Page 15 of Rise of the Witch (Witches of Keating Hollow #17)

“Careful, don’t sit too close.” Briggs’s tone was dripping with sarcasm as King took the stool next to him at the brewery.

It was lunchtime, and as soon as Austin had dismissed them for their break, he’d hightailed it out of the studio without a word to Kassie.

He was done dealing with her beyond what he needed to do for work.

King shook his head, looking disgusted. “You should see the comments on my social media.”

“There’s a reason why I haven’t opened my phone today.”

“I didn’t either until my manager called to inform me of the gossip spreading all over the internet. I’ve even been advised to keep my distance from you.” He scoffed. “I told him that would only fuel the rumors since we’ve been best friends for over a decade.”

Briggs glanced at King. “If it’s better for you not to be seen with me?—”

“Stop. I’m not caving to ridiculous internet rumors. And I’m sure as hell not cutting you out of my life because Kassie-effing-Kinny decided to post baseless gossip on her TikTok just for engagement. I’m not living my life that way, and you know better.”

It was true. King and Briggs were brothers, at least in every way that mattered, and they shared a bond that was unbreakable.

They’d had each other’s backs since they were both seventeen years old.

“I do,” Briggs said and then asked the question he’d been avoiding. “How’d it go last night with Kassie?”

“As you’d expect. I found her sitting outside the studio, her face buried in her phone.

At first the little diva ignored me, but when I told her I’d leave her there, she finally got in the vehicle.

Once we got to your place, we both went to our rooms and didn’t talk to each other all night.

The ride to the studio this morning was much of the same. ”

“I aspire to be you when I’m forced to interact with people I don’t want to deal with,” Briggs said and then tried to change the subject. “What are you up to today?”

“Lunch with you, and then I need to sign some paperwork at the studio so that everything is official with the song we recorded yesterday. But I’m going to demand a retraction from Kassie first. I’m just not going to work with someone who lies about me for clickbait.”

“Don’t blame you one bit. If I were you, I’d pull out altogether, but that’s just me,” Briggs said, not wanting to have anything to do with the pop star after her antics.

He sighed heavily. “I would, but the label loves the song. They think it’s the perfect follow up to the one that Sadie and I just put out. As long as they don’t make me do any public appearances with her, I’ll let it go. The song is already recorded after all.”

Briggs understood. He also knew longevity in his music career was what King craved most. And if the label thought that working with Kassie Kinny was a good move to keep him in the charts, then he would do it. Stability was a driving factor for both of them after their rocky starts into adulthood.

“And then tonight, we paint the ceiling of Mystyk Pizza,” King added. “That will pretty much kill the day.”

“I bet Sadie will be happy to have you back to herself at night,” Briggs said.

“She definitely will be,” Sadie said, appearing behind the bar as she tied on an apron. She grinned at them. “Something to drink?”

They each ordered a soda. And then instead of the burger, Briggs went for the chicken wings.

“I’ll have the same,” King said.

Sadie chuckled. “Of course. I swear, you two could be twins if you looked anything alike.” She winked and got to work on pouring their drinks.

Just as Sadie placed their glasses in front of them, a skinny, dark-haired man who smelled like stale cigarettes sat right beside them. He whipped out a camera and took a series of pictures before Clay Garrison, the brewery manager, appeared in front of them.

“Hey, back off!” Clay barked. “This establishment is for patrons only. Leave now, or I’ll be forced to call the sheriff’s office.”

The man stood and shrugged. “Just trying to earn a living, man.”

“Earn it somewhere else,” Clay said and crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at the man.

“I’m out,” the man said. “But just one question, King. Is Briggs Williams your boyfriend? How long have you two been an item? And does Sadie know? Is she your beard? Why don’t you two just come out?”

Kings stared straight ahead, refusing to give the man any reaction or comment.

“Briggs, what about you? How does it feel to watch the love of your life act like he’s with a woman?” the man asked.

Briggs gritted his teeth and followed King’s lead. He knew from past experience that any response would be twisted to fit a narrative. Any narrative. He wouldn’t be party to that.

“I said get out!” Clay barked as he came around the counter, his fists clenched.

“I’m going,” the man said as he threw a card down on the counter. “Call me if you want to make a statement.”

Sadie reappeared, and the man’s eyes sparked with opportunity. “Sadie Lewis, how do you feel about being a beard for your supposed boyfriend?”

She stood behind the counter, looking like a deer in the headlights, and Briggs internally groaned when the man snapped her picture. Her face was going to be plastered all over the gossip sites in fifteen minutes or less.

“Sadie,” King said softly. “Are you okay?”

His girlfriend met his gaze, blinked, and then nodded. “Yeah. Sorry. I just wasn’t expecting that. I guess I got used to them leaving us alone.”

“Maybe it’s just a slow week in the gossip landscape,” Briggs said, feeling deep frustration that his friend had to endure the public invasion just because his artistry was singing.

He knew there was a price for fame, but that didn’t mean one should be harassed when they were just living their life.

“They’re like sharks with blood in the water,” King said, his tone as cold as ice.

They ate their lunch, neither of them talking much. Having the paparazzi show up had sucked all the air out of the room.

When they were done, Briggs threw some bills down on the counter and waited while King gave Sadie a quick kiss goodbye.

He glanced at the window, saw the cameraman just staring into the brewery, and scowled.

It looked like he wasn’t interested in the truth.

If he had been, he’d have taken a shot of King kissing Sadie goodbye.

When King joined him, Briggs said, “The paps are still outside.”

“I figured. Let’s just get to the studio.”

They exited the restaurant with their heads down, trying their best to ignore the photographer. But when the man ran up to them and started to play a recording, King stopped dead in his tracks.

It was a snippet of the song that he and Kassie had recorded the day before. Someone—likely Kassie—had leaked it for engagement.

King was practically vibrating with anger.

“Let’s go, King,” Briggs urged.

His friend hesitated for just a second longer and then strode off down the street with Briggs rushing to keep up with him.

When they got to King’s Toyota, he barked, “Get in.”

Briggs didn’t hesitate even though the studio was only a few blocks away.

King whipped the SUV out of the parking space and sped to the studio. The vehicle jerked to a stop, making the seatbelt dig into Briggs’s chest as he lurched forward. And before Briggs could even get out of the vehicle, King had burst into the studio.

As Briggs followed him, he heard him yelling.

“The deal is off!” he bellowed.

Briggs stopped just inside the door as he watched the fireworks go off inside the studio. Austin was nowhere to be found, but Kassie was there with her lips formed into a shocked O .

“I’m not signing off on that song,” King added.

“But we had a deal,” Kassie said, her face white.

“That deal didn’t include spreading speculation about my personal life on the internet, nor did it include leaking the song to the media,” King raged. “I’m out. I don’t care if it’s the biggest hit since the Beatles. I will not have my name connected to you.”

“You can’t do that!” Kassie shouted right back. “I didn’t leak anything. And I didn’t say anything about your personal life. I was making fun of people who are delusional about you and Briggs!”

“You heavily implied that Briggs and I are a couple. And now the paparazzi is back in town!”

“Oh, poor King. He has way too much publicity,” Kassie said in a pouty voice. “Did it ever occur to you that having people on the internet talk about you makes your music more popular? I did you a favor. You should be thanking me!”

King let out a growl and took a step forward.

“Come at me,” Kassie said, making a motion with her hands at her chest as if she were inviting him to fight her. “Show me what you’ve got, big man!”

“That’s enough!” Briggs yelled as he stepped between them. “Kassie, you know what you did. Now back off.”

“Oh, now you’re going to protect him?” she growled. “Maybe you two really are dating. Just wait until?—”

Intense magic burned through Briggs’s veins, and suddenly King tackled him as he cried, “No!” The two of them fell through the door and landed on the brick sidewalk in a tangle of limbs.

“What the hell?” Briggs asked as he stared up at the gray sky.

King untangled himself and sat up, holding his elbow close to his body. “Are you hurt?”

“No. But why did you tackle me?” Briggs asked.

“To keep you from blowing up the studio,” he said as he climbed to his feet and winced.

Briggs eyed his arm. “You need to see a healer.”

“I will if you will,” King said. “You have to get that magic under control.”

“Thanks for that observation, Captain Obvious,” Briggs snarked.

“What in the hell is going on?” Austin asked, appearing out of nowhere.

Kassie stood at the door and started to complain that King was backing out and that they’d had a fight.

King growled and then explained her antics over the past twenty-four hours.

Both of them started yelling again, and Austin put his hands up. “Stop!”

Briggs sat on the sidewalk with his head down as he did his best to keep himself in check. His annoyance at both of them was riding sky high. What he really needed was time away… from all of them.

His wish was granted when Austin said, “Let’s take the rest of the day off and regroup tomorrow. “Kassie, keep King’s business off your social media pages. And King, let’s sleep on this decision. We’ll talk more about it tomorrow.”

“Fine,” Kassie said. Then she looked at Briggs. “I need a ride home.”

Briggs didn’t answer.

King grabbed his arm and pulled him off to the side. “She can’t stay with you. Your magic is out of control.”

“I know,” Briggs said. “Did you find her a place?”

“The closest place is in Eureka. The place is a dive, but she’ll just have to get over it and?—”

“I can just see the TikTok videos now,” Briggs said with a flat tone. “We can’t do that.” He rubbed his temple and said, “Melissa offered to let her stay at her place.”

“That was generous.” King eyed him. “And you said?”

“No, obviously, but I almost blew up the studio, so I don’t think I have a choice.”

King nodded and walked back over to Kassie. “We’ve had a change of plans.”