Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
No, they didn’t need to follow him, because Azroth could send the crows. He glanced up at the trees but didn’t see the usual murder that watched him. Maybe Azroth and the others were giving him space in which to digest this new, earth-shattering information.
“Luke!”
That was Matteo’s voice.
Luke attempted to spin toward the speaker, but as he turned, he tripped over his own feet and ended up on his ass. Thankfully, he fell on the grass rather than the sidewalk. He gazed up to see Matteo come to a hard stop and watch him with his mouth hanging open as if he couldn’t believe Luke was capable of that level of clumsiness.
Great. Just great. He’d managed to erase any and all cool points he’d attained during their short grocery shopping chat. Luke could imagine Matteo turning and heading in the opposite direction, so he would not have to deal with Luke and his nonsense any longer.
Of course, Matteo didn’t do that because he was too nice of a guy. When he broke free of his shock, he ran the rest of the way to Luke, dropping to his knees beside him.
“Are you okay?” Matteo demanded, his voice full of worry.
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just an idiot.”
“No! That was my fault. I surprised you, right?”
Luke stared up at those soft eyes and sweet smile, and swooned yet again for him. How the hell did he get so lucky as to have Matteo willing to talk to him?
“Um, no, not your fault. Really, I’m clumsy. I trip over my own feet all the time.”
“Oh. Okay. Here, let me help you up.” Matteo shot up to his feet and held out his hand with his sunny grin warming Luke’s soul like a bright shot of summer.
While praying his palm wasn’t sweaty, Luke took his hand and allowed himself to be pulled up. Matteo’s hand was cool and dry. His grip was wonderfully firm, as if he wanted to hold on to Luke and keep him safe. Luke attempted to shove aside the feeling that Matteo had released his hand slowly, in such a way that the tips of his fingers dragged along Luke’s fingers, creating an extra thrill. That was all in his imagination. Had to be.
“Sorry I haven’t texted recently.” Matteo took a step back. His smirk wobbled, but it steadied after a heartbeat.
“No, me too. It’s been…busy.”
The usual things, Luke thought. Work, classes, demons trying to scare him to death and then officially taking him in as their roommate. More than enough to keep anyone busy.
“Right?” Matteo said with an exaggerated groan. “I feel like the semester just started and now we’re already talking about exams and whether I’m behind on papers that aren’t due for another three weeks.”
“Meetings with my advisor and fine-tuning my thesis,” Luke murmured in agreement.
“And why am I always behind on my reading? All I’m doing is reading and writing papers. How can I be behind if I’m always reading?”
Luke huffed out a soft laugh. He understood that feeling. During every break at work and on every bus he took, he was trying to catch up on all his reading.
Unfortunately, their awkward conversation ground to a painful stop when Luke struggled to figure out what to add. Nothing was coming to mind. Was this where he should make a joke? Or introduce a new topic? Was it too soon to ask him out on a date?
Shit, yes! Way too early for that.
“Were you headed to class now?” Matteo inquired.
“Yeah.”
“Oh! Sorry. I should let you go.”
“Are you heading to class?” Luke blurted out, trying to keep Matteo there for a couple of minutes more.
Matteo shook his head. “I’ve got an hour before my class. I was going to read in the library for a while. My dorm is way too noisy for studying.”
“That’s gotta suck.”
“You said you were renting a room in a house, right? Do you have roommates? Is it noisy?”
Luke opened his mouth, but the words got trapped in his throat. How the fuck was he supposed to answer that? Um… “Yeah, the owners of the house live there with me. Six of them. But they aren’t that noisy. At least, I don’t think so. I’m not home a lot because of work and school.”
“You have six roommates? It’s not crowded?”
“No, not at all. It’s an enormous house, so there’s plenty of room for us all. My room is up in the attic. It’s a lot of stairs, but I’ve got a ton of space to myself.”
“Wow, I’d love to see it.” Matteo’s eyes suddenly widened, and he clapped his hand over his mouth, but it did little to muffle his laughter. “Dude, I did not mean to invite myself over to your place. I’m sorry. I should go. You’ve got class.”
Matteo was turning and looking like he was going to run to the library before Luke could get his tongue to do anything useful. He reached out and caught the sleeve of Matteo’s jacket, stopping him from escaping.