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)
“What the fuck—” Matteo gasped. Luke tried to pull himself higher on top of Mullmag, blocking Matteo’s view of the creature.
“Sorry about that. Luke needed to rush off to help one of his other roommates.” Azroth’s smooth voice cut in and Luke tensed, waiting.
“Oookay. I thought I just saw him flying through the air,” Matteo replied.
“You did. He’s such a dedicated, hard worker. Always willing to help anyone who needs him,” the demon said. “I’m Azroth, by the way. Luke’s landlord and friend. You must be Matteo. We’ve all heard such wonderful things about you.”
Luke groaned. Leave it to Azroth to lay it on thick. He turned his attention to Mullmag still lying under him with big, wounded eyes. “What are you doing?” he growled.
“I was trying to help.” Mullmag’s oversized bottom lip jutted out in a sad pout.
“I know, but he’s already scared of the house. If you scare him more, he may never talk to me again. Just leave it to me for now. Spread the word. No scaring Matteo.”
“Okay.” Mullmag didn’t sound pleased with the idea, but he disappeared, leaving Luke sprawled across the cold marble, new aches and pains settling into his bones.
Luke sat up and located Azroth standing over Matteo, who was still on the couch, blocking the human’s view of the hallway. He needed to get in there to keep anything particularly disturbing from coming out of Azroth’s mouth.
These demons were going to be the end of his love life before it could even get started.
Chapter 17
Can You Just Die of Awkwardness? Asking for a Friend…
LUKE
Oh God, he was not going to survive this non-date.
Luke pushed to his feet and scrambled to the family room, where Azroth was regaling Matteo with tales of Luke’s intelligence and handiness. He’d gotten back to the room when the demon began in on his overall manliness, and Luke almost prayed for the floor to open up and swallow him. He stopped that thought short and shuddered. In this house, something like that was very possible.
“Azroth? That’s an interesting name. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that,” Matteo said politely.
“Oh, have you ever visited Estonia?”
Matteo shook his head. “No.”
“We’re all from Estonia.”
Luke’s eye twitched, and his grin froze on his lips. That was enough demon nonsense for one day.
“Thank you, Azroth!” Luke cut in a little louder than necessary. “I got that…thing handled for Mullmag. You can go do whatever you were doing.” He mentally rolled his eyes at himself and his awkwardness. It was amazing that Matteo spoke to him at all.
“Not a problem.” He turned toward Matteo and beamed. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Matteo. I hope you and Luke have an enjoyable evening.” Azroth stepped away from the sofa and exited the room as if he were gliding an inch above the ground on a pocket of air.
Luke collapsed onto the sofa with a loud sigh and closed his eyes for a second. Except the cushion next to him dipped, causing Luke’s eyes to pop open. Matteo’s smiling face hovered above his own.
“You okay?”
“Yep. Sure. Right as rain,” he answered, aware that his tone was unnatural, but the demons were driving him crazy, and now Matteo was so damn close. Like close enough that he could see how full and perfect the curve of his lips was. They looked soft. Really soft. Like delicate pillows of fluff soft. Or rose petals and cotton candy.
It wouldn’t take much at all for him to close the short distance between them and taste those lips. He could finally feel for himself whether those lips were as soft as they looked.
No! No kissing. That was too fast. His brain searched for something else to focus on. He was missing something. “Drinks!” He shouted. He’d been getting some water for both of them. Fuck, his brain had shut down and was not rebooting.
He shot to his feet, narrowly missing a collision with Matteo’s head, and rushed into the kitchen. With a silent curse at his building nerves and the overwhelming awareness that a house full of demons was watching their every move, Luke fixed them some glasses of water and brought them to the living room with some paper towels.
As he returned, Matteo was flipping open the pizza box and folding the lid so that it fit underneath.
“I wasn’t all that hungry earlier. Now this smells so good, and my stomach won’t stop rumbling,” Matteo said with a little moan.
“This is my first time trying their pizza. I had their hot wings, and they are insanely hot but so good.” Luke placed a glass of water in front of Matteo and put one down for himself. He picked up the remote and turned on the TV. “What are you thinking of for a movie?”
“How about something action-y? Lots of explosions. I’m more relaxed than I was, but I don’t think I could take anything too serious.”