“You are, without contest, the biggest idiot I have ever met in my life,” he growled, his face dangerously near mine. “I gave you instructions so simple a monkey could’ve followed them. Stay put and don’t wander. Was that so difficult to understand?”
I was too dazed to respond. Not just because he’d assaulted me, but because he was so close. Close enough to kiss. We were breathing the same air. His knee was shoved between my legs, and if his fists hadn’t been in the way, our chests would be touching.
And although his mouth was twisted into a fox-like snarl, I couldn’t stop thinking about how handsome he was.
“Uh,” I said, trying to get my brain working again. “Sorry.”
A fresh spark of anger flickered in his black eyes. “That’s all you have to say for your stupidity?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out. My racing heart blocked my throat, making it difficult to breathe, let alone string a damn sentence together.
When I didn’t respond, Sagitta pushed away with an angry grunt. Barely a second passed before I missed the feeling of his hands on my chest, the warmth of his proximity. The realization made my stomach lurch. What was wrong with me? Normally I didn’t get so flustered when dudes got all up in my face to rail at me and push me around, but Sagitta was...
“Hot?” Faust suggested.
I frowned, but didn’t argue. Because he was right.
“Eat your lunch,” Sagitta ordered as he plopped the fabric pouch on top of the desk. The furious aura surrounding him had dissipated, but he was still annoyed. “I’ll be back later to drop off your dinner. Don’t disobey me this time.”
“Okay.” Cogs turned in my brain. “Um...”
But the cogs were too slow, and Sagitta left the room.
Sagitta didn’t speak when he dropped off a second meal—and my requested slice of cake—in the evening. His posture was tight and stiff, as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. Tension radiated off him in waves, but strangely, it didn’t feel directed at me. He seemed more distracted than angry.
I thought it was weird that he wasthatstressed over Faust—who, so far, just wanted to eat sweets. But Sagitta was a professional exorcist. He probably knew stuff that I didn’t.
I unwrapped the fabric knot to unveil my boxed dinner. A sticky note was stuck on top of the lid. Apparently, half our communication was misunderstandings, and the other half was via sticky notes.
It read:I hope you’re not allergic to nuts. And no, that is not an innuendo. – SS
I snorted. Good thing I wasn’t allergic to nuts of either kind.
“This meal is absolutely adorable,” Faust remarked, cooing over the bento-style box in front of us.
I didn’t know about adorable, but it looked incredibly appetizing. The lacquer box was separated into compartments filled with different foods. The scents of jasmine rice and peanut curry made my mouth water.
“Do you think he cooked this, or is there some kinda temple chef?” I asked as I picked up the accompanying fork.
“I know which option you’d prefer, darling.”
My cheeks flushed and I rolled my eyes. Stupid demon couldn’t go five minutes without bringing up my crush.
Wait.
Crush?
Faust cackled. “You said it, not me.”
I slowly shut my eyes.
Shit.
After eating dinner, I washed off. It took me a few minutes to work up the nerve to use Sagitta’s shower, but I managed. The worst part came after: sleeping in Sagitta’s bed.
I swallowed as I stared at it. It looked comfortable and clean, but that wasn’t really the problem.
After a few minutes of uncertainty, I sighed. It wasn’t like I was going to sleep on the floor, so I worked up the guts to pull back the covers and slip inside.
