Page 18 of Seashells and Daiquiris

I slowly inhale, trying my hardest not to laugh. “Pardon?”

“If bad things stopped happening while you were in here, I assume then that it means you have to be within a short distance of me. So staying together.” He holds a hand up. “Listen, we don’t ever have to address the soulmate stuff. I don’t even know how deep that seriously goes. I can sleep on a couch, too. But we should be under the same roof.”

I nod a bit. “Yeah, I should ask Dove, first. It’s a neutral ground, so might feel weird to live in your space. Also I want her to confirm this is all real.”

“Fair enough… I also should keep working at the bar. It looks the most natural. Word spreads quick here, and I don’t want more drama following you,” he says, and I can’t lie that something spreads in my stomach at the way he looks at me when he says that, like a few flaps of butterfly wings.

I blink rapidly for a moment. “Yeah, that’s easy. I can write while you work.”

He slowly inhales through his nose before scratching his chin. “Alright, Freddie… three weeks. We can figure this out for three weeks.”

“Oh, we’ll figure this out, alright.”

For once, I don’t glare at the bag or tell it to shut up, and instead get a little lost as I stare into his eyes.

What just happened to my life?

FREDDIE

Dove responds to my panicked text thread within thirty seconds, which either means she's between meetings or she sensed a disturbance in the witch force.

I've been typing under the table while Liam gets us refills, my thumbs flying.

So update: the shell might actually be right about me being his soulmate His sea witch ex is sending bad luck at me A flower pot almost killed me this morning But it stops when I'm near him Also the shell is getting more fragile the closer we bond and if it breaks his heart is gone FOREVER Dove. I also need to live with him for the next three weeks apparently?

Three dots. Then the phone rings.

“Girl, what the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know,” I say, watching Liam sit back down across from me with two new fresh cortados, my heart already racing looking at it. “I just⁠—”

“Listen, not that I don’t want to talk to you, but please put Liam on the phone. He’s there, right?”

I nod as if she’ll somehow see it, and then hand it over to him. “Dove wants to talk to you.”

I listen very intently with the smaller glass in-between my hands, my knee bouncing as Liam answers a few basic questions, covering what we just discussed. Then I can faintly hear her talking on the other end, but don’t make out what’s being said. At some point Liam agrees with something, and then hands it back to me.

“You there, Freddie? Alright… so as a witch, we study curses a lot. They have very strict structures, and knowing how to work within one is crucial magik. As much as I’d rarely recommend you just living with a stranger to you for three weeks, you’re probably safest living at Liam’s place. His energy is the strongest counter to Thalassa and you're basically walking around with a target on your back without it. I don’t know if she’d actually, you know, kill you or something, but I also don’t trust her, and I do trust Liam.”

I’m so taken aback as I stare at him, trying to process that I have to live with this man? “Dove, is this all real?” I ask, slightly adjusting in my seat so I give Liam my shoulder. “I’m kind of freaking out, honestly.”

Liam seems to lean over, like he’s about to offer me some comfort, but that’s as far as it goes.

“Not going to lie, girl, this isn’t great. I wish I could come there. But Liam’s family is old and have a lot of power. He’s safe, okay? Thalassa can’t risk actually bringing you serious harm, or she’ll get banned. But she’s really upset, and her curse might backfire more than expected. Please, it’s for your safety. I don’t like curses like these, which are steeped in bitterness. They’re messy at the edges.”

“Alright, please be as available as possible,” I say.

She laughs warmly on the other end. “Yeah, you call or text whenever, you hear?”

“Thanks, Dove.”

“And you know what, enjoy yourself. Liam is a catch.”

“Yeah he is.”

I glance at Liam, who perks a brow. I hang up the phone with a sigh, hitting the red button.

“What am I, exactly?” He playfully asks.