“I can’t argue with you there.”
“In the meantime,” I go on, “I just want to say, in the future, if you want to go on another date, how about you just say so? We don’t have to go through the whole fake ritual…evil possessions…friends using their powers to freak me out, simply to get me to go out with you. Seems a little over thetop.”
He squints. “You asked me to come here.”
“I was worried what else you had in store for me if I didn’t.”
He bursts into a laugh, and despite how tired and worn he looks, it’s as beautiful as ever, a much-needed gift. And it makes me wonder…do I want this to be a real date? What a weird fucking thought to have, given everything else going on.
But as his laugh settles, his smile a little wider, eyes a little brighter, it dawns on me that thinking about this sexy motherfucker is a welcome distraction.
14
ALEXEI
“That pecan piewas amazing,” Matteo says as we head along the sidewalk, coming up on the dorms.
“And here I was thinking you’d need a box.”
“Told you I was starving.”
The guy devoured every calorie the waiter put in front of him, scarfing it down like he’d been locked in a cage without food for days. Seems being possessed by Farras took a real toll on his body.
He still seems in a daze, like he was last night and when he first got up this morning, but I’m starting to see glimpses of his relaxed, friendly, playful self.
Like that jokey comment about us being on a date.
He wasn’t serious, was he?
Do I want him to be serious?
I try to chalk it up to him being goofy, but I wasn’t laughing when he had his hand on my face. His touch has this power over me, maybe because my body’s now vividly aware of the pleasure he can offer.
Whatever. This isn’t what should be on my mind. The Sinners know my secret, and I want to know theirs. We need to figure out how that psychopath possessed Matteo’s body.On top of that, I haven’t had any sleep, which, unfortunately, is something I’ve kinda gotten used to.
We’re a few yards from the dorm entrance when the dual doors open and two familiar faces head toward us. What the fuck are they doing here?
I turn to Matteo, who’s looking at me, so he must’ve noticed them too. I do that thing where you try to act like you haven’t seen someone and like the one blind spot you have is the obvious place right in front of you where they are, when I hear Preston’s low rumble. “Alexei, what’s up?”
Fuck. He got me. I widen my eyes as if I’m just now seeing him. “Oh, hey, man.”
He and Gage come to a stop, so Matteo and I face them.
“What are you guys doing here?” I ask.
“Meeting up with a friend,” Preston says.
I assume I’m the friend, but his expression isn’t giving anything away before it twists up. “Whoa. What the hell happened to your face?”
“Oh, um. Just…”
“Playing basketball yesterday, and he got one right to his face,” Matteo rushes out, and I appreciate his quick thinking.
Preston’s gaze assesses my face as if he’s trying to determine the truth of Matteo’s excuse before he says, “Sucks, man. But since I got you, I was gonna see if you wanted to swing by the house tonight.”
Not really gonna work, since we’re meeting with the Sinners. And fuck, would he be furious if he knew what I’d already shared with them.
“I—”
