Arthur served another spike, and I’d be lying if I said the way his muscles bulged out of his shirt when he struck the ball didn’t turn me on.
A feeling of guilt overcame me at the sensation, but I forced the feeling away. I could look at other guys now. Hell, I could flirt with them. I was mated to Ethan, but we weren’t together anymore. It wasn’t betraying him to be interested in another guy, for crying out loud. We’d been broken up for months, and I was just as devastated as I’d been the day we’d split up.
I was sick of it. I didn’t want to feel like this any longer. If the only way to get over Ethan was to hook up with another guy, then I was looking at the menu.
Jasper was hitting the ball with his battle magic, while Ozzie bounced the ball off his shield. Their magic seemed equal, so neither one of them were able to overpower the other to make a magical spike. I stole the ball from both of them with my magic— their mouths gaped open as I yanked the ball in front of me and hit it back, jumping over the net and performing a strike that Vara and Arthur couldn’t save.
Everyone erupted into astounded cheers. “That was incredible!” Finlay boomed. “I knew you had it in you. It’s the fiery red hair.”
“Then why isn’t Arthur pulling his weight?” Jasper cracked.
Arthur sent him the finger. Arthur wasn’t very good at sports, either, but he seemed to enjoy playing them. He nearly got the ball to the face during the last play. He’d fallen backward, and Vara had to catch him with a laugh.
Vara gave a knowing smile. “She certainly knows how to win.”
Arthur frowned. “Damn. We should’ve put Emma on our team.”
“Hey, we have Ozzie. He’s practically a handicap,” Finlay joked.
Ozzie scrunched up his face. “That’s not very nice.”
“I’m joking, kiddo. I’ll put you on my shoulders next time, so you can reach the ball,” Finlay replied.
My lips twitched, and Arthur and Vara doubled over laughing. But Jasper frowned and said, “Lighten up, Fin. Don’t be such an ass.”
But Ozzie let out a little giggle. “It’s fine, Jas. Let’s play.”
We played a few more rounds, but with Finlay and I on the same team, we eventually got far ahead of the other team. I took pity on poor Ozzie and let him score the final point. When he got the ball past Jasper (who I was sure let him have it) he cheered dramatically and threw his arms over the top of his head, dancing around like he won the freaking Super Bowl.
Jasper ran around the net. He wrapped his arms around Ozzie and spun him around. They fell in a heap to the grass, laughing hysterically.
“You two are so darling.” Vara stood above them, her hands on her hips as she beamed down.
Ozzie gave the cutest smile and said, “You think I’m darling? I’ve always wanted to be darling.”
“You’re a lot more than that.” Jasper got up and helped Ozzie to his feet. They kept their hands grasped, for a few moments longer than I expected. When they noticed me watching, Jasper quickly dropped his hold on Ozzie and stepped away.
“You play a mean game of fae ball,” Finlay said to me. “What exactly is it that you do?”
“Figure skating,” I replied. “I’ll be in the Malovian Figure Skating Championships this fall in the Ladies Free Skate.”
Jasper immediately lit up. “No way. I’m competing in the Men’s Free Skate as well.”
Now I knew where Jasper looked familiar. I’d seen him a few times during practice at the rink. “I know you! Your quad jumps are fantastic.”
“Thanks.” Jasper scratched the back of his head, a bit bashful. “I’ve seen your short program, and it’s brilliant. But you have a new long, don’t you? You just started working on it.”
“That I have.” I’d changed my long program music over the summer, from Swan Lake to Romeo and Juliet. Ethan’s and I’s song… A Time For Us.
Yeah. Because I loved torturing myself, apparently.
Arthur waved us over. “Let’s take a load off, guys. My grandparents packed us lunch.”
We sat on a blanket Arthur laid out for us. I didn’t want to be weird and sit with them— I wasn’t exactly their friend— but it felt awkward not to, so I sat between Finlay and Ozzie and took a lemonade when Arthur handed it out to me. He began distributing egg salad sandwiches,