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“Butfine,” he said, feigning exasperation. “If you want something boring and basic, how about ‘Meat Loaf?’”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why ‘meat loaf?’”

Devlin kept his gaze fixed straight ahead, the picture of innocence—if it wasn’t for his chest vibrating as he fought to contain his laughter.

“Out with it,” I demanded, though my lips were already twitching into a grin.

He barely held back a chuckle. “Meat Loaf. ’Cause, y’know...” And then, to my utter horror and delight, Devlin, with absolutely no shame whatsoever and completely off-key, belted out, “I WOULD DOANYTHINGFOR LOVE... BUT I WON’T DOTHAT!”

Chapter 13. Jen

We were laughing so hard that the cabin door swung open before we even reached it, revealing a very startled BooDini standing at the threshold to welcome us back.

It felt like it took forever to close the last few steps to the cabin, the two of us doubled over in laughter, leaning against each other for support to keep from collapsing entirely. Every time Devlin managed to catch his breath, my giggles would set him off again, sending us both spiraling into another round of helpless laughter. By the time we finally stumbled inside and flung ourselves onto the couch, my sides ached, my face hurt from smiling, and my lungs burned from lack of air.

It had been so long since I’d genuinely laughed like this. Despite the almost debilitating pain of my long-unused laughter muscles, something inside me felt... freer. Like a weight I hadn’t even realized I was carrying had been lifted, leaving my chest lighter, my breath coming easier—figuratively, if not literally.

“I haven’t laughed like that in what feels likeforever,” Devlin said, mirroring my thoughts as he clutched his sides.

With some effort, I shifted on the couch to face him.

The first time I’d seen Devlin had been in the bath. Head tilted back, eyes fluttering beneath heavy lids, his lip caught between his teeth in pleasure as he jerked himself off. Surprised as I’d been in that moment, I had thought he was the most handsome man I had ever laid eyes on.

But as he lounged on the couch, head tipped back, the corners of his eyes still crinkled with laughter, his lips shifting between a wide grin and a sharp hiss whenever the stitch in his side twinged—I genuinely couldn’t decide which version of him was more attractive.

He exhaled deeply before tilting his head toward me, his golden eyes darkening slightly. “Are you ready for the next scene?” he asked, his voice unreadable.

For a split second, my throat closed up, and I almost responded with a completely undignified, off guard, squeaky retort, but I was saved by the suddenthudof my two notebooks materializing onto the coffee table. The battered, old one with the original draft, and the newer one, where I’d rewritten everything up tothisscene.

“Appreciate it, BooDini,” Devlin said as BooDini hovered eagerly beside him. Devlin picked up the second draft, flipping it open before glancing at me. “Mind if I take a quick skim through it?”

Heat flared in my cheeks, and for a split second, I was tempted to tell himno, because the thought of Devlin reading just how much sexual tension I had layered into the story was mortifying. Tension that hadn’t been there before. Tension that was a direct result of what he had made me feel last night.

But another part of me wanted him to read it. To see if he could read between the lines and realize that it wasn’t Kieran I’d been thinking about while writing.It was him.

Swallowing hard, I nodded and settled in, watching his reaction very carefully.

Devlin flipped through the pages with ease, quickly finding the chapter. His eyes skimmed the text at first, scanning over the familiar words, until his pace slowed, his focus sharpening as he began to read in earnest. He was so completely absorbed that his reactions were surprisingly easy to read. I watched as his eyebrows lifted when he reached the new paragraphs, his nostrils flaring slightly, his bottom lip catching on one of his canines as he read through Mina’s inner thoughts as Kieran pinned her to the wall. Then came the huff of laughter when he reached the part where Mina used a tickling charm to repelKieran—reducing the rough, dominant alpha into a reluctant, giggling mess.

Devlin smirked, finally looking up. “Nice touch with the tickling charm,” he said. “Veryrelatable.”

“Do you like it?” I asked, my initial embarrassment overshadowed by my eagerness for his opinion.

Devlin’s lips quirked into a grin. “Iloveit.”

And,yeah, my heart might have skipped a beat at the enthusiasm in his voice.

“If we can get the rest of the intimate scenes up to this standard,” he continued, “you’d have a real shot at making it onto the #IReadItBeforeItWasFamous shelf.”

“You really think so?”

Devlin met my gaze, his expression serious. “Jen, take it from a demon who has read a lot of smut in his time—Dean is going to love it.”

A smile broke across my face before I could stop it, warmth flooding my chest.

“Let me just go over the scene we’re about to do,” Devlin said, grabbing the first draft and flipping through the pages until he found the right spot.

BooDini hovered over his shoulder, its sheet-like form crumpling slightly in deep concentration. Then, suddenly, its cutout eyes widened, and if bedsheets could blush, BooDini would have been bright red. With a silent gasp, it clapped its tiny ghostly hands to its cheeks in pure shock before swiftly gliding past us and fleeing up the stairs. I didn’t hear the attic door squeak shut, which meant that—despite its obvious embarrassment—BooDini was still loitering on the landing above, likely making sure everything stayed aboveboard before it truly left us alone.