Page 34 of How Not to Hex a Gentleman (Witches of Edinburgh)

Chapter Thirty-Four

KENNEDY

I t feels like years have passed, waiting for Bennett to show up. Who have I become? Honestly, I don't recognize myself anymore, but I'm definitely not complaining.

The girls helped me clean myself up the best I could. The shower made me very tired, as if I hadn't been sleeping for days. So they made me a little nest on the couch in the main room while Parker stripped my bed and put the sheets in the wash.

"You really don't have to—" I say from my position on the couch, with pillows and blankets surrounding me. While I've been sick the girls also hung up fairy lights around the large windows, one of those kinds that flow down with the curtains. Candles are burning and the lamps are the only lights on in the room. It looks very cozy and is already lulling me back to sleep, but I fight against it.

"We know we don't have to, but we want to," Lily says, walking by with fresh sheets to put on my bed. I would argue more, but I'm too relaxed to bother. I've never been taken care of like this before. It feels nice.

Then I sit up, my eyes on something in the room I haven't seen before. I blink a few times, wondering if I'm picturing it, but no, it's still there. "Umm, guys. When did we get a television?" It's directly under the middle window and it kind of blends into the shadows with the low light of the room so I didn't even notice it until now. Parker comes back into the room, grinning.

"Don't you love it? We can officially have girl movie nights! How do you feel about 90s witchy movies?"

"But where did you get it?" I ask, just as Lily comes back into the room as well.

"Bennett got it for us," she says matter-of-factly.

"What?"

"The TV. Bennett got us the TV." Parker waves in the direction of the object while Lily slaps her lightly on the shoulder.

"Parker asked Bennett if he knew of a good place to get a television," Lily says, coming to perch on the edge of the couch. "And he gave us his. He said he hasn't turned it on in months, so it's just been sitting in his flat."

"He just gave it to us?"

"I think he had ulterior motives," Parker says, plopping herself into one of the chairs.

"Like what?" Lily asks.

"Like movie nights with his girlfriend?" Parker says it like we're dumb for not thinking it first.

"Then he should've kept it upstairs," I mumble and then slap a hand over my mouth. Too late. They both heard me.

"Oh, someone wants to be alone with her man. This is progressing very nicely." Parker drums her fingers against each other like a villain in a cartoon.

"You are awfully invested in my love life."

" And she's calling it a love life!"

I roll my eyes and give her a look, but she's only grinning while Lily tries to contain her giggles.

"You should be worried about your own," I comment, raising an eyebrow at her.

"My own love life is nonexistent, so I will continue to live vicariously through you."

Before I can comment on that, there's a knock on the front door and Parker jumps to her feet. My heart leaps in my chest, my whole body suddenly a few degrees warmer. I rearrange my hair, pulling it behind my ears before changing my mind and pulling it in front of me. It's mostly dry now from the shower I took earlier, a little frizzy and slightly wavy, and maybe I should've done something more with it, but it's too late now. I can feel the moment he steps into the room.

Breathe through it, Kennedy. You can do it.

Turning, I meet his eye over the top of the couch. It hits me all over again just how handsome he is—maybe even more so than when I met him because I know him now. His hair is disheveled in its typical fashion and he didn't even pause to take his long coat off. He's holding a carrier with four coffee cups, and that brings that warmth to my chest again. He's also staring at me like he hasn't seen me in a year, his eyes roaming over me a few times as if to make sure I'm intact. I give him a little wave and his body physically relaxes.

"Well, you kids have fun," Parker says, coming up behind Bennett, wearing her coat. He turns to her just as Lily comes back in as well, carrying her coat.

"You're leaving?" I ask and she nods.

"Yes, we're dying for some cof—" She stops abruptly, glancing at the cups in Bennett's hands, and reaches over to take them quickly. "I mean, we're dying for some of Ben's Cookies and we just can't wait."

I raise an eyebrow at her as she rounds her eyes in my direction and then Lily is linking her arm through Parker's and pulling her away.

"We'll see you later," she says. "Thank you for the coffee."

They're out the door in the next minute and Bennett turns to me, amusement dancing in his eyes. "Should I be offended?"

"I think you should be flattered."

He grins, placing the two leftover coffee cups on the table before he walks over to shed his coat. When he comes back, he's wearing one of his forest green pullovers and dark jeans. He grabs the cups and walks over to the couch. I push some of the cushions aside so he can sit and he hands over the cup before settling beside me. I take a deep inhale, enjoying the aroma, before I take a sip. I swear Olivia's coffee is magic itself because nothing tastes as good.

When I glance up, I find Bennett watching me, a small smile on his face.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Rude."

"Sometimes."

I roll my eyes and he chuckles. I send him a glare and he shrugs. I pout a little over my cup and he groans. "Not fair."

"I don't know what you mean," I grin.

He blinks a few times, as if blinded by the sun, and then relents. "You look beautiful, that's all."

There he goes again, with his matter-of-fact statements. If I was warm before, I'm scorching hot now. I want to hide under the covers all over again, but I doubt that makes me look normal. Instead, I try to pretend I am.

"I heard you gave us your TV." I change the subject, but I can tell Bennett does not miss my incredibly rosy cheeks. He's enjoying every second of this.

"I figured it'll serve you better."

Looking at him, he really feels completely unbothered by just handing over a television. Once again, I'm amazed at how genuinely good-natured he is. Unlike anything my aunt has ever warned me about. Even though she wouldn't admit it, I think she would like him. but I guess that's not a conversation we're going to be having—ever.

"Hey, where did you go just now?" Bennett's soft voice breaks through my thoughts and I turn to find him watching me with concern.

I give him a small shrug, which I'm sure is much sadder than I want it to be. "I was thinking about my aunt," I admit. "She—we haven't talked since I've been here, considering I've been basically banned from her presence till the end of time, but sometimes, I miss her. I mean, she's the only parent I remember, even if she didn't do so much parenting."

"Your parents?"

"I don't know much about them. Only that they disappeared when I was a baby. My aunt thinks they were in a train accident, but the bodies were never recovered. I don't even have any pictures of them."

"Your aunt doesn't?"

"If she does, she's never shared them."

When I was younger, I thought about this a lot. Not just not having parents, but not even knowing what they looked like. It does a lot to a kid who's already struggling with her identity. My aunt didn't know how to parent; she mostly left me to my own devices. I basically raised myself, but still, she's the only family I have.

"That must be really difficult," Bennett says, his accent a little more pronounced with emotion behind his words, and I immediately want to hug him. He doesn't apologize, like so many people do. He just understands the difficulty and acknowledges it. I glance at his face and then at his chest, and he reads me like an open book. He takes the coffee cup from my hands and places it next to his on the coffee table. Then he sits back and opens his arms for me. I lean into them instantly. His warmth envelops me in a way that seeps into my very soul. There's comfort here, but also a promise that I'm not as alone as I think I am.

"Thank you for staying with me," I say, my voice a little muffled against his chest.

"You don't have to thank me for something that's a given."

I pull back a little to look up into his face and he glances down, giving me a soft look.

"That's how that works?" I ask.

"Absolutely." There's finality in his tone that shouldn't surprise me at this point. "You better get used to it."

"Which part?"

"All of it. I'm not going anywhere."

His words aren't just empty promises; I can feel it like I can feel my magic. I want to offer him all the promises in return, but I don't want him to think I'm only doing it because he has. So for now, I simply squeeze him tighter and settle in closer, letting him know that I want him by my side.

I feel his lips on the top of my head and I kind of hope he never stops doing that. It makes me feel like the most important person on the planet.

"I heard if you have a TV," I say, "you have movie nights."

Bennett chuckles, his chest shaking under my cheek. "Whoever has been spreading the rumors is correct," he says, and then reaches for the remote, taking me with him. He settles back on the couch, pulling me closer, and turns the television on. When he settles on the movie, I don't even care what it is. Because all I want is to keep him beside me for the duration of it.

And then forever.