Page 43 of Sweets and Sycamores

STAY AWAY FROM MY GIRL

Allie decided to open herself up to whatever was happening between her and Dom.

No more excuses like her leaving, him being her boss, and the hundreds of others she’d conjured to fight this.

His latest flirty actions gave her the courage to approach this as she deeply, truly wanted to: unafraid and unapologetically herself.

It had been different with Sam, and as much as Allie didn’t want to think about him, she had to remember their time together to make sense of her growing feelings for Dom.

She’d met Sam as he was passing through the Pearls Fields market.

They both reached for the same piece of rhubarb at the vegetable stall, and he smiled at her brightly, curiously.

Unlike everyone else, who scowled at the sight of her red curls.

His short blond hair was tousled by the warm wind, and he shook her hand with his tawny palm.

Sam had been on his way back to Green Creek and was supposed to be in Pearls Fields only for two days.

But two days turned into two weeks, then two months, and Allie loved having someone close in her life.

Ever since Petra had passed, and with her power still not manifested so she could join a coven, she’d been pretty much on her own.

Solitude was not the worst curse, but it felt like it had been once there was another soul she could share her life with.

Good food, walks in the forest, lying in the shade on a hot day…

Everything was better shared. So when Sam asked Allie to come with him to Green Creek, she said yes without giving it another thought.

Allie loved everything about Green Creek except the heat, which was thicker than in Pearls Fields. It was the first time she experienced new magic, and Sam was there every step of the way, teaching her everything he’d learned while living with it, as someone without magic.

Most of all, she loved waking up next to Sam, his blue eyes kind and full of love.

She loved his long fingers raking through her hair, the sweet words he murmured, and the fact that he made her laugh.

Sam introduced her to his friends, found a few recurring clients for her potions.

Offered her a life. One that had never been on Allie’s mind, not even in her wildest dreams.

Then he asked her to marry him, and she said yes, thinking it was the easiest yes of her life.

The day her power manifested—now better known as the day the seal had started to break—Allie had been thrilled to share this with Sam.

He knew she’d been struggling with her late manifestation, yet he was never keen on broaching the subject.

Allie wrote this off as a man who didn’t have magic and could not fully understand the importance of this.

The magnitude of her pain. But that day came, and Allie laughed and cried and shivered with excitement and fear while she told him all about it.

Allie would never forget his grimace, the disappointment and disgust that took over his features. She’d never seen him like this, and it was… It was as if by succeeding at this, she had failed him.

Sam broke their engagement and kicked her out, appalled by the prospect of living with a Witch.

Allie had argued that she had always been a Witch, would always be one, and why was he reacting as if she’d kept it a secret?

He had always known, from the first day he met her, when he’d said, “I love your fiery hair.”

Allie had never known betrayal like this, cold and bitter and disgusting. She joined the Silverbarks, and as much as she wanted to tell her sisters about Sam, she was glad she didn’t. He didn’t deserve to be brought into her life anymore, not even in conversation.

And Allie was even more sure of this after she met Dom.

Dom, who took her in without giving it another thought.

Dom, who treated her power outbursts with such care and interest that her heart had expanded like a hot air balloon.

Dom, who had been so invested into her struggles that he found the freaking seal on her power.

Dom, who was coming to her now, holding a tower of boxes and wearing the shadow of a smile she was slowly, steadily falling in love with.

“Can you help me with some of these deliveries today?” Dom asked Allie reluctantly. They were busier than usual with the bakery being closed last weekend, and he couldn’t manage everything by himself. And he didn’t have to. He had Allie.

“Of course I can.”

“Are you sure you know your way around town?” Dom tried to keep his worry out of his voice but failed.

“I have been here for five weeks now.” Allie smirked with the confidence of someone who had lived here their entire life. Dom had a few ideas about what he could do to that sweet smirk, how he’d unravel her perfectly tied bun and pull his fingers through her red locks.

Instead, he cleared his throat and gave Allie three of the six boxes and said, “The addresses are on top of the lid. They’re all on this side of the river.

If you get lost, ask for directions.” Allie nodded and took the boxes, but he didn’t miss the flash of hurt and doubt that lit her brown eyes.

He almost heard her thinking “Do you think anyone would help me?”

Dominic hated everybody in this town except the handful of people who had proved they lacked prejudice.

How could anyone not see Allie for the kind, caring, selfless woman that she was?

He knew the town had taken a hit and some people had gotten hurt because of a Witch, but Allie was nothing like her. Nothing at all.

Fate had a wicked sense of humor, and Dom had been left with deliveries to people he knew firsthand had a thing against Allie. He handled them with quick and rude grumbles, but no one seemed too fazed about his short fuse as it was on par with his normal temper.

His last delivery was to the mayor’s townhouse, and Dom used the back entrance as usual.

He was walking out from the side alley into the main street when a head of bright red hair caught his eye, attached to a shuddering form that hugged her jacket close to her body.

Allie kept saying she liked fall in Sycamore Falls even when she was shivering, and Dom couldn’t wait to be the one who warmed her up.

Dominic strolled to her but stopped at the edge of the house when he noticed a strange man approach Allie with a dumb smile on his face. The man went in for a hug, but Allie took two steps back and held her hand out. She looked shaken up, lips parted in a way that wasn’t to his liking.

Dominic tried to quench the urge to suck the air out of the idiot’s lungs and make him fall at her feet. What was the reason behind her trembling eyes? Fear? Aversion?

He didn’t want to take any risks when it came to Allie, so Dom did the thing he usually avoided. He Read the tall, blond man facing the woman of his dreams, and when his magic curled and twisted around his aura, Dom had everything he needed.

It was the man’s unlucky day, because Dominic’s rage had been fueled since early in the morning. And he was on the wrong side of things.

“Sam?” Allie asked pointlessly as her palm hit the middle of his chest. His name was like dry sand on her tongue. There was no doubt that Sam stood there, staring at her with those familiar blue eyes, daring to smile kindly at her. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been looking for you. I just want to talk, Als,” he answered, like it was the simplest, most logical thing in the world. She hated being called “Als,” but he loved it, and Allie had let it go because it hadn’t been that important to her.

Now it was.

“Alecsandra,” she corrected him icily, crossing her arms and taking another step away. “I have nothing to say to you.”

“Don’t be like that, Als.”

“Don’t call me that!”

“I made a mistake,” he blurted out. “I shouldn’t have let you go. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t care.” Her voice was wobblier than she wanted, but she struggled to tamp down the stinging sensation behind her eyes and nose, the lump in her throat. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

Actually, she did not want to cry at all, because Sam didn’t deserve any more of her tears.

Sam’s head jerked back, his brows furrowing in confusion. Did he expect her to obediently jump into his arms and thank him for saving her from a Sam-less life?

“Why are you being like this?”

“Why am I—” Sizzling hot anger overwhelmed her and quieted all other emotions Sam had stirred inside her.

“You discarded me, Sam. As soon as my power manifested, you kicked me out because, and I quote, you ‘won’t make a family with a Witch.’” He flinched.

“You knew I had nowhere else to go, but you didn’t care because you were scared of something you couldn’t control. ”

“I was not… I am not…” He reached for her again, and Allie backstepped.

“Stop running away from me!” Sam shouted, an ugly, desperate sound paired with a crazy look in his bulging blue eyes.

His predatory fingers would have grabbed her arm if not for the hand that grasped and bent his wrist at a painful angle before pushing him away with a force backed by magic.

“Dom?” Allie breathed. She traced his arm up to his handsome face, now twisted with wrath and revulsion.

“Don’t touch her,” Dominic growled.

“This is a private conversation,” Sam barked, rubbing his wrist. Dominic took one threatening step toward him, and to his credit, Sam didn’t back away.

“Is it?” he asked, his voice coated with malice. “A private conversation?” This time, Allie noticed his chin slightly tilted her way. She shook her head.

“Of course it is!” Sam bellowed.

“I am not talking to you.” Dominic didn’t take his eyes off Sam, his back ramrod straight, feet apart, forming a comforting wall between Allie and her stupid past.

She inched closer to him and took his hand shyly, but Dom wasted no time interlacing their fingers together. He squeezed her hand in his strong palm and pulled her closer to him.