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)
“One and a half. Their first night here with a movie and pizza felt like a date,” Mullmag corrected him.
“Luke might not be the type to jump into sex, but Matteo strikes me as the frisky type. I think he could definitely lure Luke into some bedroom fun,” Azroth stated.
“Plus, Luke is a healthy young man in his sexual prime. It’s only natural for him to want sex with a partner he is both sexually attracted to and emotionally involved with,” Ogos added.
“Yep.” Tog clapped his hands together and rubbed them with an evil grin. “We’re gonna make sure our boy gets laid.”
“Yes, exactly. I’m tasking you and Annod with decorating Luke’s room after he leaves for his date. Make it thoroughly romantic. Nothing scary.”
“Got it. Sexy. Not scary,” Annod agreed with a grin.
Azroth fought the urge to roll his eyes. He prayed that between the two of them, they could figure out the difference. Scaring the two young men wouldn’t lead to sexy times.
“And what about you, Oh Ghoulish Leader?” Ogos inquired with an obvious sneer in his voice. “You’ve been good about handing out jobs to each of us, but I see you seem to have run out of tasks and have nothing for yourself.”
Azroth turned and smiled tightly at the blob, suppressing the urge to stuff that newspaper down the demon’s throat. “I saved myself a task. I will travel the globe to acquire Luke and Matteo the very best bottle of wine for their nightcap and to find the perfect first date gift for Luke to give to Matteo. Something simple but very classy. The world’s rarest roses or maybe the finest chocolate ever produced in Switzerland. I haven’t decided yet. The key thing is that these little touches will make the date absolutely perfect.” He paused and swung his narrowed gaze around to pin each one of the other demons. “At least it will be so long as we all do our jobs.”
“Yep, yep!” Bath’tuk agreed.
“No worries. No one is going to stop Luke and Matteo from having the perfect date,” Mullmag stated.
Yes, it would be the best date ever.
Even if Azroth had to burn the rest of the world to the ground.
Chapter 21
A Date to Remember
LUKE
It was here.
Date night.
Their first date night.
And if he was lucky, this was going to be the first of many dates that he and Matteo had. Things had been going well. Working around the house meant he was a lot less stressed about paying the bills and had more time on his hands for both school and Matteo.
Since that initial hangout at his house where they’d shared their first kiss, they’d begun meeting up for quick midday snacks most days between classes, and Matteo usually popped up before Luke’s first class each morning to wish him a good day. And just maybe they’d sneak kisses in the stacks when one of them was studying in the library.
But things felt like they could just be close friends with some benefits. He talked to and saw Harper almost as much as he saw Matteo. Of course, he did cuddle Harper a hell of a lot less. He’d also never kissed Harper.
Still, the important thing was that they were going on an official date that would launch them—hopefully—into a full-blown, actual relationship.
Luke couldn’t be happier about it. He had a crush on someone he’d thought was unattainable and so out of his league. Not only had Matteo turned out to be as kind and funny as he was hot, but he was attracted to Luke as well. Part of Luke still thought this was an elaborate prank. Any moment now, Matteo would laugh and shout “Gotcha!” and prove that he’d never cared for Luke at all.
Yet, Luke knew that couldn’t be possible. Matteo’s kindness had never wavered once. Plus, he’d survived Harper’s insane and threatening shovel talk. If anyone could scare him away, it would be Harper and her promise of dead bodies buried in places that would never be found.
After changing his clothes three times, Luke ran out the door and made it to the restaurant just at six o’clock for their reservation. Ravens replaced the butterflies in his stomach when he saw Matteo wasn’t there yet.
It didn’t help that as he peeked in the front window, the restaurant was empty. At six in the evening. On a Saturday.
Were they closed? They couldn’t be closed!
Panic made his heart race. It was impossible for them to be closed. He’d called four days ago to get a reservation. They wouldn’t have put his name down in the system if the business wouldn’t be open.
As he stepped up to the door, he inspected it for signs announcing an outbreak of the Spanish flu or Ebola that forced the restaurant to close, but nothing.
As he stepped inside, the hostess jerked her head up, relief instantly visible on her face.