Ariella's biggest desire in life has always been such a simple one. She wants to be 'normal.' Unfortunately, that one simple wish has never been within her grasp. Coming from a long line of witches is bad enough, but she's even more different than t...
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Slamming the car door with more force than necessary, I ignored the curious look Julian shot my way. I didn't even turn when I heard River's SUV pull into the driveway behind me. I had been in a bad mood all day. I'd been too stuck in my head, worrying about what would happen once I got home.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't decide what to do about the Everett and Lawrence situation. My thoughts just kept spinning in circles, and I couldn't find any clarity to make a decision no matter how hard I tried. Lawrence was sweet, kind, extremely cute, and we seemed to get along well together, but on the other hand, I couldn't get over the pull I felt toward Everett, the way his eyes seemed to occupy my mind anytime my thoughts got quiet.
It didn't feel right to just drop a guy who had been pretty great just because I felt an attraction to someone else. If I could be entirely sure that it was more than just physical attraction, it would be a different matter, but I wasn't sure of that at all.
The fact that Lawrence and his family were coming over that afternoon was just making matters worse. I almost felt like I would be lying to his entire family by hiding this big Everett-sized secret.
I needed a few minutes alone to unwind before our guests arrived. When I walked through the front door, I dropped my backpack and rushed upstairs to my floor without pausing. Dropping down onto my couch, I grabbed my sketchbook from the coffee table and flipped to the last page I'd been working on. Drawing usually calmed my nerves and quieted my thoughts, but when my eyes landed on the sketch of Everett's eyes, all of that flew out the window. Grunting in aggravation, I slammed the book closed and tossed it back on the table.
Pushing my AirPods into my ears, I cranked my music up as loud as it would go and squeezed my eyes shut. Throwing an arm over my eyes, I tried to relax and fall into the rhythm of the music. Luckily, my latest attempt at drowning my thoughts worked much better than the previous ones.
It seemed like only minutes later when a hand roughly slapped my foot off the couch. Glancing up, I was shocked to see River standing over me. I pulled the AirPods from my ears and eyed her cautiously. It was the first time she had ever ventured to the third floor of this house... or the old house for that matter.
"Uncle Ben told me to come get you," she snapped. "Lawrence is here."
Confused, I looked at my phone and realized that over an hour had passed while I lay there listening to music. Well, that had worked better than I'd expected. I'd lost track of time completely and definitely hadn't been thinking.
Feeling lighter, I followed River out the door and down to the first floor. I finally felt like I might make it through this visit after all. When we walked into the living room, I saw Uncle Ben, Lucien, Lawrence, Annie, and the girl that was with River at the football game all gathered around the room.
As soon as I came into view, Lawrence stood from his spot on the couch and approached me. Once he reached my side, he threw a casual arm around my waist and pulled me close, facing the others.
