"Maybe a coffee?" I ask. "The academy's coffee isn't great. I'd like a decent one."
"You got it."
I sit on a small metal chair at one of the round wooden tables outside the coffee shop and watch people trickle by now the crowds have left. Families with small children. Couples. Friends. No vampires, shifters, or witches.
As far as I can tell.
Jamie's tall figure attracts attention from a couple of younger teen girls in the queue behind him, who whisper to each other. Enamoured by his toned physique and good looks, one girl drops her bank card on the floor beside him. Did she do that deliberately? No—she's pink and flustered as Jamie bends down to pick the card up to hand to her. The smile from Jamie as he meets her eyes sends her cheeks pinker. How did this guy never notice the effect he has on girls? He bewitches without trying—the way he did me the first time I saw him.
Once I recovered from the fact that I'd seen his death.
Jamie pays for the coffees and brings two tall cups over to us, under the girls' watchful eyes. They turn away with disappointed looks when he reaches my table. I stand and immediately press my lips to Jamie’s, and he looks at me in surprise.
I'm lucky to have the friendly, gentle Jamie in my life to temper the intensity of the others. Not that I don't love Andrei's intense broodiness or Ash's brash passion, but Jamie is different. He offers me something none of them can. Himself—plain and simple, with nothing to hide. He’s certainly the polar opposite of the fourth guy who’s rooted in my life and doesn't want to be.
And if I'm shallow, there's no denying Jamie’s as hot as the other guys. Unable to resist, I slide my hand around to his backside and squeeze. He mocks gasps and shakes his head. "Honestly, Maeve."
I pull him to me, and he kisses me too, brief and chaste, aware of others around. "What can I say? You're irresistible. Just ask the girls over there."
"What girls?"
I chuckle. "Never mind. Let's go."
Holding our coffee cups, and hand in hand, we head outside towards the car park behind the movie theatre. Jamie pauses. "If you don't want to head back, how about we take a walk? There's a park close by."
I eye the sky, a brighter blue than normal for spring, but with sparse grey clouds. "What if it rains?"
He tips his head upwards too. "I don't think so."
"I admire your weather prediction skills."
I truly want to spend more time with Jamie. Every day, I straddle the human and supernatural, and when I'm with him I'm a step further into the ordinary. The other guys never thought to keep an important side of my life with ordinary dates, but to be fair, we haven't had much chance. Somehow, I can't imagine Andrei sitting through a movie. And Ash's picnic date definitely took a step further than normal.
The park is a short walk from the busier area of town, and we chat about the movie as we walk from the shop-filled streets and reach the edge of the green oasis in the middle of the grey. Leaves bud in the branches above us and purple and blue pansies smatter the ground on the other side of the path, creating more colour for the drab town.
The place has a magic effect on me without any magic cast by either of us. Nature. Peace. Serenity. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. The spring scents around me push away the traffic fumes, and I'm as absorbed here as I was watching the movie.
We sip our coffees and wander the path in silence for a few minutes, our hands firmly clasped together. A large Alsatian charges across the path to catch a ball and I almost trip over as the dog runs in front of me. A middle-aged man shouts out an apology and calls the dog back to him.
A slender woman wearing fitness gear walks towards us pushing an empty stroller and focusing on her phone. Close by, a small brown-haired boy runs in circles on the lawn, calling out to her when he finds a large stick.
"We need to spend time away from the academy more often," I say and tip the remaining coffee into my mouth. "Time like this—not fun days out pursuing, or running from, enemies."
I say the words lightly, but the truth behind them hurts.
"I agree, but we need to be careful. I don't think the professors like us leaving campus in the current climate."
I smile at his newsreader description. Current climate: cloudy with a chance of death. "Perhaps we should ask Professor Whitlock to chaperone us."
Jamie halts by a bin and drops his cup in. "Did something happen between you two at the Blackwood house?"
The day greys, and not only because clouds build above us. "We promised not to talk about the world we left behind for today."
"I'm not—I'm only talking about Tobias. Did he know the Blackwoods?"
"Jamie, I want to forget. Please."
He presses his lips together and continues to focus on my eyes. "When I mention him near you, there's a strange energy."
"Yes. I've told you this before. We’ve a connection."
"No. A new energy."
I look towards the elderly couple meandering across the lawn with their small white dog. How much can I tell him? Tobias doesn't want the curse mentioned, concerned that others may respond differently to him if they knew, and Jamie definitely would.
Tobias needs to tell the others about the curse—the situation affects us all.
I can’t talk about the curse, but I also can't keep everything a secret. I promised not to. Turning back to Jamie, I struggle with my next words. "I kissed Tobias."
Jamie drops his grip on my hand. "What the hell, Maeve? Why? That was wrong!"
"I'm not discussing this with you if you react like that," I say stiffly as people around turn their heads towards us.
"He took advantage. You were vulnerable," Jamie mutters.
"No. I said I kissed him. And stop freaking out; nothing more will happen between me and Tobias.”
"Why?"
I sigh. "Ask Tobias."
Jamie takes my hand again, but his face has shadowed. "Tobias was at the academy for a year before you arrived. However hard I try, I struggle to see him as anybody but Professor Whitlock. He’s not ‘Tobias’ to me."
"Try harder." I nudge him. "Jamie, he put his neck on the line for me. Be grateful Tobias was with me at the house.”
He studies my face carefully. "And he definitely didn't take advantage?"
"We were in a strange situation. I guess that created something between us." I moisten my dry lips. "That situation is over with now."
Jamie’s eyes search mine, and I arch a brow, warning him not to touch my mind. "Okay. If you’re alright, I’m sorry for overreacting." He takes my hand again.
I give his fingers a small squeeze. "Well, now we're talking about all things academy, you can share that information you found."
At the start of our date, Jamie insisted he tell me the outcome of today's research, and I put my hand over his mouth to shush him. I wanted our date to be a strict 'no academy talk' afternoon and told him, unless what he discovered was life-threatening, not to say anything until tonight. He agreed, but I knew that by the end of the afternoon he'd tell me.
Jamie leads me to a graffitied wooden bench with wrought metal legs to the side of the path. "Uh oh," I say in a jokey tone. "Serious talk."