Smoke and Wishes (Best Wishes #1)(32)

I closed the front door to my dorm quietly, not wanting to disturb Sadie who was snoring in her room. We should do something soon, I thought to myself. We may live together, but I felt as though I hadn’t seen her in a while, I missed her eccentricities after seeing Muriel. Flopping down onto my bed in a heap, I couldn't get the image of that blonde plastering herself to Hudson out of my head. Instead of dwelling on it, I pulled out my phone to see if I had any messages. Distraction, give me a distraction. I noticed several private messages waiting for me and a group text with the twins.

Logan: “how was studying love?”

Landon: “hopefully you and Cam were able to get some work done lemon drop!” I smiled a bit, the twins always seemed to be able to cheer me up.

Lucie: “it went well, we were able to get a lot figured out for the debate. What about you two?”

Landon: “we made decent progress in energy manipulation, English was boring. We missed you.” My heart warmed at that.

Logan: “so boring in fact Grigori fell asleep on Nik’s shoulder and fell off. He flapped his wings like crazy as he went down, it was great.” His text was riddled with laughing emojis.

Logan: “but we did miss you, what are you doing Friday night? We’re going to be heading to Hudson’s room for movies, you should come!!” My heart dropped at the thought of spending time with Hudson after our brief encounter in the quad.

Landon: “please lemon drop! We’ll let you pick the movie!” I could just see their pouting faces in my head. I chuckled as I typed my response.

Lucie: “I’ll think about it guys.”

Landon: “we’ll give you foot rubs!” I rolled my eyes at their blatant attempts of bribery, but if I was honest with myself, a foot massage sounded amazing.

Lucie: “fine, but no funny business.”

Logan: “of course not, we’re completely innocent.” I snorted at that, knowing full well they were anything but innocent.

Lucie: “you didn’t agree, Landon.”

Landon: “he may want to try and claim innocence, but I am most definitely not, so I make no promises.” His text was followed by several devil emojis. Sounds about right.

Lucie: “alright, you guys win. I’ll go, see you both soon.”

Logan: “goodnight love.” My heart warmed at his sweet message.

Landon: “see you in my dreams.” More emojis, only this time they were winky faces. I went on to check Dante’s message once I had received Landon’s last text.





Dante: “hey firecracker, just wanted to shoot you a text and see how your day was.” Why are they all so sweet?

Lucie: “hey hon, it wasn’t bad. Got a lot done for debate, mental defense class was just a lecture on shielding, tips, and directions to building a mental wall.” I shot back while I checked on my most recent text from Nik.





Nik: “hey babe, wanted to know if you would be up for something?” His enigmatic question piqued my curiosity, and I couldn't contain the grin that took over my face at him calling me ‘babe’.

Lucie: “maybe, what did you have in mind?”

Nik: “going out to prep for my archery competition coming up over Mabon weekend and was wondering if you wanted to come to the range with me” My eyebrows shot up, Nik competed in archery? Stunned into silence for a moment, I blinked a few times before responding.

Lucie: “I’d love too. Just let me know when!”

Nik: “As soon as we are able, I’ll text you. Sleep tight.”





By the time I finally put my phone down, I was more than ready to fall asleep. My afternoon had started so wonderfully studying with Cam. Who am I to be jealous over Hudson and his date when I’d been ready to move in on Cam just a few minutes prior? Not to mention the twins with their not-so-innocent flirting and my impromptu dinner with Dante. I sighed and rolled onto my back to stare at the ceiling. You’re losing it, this is what friends do, don’t make it out to be more than it is.

Getting up to change into something comfy, I double checked that my cupcake night light was set before shutting off the overhead light and curled up in bed. I don't know how long it took me to fall asleep, but the turmoil I was feeling over my friendship with the guys was nothing compared to what awaited me in my dreams.





10





September 6th

Thursday Morning

Nikolai





I was securing my quiver to my back when I saw Lucie walk onto the range, heading towards me. She was bundled up today, wearing a grey hoodie under her black bomber jacket, the sleeves of her navy blue shirt pulled over her hands in an effort to keep them warm. Her hair was down for the first time since I met her, the straight tresses were billowing out softly as she walked. The wind shifted bringing some of the hair in front of her face, tucking it behind her ear as she neared me. I was grateful when debate was cancelled today giving me the opportunity to show her the range.

“Hey Nik,” her voice was warm when she reached me, a smile slowly curled her lips. I was enveloped in her signature vanilla scent and could hear her even breaths next to me.

“Hey, babe. Ready?” I felt nervous, wondering if this was a good idea. What are you doing? My brain yelled at me, also questioning if I had lost my mind. Grigori lifted off my shoulder up into the air, but instead of staying nearby as he usually did, he flew to one of the surrounding trees and situated himself on a high branch.