Page 79 of Hexed Up

“Nope, I absolutely do not want to tell you about my weekend.”

“You know that only makes me want to hear about it more.”

I tip my head forward and stick my tongue out at my best friend. His eyes flash.

“You know I have ways of making you talk.”

I point my finger at him like a gun. “Don’t even think about it, Buster.”

He grins, showing off several gold teeth.

“Fine,” I grumble. “You were right. I was wrong.”

He shrugs. “Tell me something I don’t know, Sugar.”

“I may or may not be developing feelings for him,” I mumble, hoping maybe my friend won’t hear. Or even better, that he won’t care. I chew on my lip. “Maybe it’s just the potion. Maybe it’s affected me too.”

Damien shakes his head. “You know that’s not how it works. You made the potion. It doesn’t work on you. And it was designed for a man, anyway.”

“Bloody broomsticks,” I mutter. “You know, he would actually make a suitable boyfriend. The first suitable boyfriend I’ve ever actually had.”

“What, him? That grouchy, prickly hedgehog?”

“He’s not grouchy and he’s not prickly. He’s very nice, actually, and funny. And I hurt my ankle and he carried me for half an hour, through the rain, back to our hotel.”

“Like in the films?”

“Yep,” I say. “Just like the films.”

Damien stares at me, open-mouthed.

“You still bewitched him,” he points out, “even if he would make a suitable boyfriend.”

“Exactly! It’s not fair. Life’s not fair. Life is shitty and screwed up and simply sucky.”

“What do you expect?” Damien says, with no sympathy at all. “You’re human. It’s not meant to be easy. We’re meant to make it difficult for you.”

“You’re not making it difficult for Tiggie or Prim.”

Although, as soon as I say that, sisterly guilt swims through my stomach, because neither Prim nor Tiggie seem particularly happy at the moment. I’m not sure their love lives are thriving either. I have a feeling life is screwing all three of us Eccleston sisters over.

“Maybe once you’ve fed him the antidote,” he says, “once the love potion’s worn off, you could start from the beginning. Maybe he’d develop genuine feelings for you.”

“Have you seenme?” I say, dragging my finger down my form. “Andhim?” I point towards the front door. “I am not his type. We are nothing alike.”

“Opposites attract,” Damien points out.

“He’s a banker. He wears a suit to work. He has a pension, two Ferraris and a mortgage. I have McGruff.” I point towards my dog, who’s currently chewing on his own tail.

“You could do that thing they do in the movies. You know, likeGrease. Where you swap it up. You could get a little twin set and a string of pearls.”

My friend grins at me wickedly, obviously finding the idea amusing.

“Even if I got the outfit, even if I looked the part, I still wouldn’t be the part underneath, though, would I? I’m not made for a world like that. I am made for a world of chaos, conundrums, and calamities.”

Damien taps a claw against his lips, thinking, then something sparks in his eyes. An even more wicked grin spreads across his face as he leans forward.

“You could tell a little lie.”