Must Be Magic (Spellbound) by Sydney Somers Read Free Book Online

Maybe she was sobering up. That was a good thing, right?
    He turned to leave. Probably the smartest decision he’d made all night.
    “I know you want to stay.”
    He stopped. “I can’t, not when it will only give you another reason to hate me.”
    “I don’t hate you, Bryce.”
    Ten years ago, he would have killed to hear those words. Even now, it surprised him how much he wanted to believe it.
    “You never asked me.”
    Frowning, he paused. “Asked you what?”
    She made a sweeping gesture down her body. “Didn’t you ever wonder what happened?”
    Somewhere along the way they’d silently agreed to never address what happened between them, and he’d been fine with that. Talking wouldn’t have changed the way things ended, wouldn’t have made them friends.
    He shook his head. It was easier than lying. “It doesn’t matter now.” He resisted the urge to tack on “Right?” and instead went with, “Sleep tight.”
    Without looking back, he headed for the door before she said anything else to make him change his mind, and she wouldn’t have to say much at all.
    Knowing that, only pissed him off, made it easier to pull the door open. He’d come close to giving up everything important in his life for her, and she’d completely shut him out. He needed to remember that if he wanted to get through this weekend without driving himself crazy wondering how incredible it would be between them now.
    It was bad enough his father had turned up, without tossing what-ifs that revolved around Darby into the mix. He had enough to deal with.
    Determined to keep his distance, he slipped outside and jogged down the front steps—and almost right into Dante Calder.

Chapter Three
    Riley.
    It was the first thought to drift through Darby’s head, the one she was fairly sure was still attached, judging by how much it hurt. Even when they were younger, Darby hadn’t been able to keep up with her older sister when it came to holding her liquor.
    And whoever thought it would be funny to pound on her door—Finn probably—when she hadn’t even managed to peel her eyes open was going to end up taking a swim like Reggie had if they didn’t knock it off.
    No matter how hard she muttered under her breath for them to go away, the knocking continued. Shoving the blanket off, she glanced down and realized she was still dressed.
    It took a minute to wrap her thoughts around that, with her head feeling like it was vibrating on her shoulders, but the details started coming back to her.
    Bryce.
    Shit. She rubbed her hand over her face, wishing like hell she was one of those people who drank so much they couldn’t remember all the humiliating details of the night before.
    Fairly certain it wasn’t Bryce knocking—she hoped—she managed to make it to the door after only stubbing her toe. The brief flare of pain was almost a welcome diversion from the throbbing between her temples.
    Riley was so dead.
    Catching a glimpse of Dante through the window, she thought about crawling back under the blanket and pretending she wasn’t there. Her brother was more stubborn than a dog with a bone, though, and would either park his butt on the step and wait for her or—
    The door swung open before she turned the handle, and he poked his head inside.
    His brows drew together as he scrutinized her appearance. “At least you’re still dressed.”
    She frowned at the oddly relieved tone. “Riley’s fault.”
    Accustomed to her brother using magic to routinely check on her—she’d given up on complaining about it years ago—she turned and padded into the bathroom with little more than a scowl. She scanned the countertop for something to relieve the throbbing between her temples. At some point last night she was sure she’d reminded herself that she didn’t do hangovers.
    Apparently she hadn’t cared.
    After dropping two tablets into her palm, she used the glass of water sitting by her bed to wash the pills down. She couldn’t remember pouring