Spells Trouble, Kristin Cast [books to read in a lifetime .TXT] 📗

Was he … primping?

Hunter trailed her best friend as he glided up to the hut and rang the small bell that sat in the middle of the bar.

The attendant’s soft curls bounced around her shoulders as she turned to face them. “Heya, what can I help you find?” Her voice was starshine, bright and clear and enchanting.

Hunter’s mouth went dry and she wished she, too, had combed her hand through her hair, turned it into anything other than the plain ponytail that hung down her back like the densely packed flowers of a cattail.

Jax leaned against the bar and glanced over his shoulder at Hunter. “What’d you say the name of that stuff is?”

Hunter’s tongue was a ball bearing pressing against her teeth. There was no point in crushing on anyone back home in Goodeville. The one time she had, Chelsea Parham had run around school screaming that Hunter was trying to turn her into a lesbian. Since that backward day in middle school, Hunter had decided that no Goodeville girl would ever be attractive.

They’re all warty toads, she’d said as her mother cupped her face and pressed their foreheads together.

There’s a whole world outside of Goodeville, Abigail had whispered before she’d kissed the tip of Hunter’s nose.

“It’s an insecticide.” Hunter cleared her throat and joined Jax in front of the hut. “For tree worms.”

The attendant’s eyes, robin’s eggs pressed into her soft, round face, shimmered when she met Hunter’s gaze. “Let me get you a map. When the trees start to bloom, it can turn into a bit of a maze.” She brushed a curl from her cheek and pulled a map from beneath the bar. “We’re here,” she said as she took a red marker from the cup next to the bell and drew a star over the info desk. “And you want to go all the way back here.” She drew a line from the hut, through the bonsai tent and the section of full sun flowering plants to the back section of the property where she marked the CONTROL THOSE PESTS! hut with another star. “And this is where I usually work.” She circled the EDIBLE ORGANICS section twice and looked up at Hunter. The corners of her pink lips quirked as she spoke. “If you make it back in, ask for Grace.”

Hunter’s legs were bags of pudding as she collected the map and wobbled away from the information booth.

Gravel crunched as Jax followed his best friend. “That’s Hunter. She’s amazing,” he called back to the hut. “And she’ll definitely be back!”

Hunter’s cheeks sizzled and her palms were slick with sweat. There was a whole world outside of Goodeville and Hunter hadn’t had to go far to find it.

“Dude.” Jax bumped Hunter’s shoulder. “Why are you running away? Go back and talk to her. She’s clearly interested.”

Hunter paused to unfold the map she’d scrunched up in her hand. Red marker stamped the scabbed-over slivers she’d accidentally dug into her palm the night before. “I don’t even know what I would say. It’s not like I ever get to practice any of that stuff.”

“I’ll be your wingman,” he said as he dodged a pollen-coated bee. “I already have my pitch down: ‘This is Hunter Goode. The best, smartest, kindest, most talented girl you’ve ever met.’” His forehead wrinkled and he scratched his chin. “There’s more, but I’ll proceed on a case-by-case basis.”

Hunter folded the map and crammed it into her front pocket. “What’s wrong with you? I’m not a prized pig, Jax. You can’t dress me up and sell me to the highest bidder.” The gravel walkway smoothed into round river rocks as they entered the bonsai tent and wove around tables covered with miniature trees and shrubs.

“H!” Jax stood in the entrance of the tent, hands shoved into his pockets. “A lot’s going on. I get that and I’m here for you. But I’m not an ass.” The slim lines of worry sprouting from the sharp corners of his eyes vanished when his brows lifted. “I don’t think you’re a piece of meat I can toss out to lady-lovin’ hyenas. I just want to help.”

Hunter picked at the edge of her thumbnail. “I’m not ready. For flirting or a girlfriend or making out or sex. I just—” Her eyes burned, and each blink sent tears down her cheeks. She’d never admitted any of that before. Never felt the reality of it until now. It had been easier to think that she was the victim of circumstance. That, if she lived in Chicago or New York or LA, she’d have a serious girlfriend or maybe even a revolving door of torrid love affairs. Goodeville kept Hunter protected. Kept her from seeing her truth.

Jax wrapped his arms around her. He blocked out the light and the saccharine scents of flowers and the pulsing buzz of nearby bees. “Take your time.” His breath tickled her ear. “I love you, Hunter Goode. When you’re ready, some badass gal will be, too.”

She pressed her face against his shoulder. Her best friend always smelled like clean sheets and peppermint. “I liked your line about lady-lovin’ hyenas.”

Jax’s chest shook with a laugh. “Really painted a good picture, didn’t it?”

Hunter pressed away from him and wiped her face with the back of her hand.

“Hey, H, you got any mucus removal spells up your sleeve?” Jax pulled his shirt away from his shoulder and pointed at the slimy wet spot she’d left behind.

Hunter’s eyebrow rose as she smiled. “Someday, when I’m a famous witch, that snot shirt will be worth a lot of money.”

Jax followed Hunter out of the tent and back into the sunny spring afternoon. “So, we’re eventually posting your witchy-ness for all to see?” He jutted his chin toward a bench of bright pink flowers. “You’ll be able to tell the photogs that your entourage started next to a cockscomb.”

“You just wanted to say cock, didn’t you?”

His shoulders hunched and he hid his laugh behind his hand.