?"

"It's just Nicholas and Lana. Their parents don't really care enough to participate in their lives. They're back in Wales—or maybe in The States now, I forget. Nicholas has been taking care of Lana since she was six, and when I met them a little over five years ago, they adopted me into their family of two like I've always been a part of it."

"What about your own family?" I realize I know nothing about him, not even any of the basic facts.

"It's just me now. My parents…my mum—well, she left when I was five years old. My dad checked out of life after that. He went to The U.S. and then France. I actually have no idea which country he's in right now. I haven't spoken to him in years. My grandma raised me, but she passed away after I finished my undergraduate degree."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." I raise my hand to reach for him but stop myself. The impulse is so natural it shocks me. I've never been someone who reaches out. Maybe being around the girls is teaching me how to be more open about my feelings, but I still don't touch him.

"Thank you." He looks at me with those expressive eyes of his and I take a tiny step to close the space between us almost automatically. Our shoulders brush and that feels right somehow. "What about you?"

"My aunt raised me," I find myself answering readily and I almost chuckle at the absurdity of it. "My parents passed away when I was very young. I don't remember them."

"I'm sorry too." Bennett bumps his shoulders against mine and I shrug. "You're close with your aunt?"

I start to speak but then stop because I can't even begin to put into words what my relationship with her is like. So instead I just shrug again. "Not particularly."

Bennett doesn't push and I'm grateful for that. Instead, he walks to match my pace, keeping himself right beside me, and for some reason, that warms my heart more than his words would've.

"You still haven't been to the castle?" Bennett changes the topic and I'm so grateful I could hug him. Which means I clutch my fingers in my pockets instead, because what kind of behavior is that?

"No, I still haven't. I feel like all I've done is suffer through meetings at the university. Most of my classes are independent study, but there are a lot of student meetings."

"Ah, yes. They really try to make sure you don't feel alone as an international student."

We leave the park behind and head up The Mound, which takes all the wind out of me, so I don't speak, and thankfully, Bennett doesn't push me to. When we reach the top, I stop to catch my breath and Bennett grins.

"Does it ever get easier?" I ask.

Bennet chuckles. "Nope," he says and I'm happy to hear he's slightly winded as well.

"Oh, good to know."

"Come on. Let's shortcut through The Writer's Museum courtyard."

I perk up immediately. The courtyard and the museum are on my list of things to see.