Page 98 of A Witch in Notting Hill

“Do women usually throw you out right after a shag?” she asked.

“For the millionth time, Lo, you know that’s not what this was.”

“Aye, sorry, I was only joking.” She held her hands up in surrender, and only then did I realize I’d snapped.

I scrubbed my hands over my face and through my hair, trying to regain my composure. I’d been such a wreck the pastfew days, just holed up in the shop with my phone up in my flat so I wouldn’t be tempted to check it. I was really leaning into the whole grumpy bookshop ownervibe, only I wasn’t sure if it was bringing in business or turning it away.

“I’m sorry.” I sighed, collapsing into a chair across from her. Wesley had everything under control out front, and it would probably do me some good to take a break to eat. Lola slid a chicken shawarma wrap across my desk in my direction, watching as I unwrapped the paper and took a bite. “This is delicious,” I said with my mouth full, even though I knew it would drive her crazy.

“Figured I owed it to ya,” she said. “Remember when Anika dumped me and you brought me wonton soup?”

“Willow didn’t dump me,” I said, going in for another bite. I hadn’t realized I was starving.

“Then why have you been acting like you’ve been dumped?”

“I haven’t.”

“Ol.”

“What?”

“You’ve been sulking around for a week. Min told me you haven’t been running, and the shop has never looked so clean. Did you dust the vents?” She squinted at the ceiling to make a point, and I rolled my eyes. “And you skipped pub quiz. On horror film night.”

“I had a headache,” I said, knowing neither of us believed my lame excuse. If either of them complained of a headache and tried to get out of pub quiz on horror film night, I’d have told them to pop a few paracetamol and get their arse on the Tube.

“It’s okay to be upset about this, you know,” she said, unwrapping her own sandwich and giving me a break from the eye contact. “I’m upset about this. So is Min. We all got attached to her, and it sucks when you get attached to people and they leave. Why is it such a big deal to admit that?”

“It isn’t a big deal,” I argued. “I just don’t think there’s much to say. I should have known better than to get attached in the first place, so really I had only myself to blame. And I’m sorry you and Min got dragged into this mess.”

“Are you kidding? This is the most exciting thing we’ve done all year.”

“Didn’t you guys go to Glastonbury?”

“Exactly.”

“Well, in that case, I’m sorry it ended this way.”

“How do we know it’s over?”

“Apart from her telling me she had to finish the quest on her own? Because that felt pretty obvious to me.”

“You’re such a pessimist,” she said.

“Weren’t you just telling me it was okay to be upset?”

“Upset, yes, but not negative. Isn’t the last thing she has to do convince a skeptic?”

“Yes, and?”

“And...last I checked, you’re pretty damn skeptical.”

“Lo, if you’re implying she’s coming back into our lives to try to convince me magic is real, you’ve officially lost the plot. And besides, even if she did, I can’t say she’d have much luck.”

“You’re exhausting,” she said, dropping her fork directly into the hummus. “You work in a bloody magic bookshop, Oliver. Wouldn’t it be so much easier to just embrace it?”

“I’m not having a hard time, last I checked,” I said. “It’s not like I’m resisting it. I’m just being practical. There’s a scientific explanation for everything, even the anomalies. People don’t actually have powers. It’s all confirmation bias.”

“If you’re going to try to win Willow back, you better not let her hear you saying that.”