run by an old friend. I was excited for her; I knew how much Amber loved this place.
It had to be Julian glanced at us over the counter. “There’s the pumpkin spice latte that’s always popular—”
“It’s summer time,” Archer said hastily. “Pumpkin’s not in season.”
“If it’s delicious, it’s always in season,” Julian said.
Archer shook his head, giving me a wide-eyed look that made me smile and left me curious at the same time. I wasn’t sure what he had against pumpkin spice lattes, but if the man had a deep aversion to gourds, I could honor that.
“Is there a name for being afraid of pumpkins?” I mused. “Like arachnophobia? Gourdaphobia?”
“I do not have gourdaphobia,” Archer said.
“Sounds like it,” Julian contributed helpfully from behind the counter. I flashed him a smile, and he grinned back at me.
“Want to pick something for me?” I asked Julian. I’d never ask that in a normal coffee shop, where it would put the barista on the spot. But Julian was different.
Amber came in then, the bells ringing above the door. Her eyes widened when she saw me.
“Oh, Lily!” she said, squeezing me in a hug. “I’ve missed you.”
“I missed you too.” I hugged her back, realizing it was true, even though we’d grown apart since our summers at sleepaway camp together when we were kids. We’d stayed in touch, though—enough that I’d heard about the amazing Julian and the rest of her men. “I’m so glad you came to Silver Springs!”
“Are you staying?” she asked, holding me at arm’s length, gripping my shoulders. “Or is this just a visit?”
I could’ve sworn Archer went very still, waiting for my answer.
“I don’t know,” I said.
Two days ago, I’d been sure I’d be headed back to the city ASAP.
“But no matter what, I’ve got to go back and move my stuff,” I said, pulling a face. “My ex-boyfriend is a jerk. He’s probably defiling everything I own right now. Gluing my books shut. Cutting holes in my leggings. Rubbing his quite-possibly-diseased dick on my coffee mug collection.”
If he wasn’t terrified of me, that was. But I couldn’t tell anyone I’d tigered out on him. Shifting in front of any human was a definite no-no. Silver Springs was warded so humans didn’t see the paranormal elements that surrounded them, but once they were clued in, they could see the magic.
And there were good reasons for keeping Silver Springs a secret. Humans, as a general rule, do not love what’s different from them.
“Do you need backup?” Amber asked me seriously. “Say the word. I bet Sapphire, Rose and Lupine would be in too. We’ll round up some of our guys and we’ll get you all packed up and moved out.”
Sudden, unexpected tears stung my eyes.
“Oh Lily,” Amber said, and she crushed me in a hug.
I didn’t even know what to say; I was being so weird that I suddenly started laughing. I wasn’t sad exactly; it just felt so nice being home. Surrounded by people who were kind—maybe even people who cared about me. I hadn’t been prepared for that.
“I’m ridiculous.” I pulled away from her, dotting under my eyes with the heel of my hands and hoping I wasn’t smearing my makeup everywhere. Poor Archer was wide-eyed; he wasn’t prepared to deal with crying girls at the best of times.
“No, you’re not.” Amber said, holding out her hand to Julian, who tossed her a box of tissues. The two of them seemed perfectly in sync.
“We’ll get your stuff back,” Archer promised me. Typical man—he seized on the one solid thing he could put on his to-do list to make me feel better. “Blake and Dylan and I take Sundays off. Is that soon enough?”
“You don’t need to spend your day off with me too,” I said. “Jeez, you poor guys.”
Amber looked between the two of us skeptically, as if she knew something I didn’t.
Julian set two drinks on the counter. “There you go. Two unicorn hot chocolates.”
Archer made a face, and Julian gave him a stern look. “Don’t even play, man. I know how much you love hot chocolate, even if you pretend to be drinking plain black coffee.”
“You caught me,” Archer said, handing me one of the cups and taking a sip himself. “But I thought we had barista/client privilege and you were going to keep my secrets.”
While Archer was distracted, Amber leaned in and whispered in my ear, “I heard you’re working at Hot Wheels now. Good luck with those boys, Lily.”
“I’ll need it,” I said, lifting