Page 167 of Love Spells: And Other Non-Refundable Magic

“You’re such a liar.”

“But I gave you five stars!”

I try not to laugh. I genuinely do. But Merry is underneath me with her hair all over her face and tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, and suddenly I’m laughing hard enough that I have to drop my head against her shoulder.

She wraps both arms around me, and neither of us says anything for a while.

We just lie there tangled together on her couch, trying to recover, my face tucked into her neck while Merry occasionally starts laughing again for no apparent reason and sets me off, too.

Eventually, she takes a long breath.

“Worth it.”

“I’m reporting your account.”

“You wouldn’t,” she replies, and then slides on the couch so that she’s lying across it. The movement pulls me with her, my knee slipping between hers as I catch myself with one hand against the cushion beside her head.

“I know the shop owner,” I whisper in her ear.

“She sounds hot.”

I lift my head, and Merry smiles up at me.

And there it is again, that strange little feeling I’ve been having lately. Although strange and little aren’t really worthy descriptors anymore.

Maybe it’s the opposite.

Everything about this feels normal and regular-sized.

Not boring or small. Just normal in a way I once didn’t think love could be.

There was a time when I thought falling in love meant rearranging everything around another person until there was no way to tell where they ended and I began. Then I spent years making sure nobody could ever get close enough for that to happen again.

I didn’t know there was another option.

Merry’s fingers move lazily beneath the hem of my sweatshirt, tracing the warm skin at the small of my back. My laptop is still open in the office. I have orders to finish. Later, I’m meeting Maggie for lunch, and Merry has plans with Veronica and Dani tonight. Mamá expects us both for dinner tomorrow because I guess falling in love with someone also means my mother starts texting them independently about what they want to eat.

Nothing has vanished, even six months in.

Neither have I.

Merry brushes a piece of hair away from my face. “You’re doing the thing.”

“What thing?” I scrunch my nose at the question, and her eyes light up immediately.

“Where you go quiet and stare at me like I’m about to disappear.”

I settle more comfortably against her, one leg sliding between hers. “I was just thinking that I really like this.”

Her expression softens. “This?”

I gesture vaguely between us, which is difficult considering I’m mostly lying on top of her.

There are things I could say to explain what I mean. But instead, I rest my chin against her chest.

“I like it, too.”

I lift my body so that I can kiss her, and Merry makes a pleased little sound. She pulls me closer, and for the next few minutes the abundance spell waiting in the other room gets absolutely none of my attention. It can wait.