Can't Fix Cupid

My heart does a weird flip in my chest that I don’t fully understand.

Is it possible that I’m not just upset about him refusing to let me set him up?

That thought stuns me. It stuns me so thoroughly that I miss the words coming out of Sparrow’s mouth.

Shaking my head to clear it, I force myself to pay attention. “I’m sorry, what?”

Sparrow’s hand moves from stroking my arm to wrap around my waist. His thumb starts making small circles over my dress. “I was just saying that a few of my friends are hanging out outside on the patio. Want to head out there?”

I let my eyes scan over the club again, searching for Warren, but I don’t see him anywhere. So he left with that woman? Fine. I should be happy, right? This is what I’ve always wanted for him. To make connections. To let loose. To desire, to have sex, to love. Maybe that lip glossed blonde is going to be a Match for him. Who knows? Maybe the confusing jumble of emotions currently swirling through me are just the alcohol talking. Regardless, he left. And I’m here with Sparrow.

Besides, I’m a cupid who’s been temporarily humanized. Pretty soon, I’ll be back where I belong, once again separated from all of this by the endlessness of the Veil.

Warren Knight is not mine to have.

He’s not even mine to want.

But these short moments of life are mine. So why not enjoy them while I can?

I turn back to Sparrow with a smile. “Sure, I’d love to.”

When in Rome, right? Or in my case, when in a real body and out of the Veil, during a ticking timeline of impending pop-ness. Something like that, anyway.

Chapter 19

Trix

With Sparrow’s hand firmly on my waist, he leads me all the way to the back where there’s a door ajar. We walk out into the cool beach air, and I see fire pits and canopy gazebos set up. There are speakers installed on the outside of the building to echo the music from inside the club, and if it’s possible, people are partying out here even harder than they were inside.

“There they are,” Sparrow says as he pulls me towards one of the fire pits to the right.

We approach a group of people hanging out by the fire, all of them with drinks in their hands as they talk and make out and laugh.

My eyes immediately light up when I notice they’re passing around a joint. “Oh my gods! Is that weed? Trying that is on my to-do list.”

Sparrow chuckles and looks around at his group of friends. “Hey guys, this is Trix. Trix, this is everyone.”

Everyone tosses back heys and what’s ups as I wave.

“Hit me with one, man,” Sparrow tells one of the guys.

The guy digs into his pocket and passes over a new joint. Sparrow puts it against the flames of the fire to light it, and then holds it out to me. I study it before holding it between my fingers.

I look up at him expectantly. “How do I do it?”

“Just put it between your lips and suck, baby.” He laughs, and although I know he’s trying to be cute again like at the bar, now he’s just making me want to roll my eyes.

But I really do want to try it, so I nod in understanding and then place the joint between my lips and suck in.

I immediately start coughing from the consuming, searing smoke, making everyone laugh around me. As I continue to cough, eyes burning, a little bit of pink Lust escapes from my lips.

I think Sparrow gets hit with some of the unintentional desire I just hacked up, because his blue eyes darken. “Here,” he says, his voice low. “Let me.”

He takes a drag for himself, holding it in for a few seconds, and then slowly blows the smoke against my lips. Closing my eyes, I breathe it in, curious to see what effect it will have. He does that several more times, and soon, I can feel a buzz tingling my brain.

Before I know what hits me, I’m suddenly sitting in his lap next to the fire, and I’m giggling at a story that a guy named Spike is telling everybody. Weirdly enough, I have no idea what he’s actually saying, because every time my brain tries to focus on it, I get distracted by the sparks drifting off the fire, and then I lose the meaning of his words.

“So pretty,” I say as my hands flutter in the air, trying to dance with the sparks.