Tiger Lily - May Dawson Page 0,55

then once he’d shut it behind them, he crossed the empty lobby and gave me a big hug.

“Was Juniper helpful?”

“Yes and no.”

His smile crinkled the corner of his eyes. “That sounds like a witch. Always so complicated.”

“Sometimes I think just being human-ish means everything is complicated,” I murmured.

In Juniper’s shop, rejecting them had sounded so simple. It would break the spell and the magical bond between us.

But now, facing Archer, I had no idea how to do it. I was glad it was just the two of us.

“Are you okay?” he asked, sliding his finger under my chin to tilt my face up toward his. His ocean blue eyes were full of concern. “Lily?”

“I don’t want to see you anymore.” The words came out rough.

Pain shot through my body, washing my skin hot as if I were burning up with fever, then cold. From the agony that flashed across Archer’s face, he had the same experience, as the magic between us shattered.

He went very still, but didn’t pull away from me. He’d never pull away first. I wasn’t sure why that thought ran through my head, but I felt as if my heart was cracking in two.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

Hot tears spilled over onto my cheeks. “This was never real.”

“I assure you, Lily, what I feel for you is very real. It always has been—since we were kids.”

I sniffled, swiping at my tears, pulling my chin out of his grip. “At least you have Heart Portal. You can find someone else.”

So many women would throw themselves at Archer. Strangely, that was a comforting thought at the moment, because he looked at me with those vivid blue eyes as if his heart was breaking too. I thought he might actually cry too, although he didn’t, his jaw tightening as if he were fighting the impulse, and suddenly I felt like the worst human being to ever walk the planet.

“I don’t want someone else!” he said.

Yeah, definitely the worst.

“It wasn’t real,” I whispered. “It would never last when it wasn’t real anyway, Archer.”

Dylan came in just then, saying, “Hey, can you get me a part—”

He broke off abruptly as if he felt the tension in the room. “What’s going on? Lily, are you okay?”

He crossed to me in a few quick strides, giving Archer a look as if he’d kill him if he’d hurt me.

But in a minute or two, he’d realize that Archer was not the one ruining everything.

And Dylan would never look at me the same way again.

“Dylan,” I said softly. “We have to break up.”

Then I realized we never even talked about dating—we never made anything official. “I mean—not that we’re dating—”

His eyes went wide. “Lily, what’s wrong? Is it Brad? Is it Hot Wheels?”

“It’s not real,” I said.

“You keep saying that,” Archer said. “What do you mean? Where’s this coming from?”

I hadn’t felt that same spike of pain with Dylan.

Not yet.

I turned to him, crossing my arms so I wouldn’t reach out and touch them. It hurt to be so close and to put this wall up between us—which was weird, because usually I put up all kinds of walls and didn’t think twice.

“I don’t want to be with you,” I told Dylan, each word falling heavily. “Not as your girlfriend, or your mate—or even your laundry partner.”

There. That should cover everything.

Sure enough, pain burned through me. Dylan stiffened, then reached for me. “Are you all right?”

I ducked his outstretched hand.

The two of them traded looks, but made no move to intercept me as I headed toward the garage. Instead, I could hear them talking behind me, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Blake smiled at me when I walked into the garage. “We’ve got one more project and this baby will be ready to go.”

He patted the hood of my grandfather’s car.

He knew what made me feel better. Normally, working on the car with him would have been like lip balm, smoothing over the chapping that came from dealing with Brad.

But today, I just said dully, “Maybe you could do it without me. I can pay you…”

He frowned. “What are you talking about, Lily? You don’t have to pay me…” His eyes widened. “Did Brad promise you things would be different? Lily, don’t walk away from Hot Wheels.”

“I don’t care about Brad’s promises,” I said, and relief swept over his features. That just hurt more. “I care about yours.”

“You know I mean everything I say to you.” He took a step toward me, and