Page 30 of The Tea Witch's Promise

"Have you told her?" he asked slowly. "Does she feel the same?"

I swallowed hard. "I think so? I hope so. Before you get mad, I promise I did my best to stay away from her." I took a shaky breath. "I never meant to pursue her. I thought she wasn't interested in me at all but when I found out she was, I couldn't help myself."

"Hmm."

I closed my eyes and tried not to worry too much about losing my best friend over this. Oliver was a good guy, and he knew that I was too. He wasn't about to cut me off just because I'd fallen for Katie.

"The heart wants what the heart wants, that sort of thing?" Oliver asked cautiously.

"Yes!" I let go of his arms, my magic and energy entirely depleted. "I don't know how this happened or why she even likes me but I'm kind of over the moon and I really hope you're happy for us."

Oliver sat in silence for a bit and I could tell his mind was breaking. After a while, he just nodded. "I mean, it's not my place to tell either of you what you can or can't do. I just hope you're not going to have wandering eyes or hands."

"I've not looked at another woman in years," I said, only realising what I'd just admitted.

He frowned. "Just how long have you been pining for my sister?"

I sighed. "Years. It's been hard."

"As your friend, I feel for you. As Katie's brother, I'm not impressed." Oliver pulled a disappointed face that made him look like his grandfather. "I guess you can't control who you fall in love with."

Ah. Of course. He was having trouble with that himself. Though I wasn't supposed to know about that because he had no idea I was in the room when he'd told Katie.

I clapped him on his back, hoping to shift the attention away from me. "Right, I heard you were interested in someone."

Oliver narrowed his eyes at me. "How do you know that? Did Katie tell you?"

I let out an unusually high squeak. Probably should have thought this though. "Yes, she did."

As much as I liked being honest and telling the truth, I didn't think Oliver needed to know that I'd been hiding in Katie's room. I didn't want to get my eyes scratched out even if nothing happened between us beyond a couple of heated kisses.

Oliver gave me a weird look but didn't say anything. "So what made you go for Katie even though you know you shouldn't?"

"She let me and I hoped you'd forgive me eventually," I replied honestly. It wasn't exactly a good plan but that was the one I had.

He gave me a pensive look. "What about the families? My grandpa can't be the only one who harps on about balance."

I groaned. "No, Mum talks about it a lot as well. I hadn't thought that far ahead and it's not like they can force us apart. I'll love who I want to love."

"You're really in love with my sister?" he checked.

I got up from my seat, pretending I needed to tend to the kettle and tea. It was far too early to talk about things like love but that didn't mean my heart wasn't heading that way.

"It's too early for that," I said while I cleaned my cup. "We're having our first official date tonight."

Oliver hummed. "I think I'll wish you good luck then but I don't want to hear how it goes."

"Fair." I pointed at him. "If you ever want to date one of my siblings, I give you my blessing. As long as they're willing."

He chuckled. "Thanks but I've got my eye on someone else."

"Yeah, what was their name again?" I asked, realising that with everything going on, I hadn't even asked.

Oliver hopped off the bed and gave me a grin. "I didn't say."

"You're not going to tell me?"

"You harboured secret feelings for my sister for years," he responded.