Wicked Lovely (Wicked Lovely 1)

Seth titled her head up so she was looking at him and said, “You’re worrying me here. We good?”

She nodded.

“You thinking about running again?”

Her heart thumped too fast. She blushed. “No. I’m thinking the exact opposite.”

He ran his fingertips over her cheek—pausing at the corner of her mouth—and stared at her. “No pressure.”

Finally she leaned her face on his chest, hiding her expression. “I need to think. If we’re going to try this…us together. I don’t want to mess it up, mess us up.”

“It wouldn’t, but”—he swallowed audibly before adding—“we don’t need to rush. I’m not going anywhere.”

The knocking grew louder again until finally Seth let go of her. He straightened his clothes, turning his back to her to do so. Then he went to the door and yanked it open. “What?”

“Christ, man, it’s cold out there.” Mitchell pushed past Seth.

Jimmy, another one of the guys who had graduated last year, came in behind him. With him were three girls Aislinn didn’t know.

Aislinn went back to the counter and resumed crushing herbs. Jimmy stopped just inside the door and looked over at her with a wide grin. “Well, hello, Ash.”

She lifted the bowl in greeting, but she didn’t say anything. Her lips were tender; her hair felt like it was a mess. It had to be obvious they’d interrupted something.

Keeping her attention on the salve was easier than dealing with them. She poured the powdered herbs into an empty bowl, added more, and kept grinding them.

Jimmy nudged Seth. “What happened to the ‘only friends in the house’ rule?”

“Ash is a friend.” Seth narrowed his eyes at Jimmy and added, “The only one who has an open door here.”

Still grinning, Jimmy came over and looked at the bowl Aislinn clutched. “Well, this is interesting. What you got?” He picked up the bowl of already pulverized Saint-John’s-wort and sniffed. “Nothing I’ve smoked.”

He was a loudmouth; Mitchell was even worse, especially since Leslie had told everyone who’d listen that he was a lousy lay. He set a six-pack of beer on the counter.

The girls were over by Boomer, staring at the boa, but not getting too close. All three were dressed in clothes that meant they would be freezing outside—tight skirts, cleavage-baring shirts—the sort of thing that’d be uncomfortable even if it weren’t autumn. Three? She looked over at them, looked at Jimmy, who was making himself at home, picking at the leftover pasta.

“Thought I asked everyone to let me have a few days to myself.” Seth poured the first bowl of crushed herbs into the boiling water and set a timer. “Ash, can you grab the olive oil when you finish those?”

She nodded.

“Time to yourself, huh?” Mitchell grinned. “You don’t look like you’re by yourself.”

“We were.” Seth raised his eyebrow and inclined his head toward the door. “We still could be.”

“Nope.” Mitchell popped the top on a can.

Seth took several deep breaths. “If you’re going to be here for a while, turn on some tunes.”

“Actually, we thought you might want to go out,” the girl who’d been clinging to Jimmy said.

One of the other girls—the one watching Seth—moved to the side, just a little, and Aislinn caught a glimpse of tiny horns poking through her hair, of leathery wings curled behind her.

How did she walk in here? Looking like that? Only the strongest of the fey could be surrounded by this much steel and hold on to a glamour. That was one of the rules that had given Aislinn the most comfort over the years.

The winged girl moved toward Seth slowly, like each step took a lot of concentration. “We can’t really stay long. Come with us? There’s supposed to be a good band down at the Crow’s Nest.” She offered Aislinn a catty smile. “I’d invite you, too, but they’re being strict about the age thing after the raid. Eighteen only, you know?”

Slowly Aislinn set the bowl down and went over to stand in front of Seth, between him and the faery. “Seth isn’t available.”

Seth put his hands on her hips, touching her but not restraining her.