Page 71 of Summer L.A.W.

“That sounds horrible,” Sahara said dryly.

“It was!” Rayna insisted. “Because I don’t know if I want marriage. I’m barely surviving commitment. And Adam is… Adam. He’s stable. He’s honorable. He wants a life with clear lines, schedules, and rules. And I’m⁠—”

“A witch who writes erotic romance novels and sets things on fire when startled,” Joell supplied.

Rayna pointed at her. “Exactly!”

Magda leaned in, brow softening. “Did he expect you to answer immediately?”

“No. He said he’d wait. But he also said he wants something ‘official.’ Something real. And I… I don’t know if I’m cut out for domesticity.”

The witches exchanged glances, the kind full of love and worry.

Sahara folded her legs underneath her. “Rayna. Do you want to be with him?”

“Yes,” Rayna whispered.

“Do you want not to be married to him?”

Rayna opened her mouth, closed it, and deflated. “Also, yes.”

Joell winced. “Oh. That’s messy.”

Magda reached for Rayna’s hand. “We’ll talk it through—all of it. But first, tell us everything. How did he ask? Where? What did he say? What did you say? Did he really get down on one knee?” Rayna groaned again. “Magda. It was breakfast. My hair was a nightmare. I didn’t even have makeup on. He didn’t get down on one knee, but we were sitting at the elevated breakfast bar. He would have been talking to my knees.”“How big is the ring?” Joell asked.

But Rayna had already buried her face in her hands. Rayna kept her face in her hands for a long moment, then her fingers pulled at her red hair like she was trying to drag the answer out by force. Finally, she sighed. “I think the diamond might be too big. It sparkles too much. It sparkles like it knows I’m hesitating and it’s trying to convince me.”

“It probably does and is,” Sahara said. “Crystals have opinions.”

Magda nodded gravely. “Especially diamonds. They’re dramatic by nature.”

Joell leaned forward, practically vibrating. “What did you do with it?”

“It’s in my pocket,” Rayna mumbled.

Three witches gasped.

“In your pocket?” Magda repeated, scandalized. “Like a loose mint?”

Rayna groaned. “It felt wrong to wear it when I didn’t know how I felt, okay?”

Sahara frowned. “Did you at least put it in a case?”

“In. my. pocket,” Rayna repeated.

Joell pressed a hand to her heart. “You are personally responsible for Magda having bad luck in love.”

Rayna blinked. “How does that make any sense?”

“Chaos is contagious,” Joell said. “Your romantic confusion radiates outward and bends the universe’s probability field. Look what happened to her today. The potion sensed her longing and latched onto the nearest available man.”

Magda sputtered. “My potion did nothing of the sort!”

Sahara patted her hand. “Sweetie, it absolutely did.”

Rayna slumped lower in her chair. “I’m just… I don’t know why this is so hard. I love Adam. I do love him. But marriage? A ceremony? A legal contract with rings and witnesses? What if I say yes and it ruins everything? What if I say no and that ruins everything? What if I’m just not built for the whole forever thing?”

The room softened around her. Even Joell stopped criticizing.