The Lightning-Struck Heart (Tales From Verania 1)

“It magical,” Tiggy said succinctly.

“The point is,” Gary said loudly, “when you were dancing with Todd, it was cute and clumsy and juvenile. When you were dancing with Ryan, I thought the entire room was going to choke on the tension.”

I groaned. “That’s the last thing I need. Because if you could see it, then others could too, and that’s how rumors start, and I seriously don’t need everyone knowing how I want to do… stuff… to him.”

“Stuff,” Gary mocked. “Prude. And trust me when I say it’s not just on you. He’s right there with you.

You should have seen the glares he was giving Todd when you went through a second dance.”

“Lies,” I said with a scowl. “All lies. You know what? No. I don’t even want to talk about this anymore. I don’t even care. I’m over it. Past it. Moving on. I’m going to march back in there and tell Todd that he’s going to take me out on a date and it will be awkward and nice and that’ll be that.”

Gary and Tiggy stared at me.

“What?” I asked.

“How can you not see it?” Gary asked incredulously.

“See what?”

“Gaaah!” he shrieked.

Tiggy shushed him soothingly. “It okay. Pretty Gary. It okay.”

“You guys are so weird,” I muttered.

“I love you,” Gary said. “But sometimes I want to kick your spleen in.”

“The feeling is mutual,” I assured him. “I don’t even—”

“Sam?” a voice said from behind us.

Because of course.

All three of us turned.

Ryan stood there next to a stand of my mother’s violets, the light from a nearby lantern falling perfectly across his face.

“Well fuck me upside the head,” I said.

He said, “What?”

And I said, “Absolutely nothing,” because my mouth.

“I heard screaming.”

“And you came running? Of course you did.” I sounded like I was in pain.

He shrugged. “I thought somebody might need help.”

Apparently being noble and righteous is a turn-on for me, so I might have drooled a bit. “That was just Gary,” I managed to say. “He does that sometimes. With the screaming.”

“It’s true,” Gary said with a dramatic sigh. “I seem to suffer from a very serious condition called obliviousness by proximity. It causes screaming and the occasional uncontrollable need to stomp stupid wizards for being stupid.”

“And it’s completely fatal,” I said with a glare. “So maybe make with the dying.”

Gary ignored me. “You just happened to be in the garden?” he asked Ryan.

Ryan stared back. “Exactly.”