Witch You Were Here

by ERIN BEDFORD

  “No, no way. I’ll keep to one-on-one sessions from now on, thank you.” He held his hands up a look of pure disgust on his face.

  Shaking my head as I laughed, I pushed at Ian. “Don’t be mean. You don’t want to kiss him any more than he wants to kiss you. I had a hard enough time getting you in the same bed naked.”

  Ian opened his mouth to make a comment, but Paul pointed a finger at him. “Don’t even.”

  “What?” He raised a defensive shoulder. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”

  “Yes, you were,” Paul accused. “New rule. Anything that has to do with my dick or the size thereof should never come from my brother’s mouth.”

  Dale and Aidan looked at the brothers with amusement. Ian, of course, couldn’t let it go.

  “What can I say? My brother is toting a toddler in his pants. I’m just supposed to ignore that?”

  Paul’s face colored redder than the frosting on the cake in front of us. Putting his hands over his ears, Paul shook his head. “I’m not listening. Tell me when he’s done or I’m jumping ship. I don’t care how deep this pond is.”

  We all laughed, and Ian finally stopped torturing his little brother. Cutting into the cake, we stuffed our faces while watching the rest of the fireworks.

  “So,” Dale asked after we’d finished eating, “did you have a third?”

  “A third what?” I asked, sticking my finger in the frosting and then licking it off. Four pairs of eyes watched the movement and a ball of smug satisfaction filled my chest.

  “A third rule?” Dale’s eyes stayed transfixed on my finger as I slid it in and out of my mouth.

  “Oh.” I pulled my finger out with a loud pop. “Hmm, I didn’t really have a number three, but I could think of one.”

  “Fuck no.” Paul shook his head. “I’m good with those two rules.”

  “Me too.” Dale raised a hand.

  “I’m not.” Ian leaned back in his chair and watched us. “I want to see what else is in that dirty little mind of hers.”

  A slow grin slid over my lips. “Okay, I have something.” The others tensed as I watched Ian. “Though, it’s more of a request than a rule. Think of it as a birthday present.”

  “Oh, a request? I like the sound of that.” Ian arched a brow while Paul groaned.

  Before I could open my mouth and tell them, Aidan swooped in and planted one right on Ian’s mouth, tongue and everything. I gaped at them for a moment as I watched the two of them make out. I didn’t snap out of it until Aidan pulled away.

  “Hey, no fair,” I whined. “You ruined the fun of asking for it.”

  Aidan lifted a shoulder. “I saw it two minutes ago.”

  “So,” I pouted, ducking my head, “the whole point is to see the shock on everyone’s face.”

  “Do you want to ask now?” Ian wiped the back of his hand over his mouth. “Because I could go again.”

  “Please don’t.” Paul made a gagging sound. “Seeing my brother make out with his best friend is a bit too much for me.”

  “Well, he could always make out with you.” Ian grinned, and Aidan moved faster than anyone expected with his size.

  Paul saw him coming for him and shook his head with pure terror on his face. “No way. Keep your lips to yourself.”

  Aidan and Paul darted around the gazebo for a second before Paul stepped off. Instead of falling in the water, he hovered just over the surface.

  “I’m not coming back up there until that one swears to keep his lips to himself.” Paul pointed a rigid finger at Aidan.

  Laughing until my stomach hurt, I waved Aidan off. “Stop it already. Leave the poor guy alone. Besides, there’s plenty of time for him to warm up to you.” I arched a brow at Paul who cursed.

  “I have a feeling we’re going to be doing a lot of things we wouldn’t normally do because of you,” Dale mused though he didn’t seem at all bothered by it.

  The rest of them seemed to agree which was a-okay with me. I could use a few more compromises in my life. I’d done enough of my own recently. Time for life to give back to me.

  Chapter 21

  I would like to say the rest of my summer was just as eventful as the first.

  It wasn’t.

  It was really boring actually.

  Before I knew it, school had started back up, and I was back in my dorm room, unpacking things.

  “Hey, Max,” Trina greeted, pushing our dorm room door open.

  I shot a scowl at Aris. We really needed to work on those warnings. Sure, Trina wasn’t a threat but was it too much to ask for a little bob? A little weave?

  “Surprised to see you here already.” Trina drew my attention back from my defective guardian light.

  “Really?” I grinned. “Tomorrow is the first day of our second year, I wouldn’t want to miss that.”

  “But now that you’re Miss Popularity not just at school but in the magical community, I would think you’d be jetting around to rub brooms with your loyal fans.” Trina winked at me and then hefted her suitcase back onto her bed.

  “Jeez, what do you have in there?” I chuckled as she unbuckled the suitcase and pushed it open.

  “Just books, shoes, and some clothes Belinda grew out of.” She shrugged a shoulder as a massive number of things came falling out of her bag. One of those things looked like a paint ball gun.

  “Why do you have that?” I eyed the gun warily. “Should I be sleeping with one eye open this year?”

  Giggling, Trina picked the gun up. “Don’t worry this isn’t for you. It’s for MagiX.”

  “MagiX?” I cocked my head to the side and then my eyes widened in recognition. “Oh, yeah. I remember now. Something kind of like the Olympics but for magical beings?”

  Leaning the barrel of the gun against her shoulder, she struck a dramatic pose. “Well, not that big of a deal. I mean, it’s mainly between the colleges in the U.S., and other countries have their own thing.” She scratched the back of her head and laughed. “I’m sure what we call the MagiX Games is not the same thing as the rest of the world.”

  I scooched closer, my lips pursed. “But it involves guns?”

  “And potion balls!” She grinned a bit too proud of herself. “Now that I’m over nineteen, I can participate. You should think about signing up too.”

  I sat back on my bed and rubbed the side of my face, all the information too much for me to handle. “I’m still getting used to all this magic stuff, I’m not adding something like this to my stress. Also, I’m not competitive at all.”

  “Sure, you’re not.” She tossed the gun onto her bed and tried to force some of the clothes back into her bag. “Anyway, I only brought the essentials.”

  I giggled, moving away from my bed to pick up a pair of suspenders. “The essentials, huh? And what do your parents think of your rock star sister’s influence on you?”

  Trina snagged the suspenders from me with a wink. “They were about as happy as when I announced I liked girls,” she shrugged a shoulder, “and then a bit happier when I said that I was going to use my new style to build my own little harem.”

  I rolled my eyes. “They’re not my harem.”

  Snorting, Trina flopped on her bed. “You’re dating all of them?”

  “Yeah,” I drew out, watching her carefully.

  “And you’re having sex with them?”

  “Well, not all of them.”

  “But you will eventually? That’s the plan, right?” Trina grinned mischievously.

  I couldn’t lie. I did plan on getting the full experience, and that included having sex with Aidan and Ian. Especially, Ian and that piercing. A small involuntary shudder went through me.

  “What was that for?” Trina arched a brow.

  I flushed. “Nothing.”

  “What nothing? You shivered.” Trina went up onto one foot, a knee on the ground. “Was that a good shiver or a bad one? Do I need to lop someone’s dick off? Because I can and will.”

  I laughed and waved her
off. “Please don’t! I still have plans for those dicks. Especially, the pierced one.”

  Trina stared at me for a second confusion fluttered across her face, then a light bulb went off in her big head of hair. A sly grin went up her face. “Which one has the Prince Albert?”

  Laughing and dancing away from her, I pretended to unpack my bag again. “So, what classes do you have this year?”

  “Oh, no, you don’t. You can’t drop that bombshell and then change the subject.” Trina grabbed at me, but I darted away, jumping onto the bed.

  “It’s no big deal really.”

  “No big deal?” Trina climbed onto the bed, her hands out to stop me from running. “This guy is literally pierced, ribbed for your pleasure, and you think it’s no big deal?”

  “Okay, sort of a big deal.” I shrugged. “But I haven’t even had sex with him yet, so I wouldn’t know if it were like that or not.”

  Trina stopped trying to block me, a pensive look on her face. “Okay, so that narrows it down. You haven’t had sex with him yet.” She tapped her chin and climbed off the bed. “It can’t be Dale because your mom already told me about the incident at your house.”

  “Oh my god. She didn’t.” I rushed off the bed in a hurry. “Please tell me she’s not going around telling everyone I’m having orgies because I already assured her that was not how it was happening.”

  “Good to know.” Trina winked. “And no. Just that you don’t respect the sanity of your parents. Really, Max. You need to up your silencing spells. Libby and I have done it all over campus, and you never hear about us getting caught.”

  My face heated. “I have plenty of respect for my parents’ sanity. They don’t have any for me. I’ve been scarred by them plenty of times. It’s time I return the favor.” I placed my hands on my hips and nodded, firmly.

  Trina let out a puff of air. “Okay, whatever you say. Now back to the matter at hand.” She grabbed a pair of boots with way too many spikes on the sides. One kick with those shoes? Ouch.

  “Are you hungry?” I asked climbing off the bed. I grabbed my phone, shoving it into my back pocket. “I’m thinking of grabbing something to eat in the cafeteria.”

  “Or you could go off campus with one of your piercing-less boyfriends.” Trina taunted, trying but failing to get me to relent.

  I wagged my brows at her and pulled open the door. “Maybe.”

  “I’m your roommate. You are bound by roommate law to tell me all your dark and naughty secrets.” She trailed after me with new-found energy.

  “I don’t remember reading any roommate laws.” I rolled my eyes at her. “And I don’t see you giving up all your dark and naughty secrets.”

  “That’s because I don’t have any,” Trina pointed out. “I’m an open book. I date girls. I have too many siblings and not enough bathroom space, and I really really want to know who has the Prince Albert.”

  “Why?” I laughed. “You don’t even like penis. Why so interested?”

  “Now that’s not true. I never said I didn’t like penis, just that I like my sex with a little less penis,” Trina rambled on.

  “So, what, you’re bi?” I arched a brow, not really caring what sex she prefers. I just enjoyed pushing her buttons.

  Trina’s eye brows scrunched together tightly. “Now, I’m not saying that either. I mean nothing against guys.” She waved her hands at me as if I might attack her for insulting my boyfriends. “I just prefer mine soft and more...” she moved her hands in a cupping motion in front of her. “... round.”

  “You know there are guys with boobs, right? You can have boobs and all the penis you want.” I snickered.

  Opening her mouth to launch into what would probably be a debilitating argument about why she didn’t want a penis, Trina finally caught the glint in my eye. “You’re fucking with me, aren’t you?”

  I held my fingers up, pinching them together. “Just a bit.”

  “I’m going too far with the penis thing, aren’t I?”

  I grinned. “A bit.”

  We were quiet for a few moments before Trina just couldn’t help herself.

  “It’s Ian?” Trina snapped, pointing a finger at me. I only gave her a coy grin, making her frown. “Or Aidan. It has to be Aidan. He’s so big. A piercing wouldn’t be that bad for a guy like him.”

  “If you say so,” I taunted her, adding a skip to my step on my way to the cafeteria.

  Trina chased after me, flipping back and forth between who she thought it was. “Oh, come on, I have to know.”

  “No, you don’t.” I quipped, spinning around in place which was why I didn’t see Sabrina before I knocked her over and landed right on top of her.

  “Ugh, get off.” Sabrina pushed at me.

  I climbed off her, offering her a hand. “Sorry.”

  Sabrina looked at my hand for a moment and then, to my surprise, took it. I pulled her to her feet and stood there awkwardly. “So, about Monica—”

  “I don’t want to talk about that traitor,” Sabrina cut me off with a sneer.

  My mouth fell open, taken back by the fierceness of her words. “Oh, okay.”

  Sabrina’s face softened. “I mean, if she was hiding all that, who knows what else she could have done? I don’t need someone like that hanging around me. I might be a bitch, but at least I’m upfront about it.”

  “Right?” The word came out slow and confused.

  “What I mean to say is...” Sabrina sighed dramatically, crossing her arms over her chest. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you?”

  “What, do I have an echo in here?” Sabrina rolled her eyes to the ceiling and then smiled at me. It wasn’t one of her smirks or a I’m-pretending-to-like-you smile. Not even one of her fake smiles she saved for parents. This was a full-on genuine smile.

  I was floored. I didn’t know what to say to that, and apparently, I was staring for far longer than appropriate because Trina nudged me.

  “Oh, uh. Yeah, you’re welcome.” I shook my head and smiled back. We both stood there for a moment not knowing what to do. I was more unsure with the blonde in front of me than all my boyfriends. How weird was that?

  Trina, of course, had no problem breaking the ice. “So, Max was just telling me about how one of the guys has a Prince Albert, but she won’t tell me which one.”

  Sabrina quirked a brow and then flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Oh, I totally know that one.”

  “Really?” Trina grinned and started toward the cafeteria once more. “Tell me. It’s Aidan, isn’t it.”

  I gaped at them as Trina grilled Sabrina Craftsman for information and the blonde let her.

  “Are you coming or what?” Sabrina said over her shoulder.

  “Uh, yeah.” I hurried after them, my brain still not caught up to all that had just happened.

  The coming out party after a few hiccups and one bad witch had turned out to be a blast. I’d made even more friends than before. I had four boyfriends. My parents liked said boyfriends. And now Sabrina was being nice to me. What was the world coming to?

  Thank You for Reading!

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  Also by Erin Bedford

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  Bound by Hell

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by Hell

  Tempted by Hell

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  Her Angels

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  As You Witch

  Witch You Were Here

  My Gingerbread Ever After

  Granting Her Wish

  Vampire CEO

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