Cricket (Cricket Kendall Book 1), page 3
I feel sort of nervous, watching Theo mull this over. But he only seems curious, rather than freaked out.
“This probably sounds stupid, but I don’t know how else to ask. Are you, like, born with one? God, never mind. That sounds stupider out loud than it did in my head.”
I can’t help laughing, only because he sounds so sweet and exasperated. “It’s not a stupid question. A witch gets her familiar on her sixteenth birthday. I don’t really know why or how it works exactly, but on the morning of my sixteenth birthday, Stella was sitting on the front porch waiting for me. As soon as I looked at her, our bond was formed.”
“You don’t get to pick what type of animal you get?”
“Nope, they pick you. I spent years dreaming about what kind of familiar I’d get. I wanted something badass, like an iguana or a bat. But then Stella showed up, looking fucking tiny and fluffy and adorable.”
Theo laughs heartily. “She is really fucking cute.”
I squint my eyes at him and smirk. “Just wait until you see the little bastard attack somebody. She won’t look so cute then.”
Chapter Four
Theo pulls the jeep into the parking lot of a little retro looking restaurant called The Mountainside Diner. It’s busy since we’re here during the lunch rush, but once we’re inside, we get a booth to ourselves. The waitress recognizes him, and after she glances over at me, she gives him an exaggerated wink that she doesn’t try to hide at all. Theo’s cheeks turn the faintest pink, and he gives me a goofy smile.
When I order a chocolate malt milkshake to go with my bacon cheeseburger, the waitress slyly asks, “You want two straws with that so you kids can share?”
I blink and furrow my eyebrows. “Hell no! I want my own milkshake.”
Theo laughs so hard, I’m afraid he might actually explode. Between bouts of his sniggering, he asks the waitress for his own chocolate shake. She rolls her eyes at us before walking away.
“God, you are fucking spectacular. Why haven’t I met you sooner?”
I know I’m probably blushing, but I try to play it cool and smile at his question. “I’ve only been in Emery Ridge for a few days.”
Theo taps his fingers against the table and stares down at my hands, his face turning red. “Why did you move here, anyway?”
It’s a normal question, so I don’t understand why he seems nervous. I shrug and tell him, “My parents own a management consulting business. My mom mostly works from home, and my dad travels often. Since I’m about to be eighteen, they thought it would be good for me to stay with Aurora so I can learn a little more from her. That way, my mom can travel with my dad. My brothers go to school in Denver too, so having me move here is a win-win for everyone.”
Theo asks me a little more about my parents and the twins. I think Emerson and Killian would like Theo, so I’m sad they didn’t get to meet him before they headed back to Denver. Em was bummed too, since he only got to spend a few days with Luca. But Emerson is on the school’s hockey team, and they start up practices pretty early in the year.
When the waitress comes back to the table carrying our food, she makes a big deal of setting down two separate milkshakes in front of us. I give her a crazy gigantic smile and say thank you, and she walks away grumbling.
Theo chuckles as soon as she turns away from us. I know he’s only teasing me, but it’s still embarrassing. I blow my hair out of my face and laugh. “Oh my god, shut up!”
He wolfs his burger down in record time and keeps his eyes on me as he sips on his milkshake. It makes me feel self-conscious, but I don’t break eye contact. When he keeps staring at me without saying anything, I raise one eyebrow at him questioningly.
He smiles bashfully and clears his throat. “I know you’ve only been in town a couple of days, but have you met anyone else besides me and Paisley?”
“Not really.” I shrug. “My brother’s boyfriend Luca works at the bookshop, but he’s a few years older than us. Paisley seems nice, but she’s quiet. We haven’t had much of a chance to talk yet.”
Theo tilts his head thoughtfully. “Yeah, Paisley’s always been like that.”
“Do you know her pretty well?”
He shakes his head and slowly smiles with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “No, but she has a crush on my friend Hollis.”
This is the first time Theo’s mentioned any of his friends, and I can’t help but perk up with interest. “How do you know?” If Paisley’s too shy to even say a word in front of Theo or my brothers, I can’t imagine her telling a guy she has a crush on them.
He hesitates and clears his throat like he’s embarrassed. “Well, she writes him love notes and poems. I don’t think she knows that we know it’s her.”
I quickly swallow a bite of my burger and ask, “What do you mean?”
He taps his fingers on the table between us. “We can smell her on the paper she uses.”
I blink, taking a second to let that soak in. It hadn’t even occurred to me he might have an enhanced sense of smell. I’m absolutely horrified, thinking about how I must have smelled to him when we met yesterday after I’d been working in the garden all freaking day. Oh my god.
Theo taps his fingers on the table more erratically. I think my silence is making him nervous because he rambles. “Hollis felt terrible when she started leaving them for him. He didn’t tell me or Cas about it at first because he knew we’d make fun of her. But Cas found him hiding one, and we started giving him hell over it.”
I’m only half paying attention, still thinking about how bad I probably smelled yesterday. But I furrow my eyebrows when I realize what he just said. “You make fun of her?”
Theo grimaces, and his cheeks redden in embarrassment. “Fuck, I didn’t mean to tell you that. I sound like a huge asshole now. But we don’t, I mean, we’ve never told anyone outside of the three of us, and we would never make fun of her to her face. And she’s actually not a bad writer. It’s just, you know, she really isn’t Hollis’s type?”
It kills me that he’s freaking out. Even though I think he and his friends are jerks for making fun of Paisley’s crush, I don’t want Theo to be upset. I reach out and brush my hand over his furiously tapping fingers. He stops moving and meets my eyes, still looking embarrassed. My skin tingles from touching him, and I can feel my magic humming again. But my reaction isn’t as intense as yesterday, which is a relief.
“It is kind of mean,” I admit with a shrug. “Just because Paisley isn’t Hollis’s type, that shouldn’t give you guys the right to make fun of her. But I’m not mad at you, and I don’t think you’re an asshole! My brothers are the same way when people do embarrassing things to get their attention.”
Theo gives me a long, intense look and I watch his nostrils flare faintly. I blush again when I realize he’s sniffing me. I focus on my milkshake, desperately trying to think of a way to change the subject. When it feels like I’m getting a brain freeze, I look up to find him still watching me and smiling.
“So.” I cough awkwardly. “Hollis and Cas are part of your, um, family?” I don’t know how else to word it while we’re in public like this.
His smile tightens, and he lets out a sigh and smiles for real. “Yeah, they’re practically my brothers. We’ve been best friends our entire lives. If you don’t meet them in the next few days, you’ll meet them when we start school. They’re going to fucking love you.”
I finish the last of my milkshake, and Theo grins down at my mostly empty plate. Ugh, does he really have to bring attention to the fact that I ate everything? I’m feeling like the most unattractive girl ever. It only takes a couple of minutes for Theo to get the check.
When I offer to pay for my half, he gives me an offended look and says, “Don’t even think about it.”
When we go outside to the jeep, Theo opens the passenger door for me again. While driving, he tells me about this secluded area in the woods where he’s sure we’ll have some privacy. He seems super excited, and I am too. But I’m also getting a little nervous, and I cannot stop thinking about the freaking smell thing.
After a couple of minutes, he glances over at me. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
I shake my head and smile at him, but I can tell he’s not buying it. “Nothing!”
He taps his fingers on the steering wheel and looks at me again. “We don’t have to go to the woods if you don’t want. I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”
“I’m not afraid of you!”
He narrows his eyes like he’s not sure he should believe me, and it looks like his feelings might be hurt.
I rest my hand on his arm and tell him sincerely, “Theo, I swear I’m not afraid of you. Yes, I am a little nervous, but it’s just because I don’t really know anything about werewolves. You didn’t know anything about witches before yesterday, right?” When he nods hesitantly, I continue. “Well, I’m in the same boat. Before my aunt introduced us, it never even occurred to me that there might be other magical or supernatural creatures in the world, which is honestly really stupid and presumptuous of me.”
He glances sideways at me again. “You promise that’s all it is?”
I turn to look out the window and breathe out of my nose, annoyed. Dammit, why does he have to be so perceptive?
“Cricket?” His voice somehow sounds both uncertain and authoritative.
I groan and turn toward him again. “God, okay, fine. This is embarrassing, but ever since you mentioned being able to smell Paisley from just a piece of paper, I’ve been freaking out wondering what I smell like to you. Yesterday when we met, I had been working in the garden all fucking day and I stood there flirting with you, completely covered in dirt and sweat.”
It takes a lot of effort to look up at Theo after that mortifying confession. He doesn’t even say anything. He’s just grinning his ass off with his nose scrunched up, looking totally adorable. I want to punch him.
When he glances at me, still grinning like a lunatic, I slump down in the seat. “God, what!? Why are you smiling like that?”
He laughs. “You’ve seriously been stressing yourself out over what you smell like to me? It’s just so, I don’t know, so fucking cute.”
I continue glowering, slumping down even further into the seat. When he sees the look on my face, he laughs harder.
“First, little witch, you have no idea how satisfying it is to see you get so flustered and embarrassed. I’ve never met a girl that’s as cool and confident as you are before, and it’s pretty fucking nerve-racking.”
I consider this for a second. That’s not such a bad compliment. It actually feels pretty good to know that I was pulling it off when I was pretending to play it cool before. But I’m still glaring at him because he hasn’t addressed the dreaded smell issue.
He grins at me again. “Second, I’m just going to come right out and say that you smell fucking incredible.”
I sit up straight and squeak, “What!?”
“My wolf really likes the way you smell.”
Theo’s blushing now, but the way he says that with a bit of a growl in his voice makes my skin tingle and causes my magic to zing like crazy. I can’t think of anything to say, so I just smile over at him.
He smiles back, and we spend the next few minutes in a comfortable silence. Theo drives us up into the mountains, and at one point, it seems like he’s gone completely off the marked road. When the forest becomes too dense to drive through anymore, he parks and turns the jeep off.
Chapter Five
“Ready to play, little witch?” Theo smiles teasingly.
I nod enthusiastically, all of my excitement rushing back now that we’re here.
“We’ll have to hike a bit to get to the spot I want to show you.” Theo looks down at my feet and grimaces. “Fuck, I wasn’t thinking earlier. I should have told you to bring different shoes. I can carry you.”
I smile and shake my head, already sliding my sandals off. “No, thanks. I’m going barefoot anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”
Before he can respond, I hop out of the jeep and curl my toes in the dirt. I feel my magic connect to the energy around me, and I take a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the forest. My magic is buzzing inside of me, begging to be released. I shut the passenger door and take a few more steps into the woods, lightly threading the air through my fingers as I let a few of the surrounding leaves and twigs rustle around my feet. When I spin around, Theo is staring at me in wonder.
“Can you feel it? I’ve never felt so much natural energy in one place before.”
Theo shakes his head and smiles, still marveling at me. “I can smell it though.”
He leads me through the woods. At first, he’s concerned that I’m going to hurt my feet, but after I explain that being barefoot helps me feel more grounded to my magic, he seems excited. We walk for about ten minutes before coming to a large grassy clearing that leads up to a small, sparkling lake. It’s breathtaking, and I spend a few minutes looking around in amazement.
“Nobody comes here?” I ask in bewilderment.
Theo grins down at me. “Well, we do. But it’s not on any maps or trails.”
I feel so stupidly happy. I spin in a circle, laughing breathlessly as I let my magic gather around me. I can feel my hair blowing around wildly, and I slowly let the air lift me a few inches off the ground. It’s so much easier here than it was back home in Florida. My witch’s blood is positively singing, telling me I belong here. I let myself float until I’m only a couple of inches higher than Theo’s eye level. He takes a step toward me, giving me a dazzling smile as he reaches his hands up to gently grabs my hips and pull me down against his chest. I let go of my magic, and he holds me tighter so I don’t fall.
He scrunches his nose, and his eyes dance in wicked delight. “Okay, little witch. It’s my turn to show off.”
He sets me down on the ground and takes a step back. He gives me a crazy wide smile, and he changes. It happens so quickly I swear I must have blinked. Where Theo was standing just a second ago, there’s now a giant wolf in his place.
My breath catches, and my eyes widen in amazement. He’s so large that my head barely reaches his back when I’m standing beside him. His fur is a beautiful reddish-brown, similar to his hair color, and his eyes are slightly more vibrant than in his human form. He’s standing still, waiting for me to react first. When I smile and take a step closer to him, he wags his tail and flops his tongue out the side of his mouth, giving me a dopey grin. I reach my hand up to brush my fingers through his fur, which is incredibly soft.
I can’t believe this is happening right now. It’s unbelievable that I’ve somehow made friends with a werewolf! I’m so giddy, just ogling him in admiration. He sniffs me all over, wagging his tail like crazy. I giggle and press my forehead against his when he does that, and I scratch him behind his ears. He makes a cute little grunting noise, so I assume he likes it.
I pull back and look him in the eyes with a smirk. “I feel kind of cheated. In Twilight, they had to take their clothes off before they could shift.”
His eyes crinkle, and he snorts, nuzzling my side with his nose. It tickles, and I laugh. He leaps away from me and spins around. He’s only a few feet away, and he’s half-crouched with his front paws flat on the ground, wagging his tail wildly. He whines at me, looking like an adorable overgrown puppy.
Well, he said that he wanted to play. I put a hand on my hip and smirk sarcastically. “You want to play fetch, boy?”
He flattens his ears and snorts at me again. I guess that’s his wolf laugh? I look around and spot a large, fallen branch next to a tree about ten feet away. I give Theo a wicked grin and use my magic to make the branch float over until it’s hovering in front of me. Theo crouches and looks at me expectantly. I laugh once, wave my hand, and launch the branch across the entire clearing. I’ve never done something like that before, and I feel a rush of adrenaline as my magic hums in response.
Theo takes off running. I’ve never seen anything move so freaking fast in my life. Seconds later, he comes back and drops the branch at my feet. He sits back, wagging his tail and panting with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. I laugh so hard that my sides hurt, and I bend over to catch my breath. Theo nudges my side and sniffs me, and he licks me across my face. I squeal, half in delight, half in disgust.
I use my magic to throw the branch across the clearing several more times. Theo tries to outrun the branch, and he catches it in the air a couple of times.
The next time he brings the branch back, looking way too pleased with himself, I smirk and raise my eyebrows. I wave my hand and toss the branch out into the lake. Theo folds his ears back and yips at me, but he leaps straight into the water. Seeing him do that makes me giggle like crazy.
When he comes back out, he drops the branch beside me and stares at me with mischief flickering in his eyes. Without warning, he shakes his fur out, completely drenching me in water. I squeal and hold my hands up in front of me, but it’s futile.
He has a smug, wolfy grin on his face, but I just smirk at him again. Using my magic, it takes only seconds before I’m dry once more. Theo blinks at me and then huffs like he’s annoyed. He slaps one of his gigantic paws down in the water so it splashes me.
“Oh my god!” I laugh. “You are such a little punk!”
He wags his tail and splashes me again. I use my power to try to push a small wave at him, but the water barely even ripples at my attempt. I don’t know any water spells, and I glare down at the lake like I’ve been personally affronted. Theo seems to find the whole thing hilarious, and he splashes me again and again while he keeps on wagging his stupid, fluffy tail. I take a step onto the water. Technically, I’m just barely floating over the top of it, but it looks like I’m walking on the water. This is another trick I’ve never tried before, and I can’t stop grinning. I take a few more steps and turn to laugh at Theo in delight.
