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)
Ogos frowned, his face wrinkling in strange ways, making it look as if it were made of clay rather than skin. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Please. Go home. I’ve got this. I promise.”
“Well…okay. If you’re sure…”
“Yes, I’m sure. Very sure.”
Ogos sighed and vanished in a puff of black smoke. The relief was immediate and complete. Luke’s knees almost buckled. He grasped the sink and took a second to steady himself before hurrying to Matteo’s side. As he crossed the room, he could feel the difference. The candles were all lit and flickering in the hurricane glass. The last of the cold air had disappeared, and the room was cozy and warm. More customers had filed in, filling more than half of the tables.
Yeah, their demonic visitor was gone.
Matteo looked relieved as Luke slipped into his chair.
“Did you conduct an exorcism in the bathroom?” Matteo whispered.
Luke choked on a breath and changed it into a laugh, all while panic attempted to strangle him. “What?” he croaked.
“A minute after you stepped into the bathroom, the restaurant seemed to return to normal. All the candles magically lit, and the other patrons relaxed. It’s like you exorcised whatever demon or poltergeist was hanging out.”
Luke shook his head, clinging to his smile. “Nope. Just washed my hands. Must have been some weird fluke.”
Or an overeager demon who wanted to make this date something to remember.
The rest of their dinner passed without a problem. The food was amazing, and it was a struggle not to stuff himself to his gills, but they still had a movie to catch.
After splitting the check, they bundled up against the cold and hurried a couple of blocks over to an old movie house that played movies that had been out for ten or more years. Tickets were only five dollars, making it a cheap date. And who didn’t want to watch some old classics or even some eighties cult favorites on the big screen? Tonight, they were watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Luke had seen the movie plenty of times growing up, but never on the big screen. Somehow, Matteo had never seen it, and Luke was determined to remedy that.
Stepping inside the old movie house was like stepping back in time. The scent of freshly popped popcorn was thick in the air, and the dark walls were plastered with classic movie posters featuring Lauren Bacall, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Tony Curtis, and more. The red carpet that covered the floor was well worn but gave the air of faded class.
They grabbed their tickets but skipped the refreshments. Their stomachs were still too full from dinner. Matteo shoved his gloves into his pockets and intertwined their fingers before pulling Luke down the hall to their theater. The place was sparsely filled with people. At least there were a few other moviegoers there. Otherwise, Luke would have worried that another of the demons was preparing to “help” with his date. If he was lucky, Ogos would have spread the word to the others. Maybe.
Even so, he still peered closely at every heavy shadow for demonic signs. Everything appeared normal, but he wasn’t ready to relax yet.
They stepped into the screening room, which looked as if it sat only two hundred people. It was empty.
“Seriously?” Luke grumbled. “Why don’t more people appreciate this movie? It’s an eighties classic.”
Matteo’s fingers tightened on his. “It’s not a bad thing that we have the theater to ourselves.”
Luke’s heart flipped, and he swallowed hard at Matteo’s wicked look. He allowed himself to be pulled up the shallow stairs to the very last row. Matteo scooted along the narrow path, stopping in the exact center.
He turned to Luke and smirked. “How’s this?”
“Perfect.”
They shrugged out of their coats and got settled in their seats. Matteo grabbed the chair arm that separated them and lifted it out of the way. “Do you mind?” he inquired, even as he snuggled closer.
“Nope.” How could he possibly mind? His date cuddled close, and his head was resting on Luke’s shoulder. This was a perfect, cozy, movie-watching position, and he loved it.
A few more small groups of people filtered in before the movie started, but they were several rows away from anyone else. It was almost as if they had the place to themselves.
Soon enough, the lights dimmed, and the movie began. Within a minute, his attention was jerked away from Ferris’s evil plot to skip school because a hand slid across his thigh. Heat from Matteo’s palm scorched his skin and plumped up his cock. Oh God, please say this is real. Luke couldn’t remember the last time he’d been touched like this.
Luke turned his head to whisper something to Matteo, and his lips found Luke’s in a deep, drugging kiss he returned in an instant. That wandering hand was not content to remain on his leg. It moseyed straight up to his dick and cupped him through his slacks, massaging. The thinner material had to leave little to the imagination. Matteo could feel how turned-on he was.