Page 14

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

T he day had been long and shitty, prompting Cody to briefly check out of the conversation with Clarabell. He was moving Demmy’s body, talking in his voice, and using his brain to think. At least, he thought that’s what he was doing. At that moment, he wasn’t really sure what was happening. He was extremely dysregulated—a word he’d learned from Ollie, of all people. He knew he was experiencing one of the most intense episodes of dissociation anyone had ever encountered. After all, he was sitting on Clarabell’s couch, watching his body pace on the other side of the coffee table.

The situation was crazy, but the potential life-altering fallout much more serious. If he was able to see Demmy’s memories, that meant Demmy could see his, and he really didn’t want him to have unlimited access to his memories. He had nothing to hide. No affairs or smack talk about Demmy or his family, but it was the ultimate invasion of privacy. He didn’t want Demmy delving into memories Cody had of his time dating women.

Or those few dates with other men.

For his part, he’d done a pretty good job of resisting the urge to peek much further than he already had into Demmy’s memories. The things he had seen had risen to the surface of his mind, as if Demmy kept them close, like touchstones.

He was definitely not allowing himself to consider the possibility they wouldn’t be able to reverse this. That kind of thinking wouldn’t do them any good.

His phone buzzed in the pocket of his jeans. He grumbled and shifted position to pull it out. Grant’s name was on the screen, and he tapped the button to decline the call. Seconds after he’d set the phone on the arm of the couch, it buzzed again. Demmy stopped pacing and looked over.

“Who is it?”

“Grant.” Cody tapped the decline button again. “Probably wondering when we’re coming home and making them dinner.”

“Or it could be something else,” Clarabell said, glancing between them before focusing on Cody. “That demon knows your identities. It’s going to be looking for you.”

The phone buzzed again.

“Son of a plumber,” Cody grumbled. He picked up the phone and held it in front of him. It didn’t unlock, and he scowled as he shook it slightly. “It’s not opening.”

“That’s because it’s my face,” Demmy said, extending his hand. “Give it to me.”

“You need to talk to him anyway,” Clarabell said. “Because as far as the Bower family is concerned, you’re Cody.”

“Yeah, I know,” Demmy said, taking the phone.

“Act annoyed to be talking to him or he’ll get suspicious,” Cody said.

Demmy frowned, cleared his throat, then accepted the call and put it on speaker. “Hey Grant, what’s going on?”

“Codes, hey, bro, got a minute to talk?”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, man, things are cool. Just wanted to gnaw the fat with you a mome.”

Demmy frowned, and Cody had to hide his smile behind a hand. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“Gnaw the fat, man,” Grant said. “It’s a saying.”

“You mean chew the fat?” Demmy said. “The actual saying that people recognize?”

“It’s all the same, Codes.”

“Don’t call me that,” Demmy said, shooting Cody a smirk.

Cody smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

True to form, Grant ignored him. “The kids are getting restless. Mac and I are thinking about driving them over to Harriettville to see a movie. That okay with you?”

“Dude, whatever you want to do. Cody and I—” Demmy cut himself off, realizing his mistake. “I mean Demmy and I will be out a little longer anyway. Go have a good time.”

“Might want to encourage him not to pick up any hitchhikers,” Clarabell said.

“Cool, bro. Just wanted to make sure you and Dems wouldn’t feel left out.”

“No, it’s fine. But, hey, there’s some weirdness going on in town,” Demmy said. “So don’t stop to pick up any hitchhikers or anything. Okay?”

“Codes, that’s like telling a zebra to change its stripes, man,” Grant said. “You know I’m a do good and then be better type of dude.”

“Yeah, I know. But for tonight, just go to the movie theater and come straight back to the house. No stopping in between.”

“Not even for pizza afterward? Is Lou’s still in business over there?” Grant asked.

Demmy sighed, and Cody was glad to see him feeling a little impatient with Grant, who knew exactly how to drive Cody right up the wall. It was interesting to watch it happen to someone else. Even if that someone else looked exactly like him.

“Yes, Lou’s is still in business, and that’s fine. Just don’t stop on the road between Parson’s Hollow and Harriettville. Okay?”

“Copy that, Codes. Tell Dems he’s a righteous dude.”

“Yep. I will definitely do that.”

Demmy ended the call and Cody chuckled. “Isn’t it fun having a conversation with my stoner older brother?”

“Yeah, you do have a lot to deal with. I’m not used to having siblings.”

“Lucky.”

“We need to figure out who the other descendants are,” Clarabell said as if Grant had never called. “And I need to get back in touch with Tracey and make sure she’s okay now that Heath is… Think Lucia has told her yet?”

“No idea,” Demmy said, then brightened. “What about Zenona? Could she be a descendant?” He looked at Cody and frowned. “Is she from here originally? I don’t remember.”

“No. She and her family moved here in junior high.”

“Whoever the descendants are, they would have been a lifelong residents,” Clarabell said. “The descendant line wouldn’t want to move from this area.”

Demmy looked over at him and Cody shrugged. “Look at me, finally following the rules.”

“The only member of your family to do it,” Clarabell said, getting up. “I need to get ready to head out, and you two should go home and stay there.” She picked up the empty bottles and headed for the kitchen. “You know Tracey and Heath were both with Rita when she died. That’s how Heath got possessed.”

“Yeah,” Cody said, standing up. “How’d that all happen?”

“Tracey and Rita and Heath had been trying to discover the identity of the witch in town. Tracey and Rita met at the library or something in the past and became good friends. I have a feeling Rita was a descendant of the coven.”

“Any idea how she died?” Demmy asked.

“They found the site of Pastor Stone’s church and the graveyard, and they interrupted the witch at the end of his ritual freeing the demon from its imprisonment. Rita was killed and Heath was possessed.”

“Tracey must really be freaking out,” Demmy said. “Is she in a safe place?”

“She is. But I won’t tell you the location. Not because I don’t trust you…”

“But the fewer people who know, the safer,” Demmy finished for her. “Yeah, we get it.”

“I’m not going to go looking for Tracey anyway,” Cody said, sitting forward on the sofa. “We don’t really get along.”

“She’ll get a kick out of this situation, that’s for sure,” Clarabell said. “Might even make her laugh.”

“We do what we can.” Demmy looked over at him. “You ready to go home?”

“More than ready.” Cody got to his feet and stretched his neck. “I wish I’d known how much your neck hurt you.”

Demmy put a hand on his own neck. “What about your neck? That spot where you were bit by the vampire aches all day.”

“You’re both a mess,” Clarabell said. “Be careful and I’ll call or text later.”

“Texting would be perfect,” Cody said, and Clarabell gave him a sour look.

“Don’t go off and do something stupid,” Clarabell said, then added, “Like usual.”

“Which one of us was that directed to?” Demmy asked.

“Both of you.”

* * *

The house was blissfully quiet when they returned, and Cody let out a sigh.

“I agree,” Demmy said.

“Now what?” Cody said. “I don’t work today, but we’re going to have to talk about what happens tomorrow when I’m supposed to go in.”

“Jugs will know something’s different,” Demmy said.

“Yeah, he will. We’ll have to let him in on it.”

“Do you want to talk in more detail about what’s happened?”

Cody looked up at him—himself, actually—and, maybe it was the two beers he’d had at Clarabell’s, but he said the first thing that came to mind. “No. I want to fuck around.”

Demmy raised his eyebrows. “You do?”

“Yeah. I want to know what it’s like to have sex with me. Aren’t you even a little bit curious?”

“Well, I mean, it’s been interesting catching glimpses of memories from your point of view,” he said, then quickly added, “And I’m not snooping. They just appear sometimes.”

Cody waved a hand. “I know. It’s happening for me, too.” He grinned. “You really did have a thing for me in my football uniform, didn’t you?”

“Well, yeah.” Demmy stepped back and waved a hand up and down Cody’s body. “Have you seen you?”

They both laughed. Then stopped abruptly and looked at each other. The silence deepened as they stared. The furnace clicked on, and Cody felt the warm air brush across Demmy’s feet.

“I really want you to fuck me,” Cody said. “I know it sounds weird, and maybe kind of narcissistic, but I want to know what it’s like for you.”

Demmy’s eyes were wide. His lips parted and he touched the tip of his tongue to his bottom lip. “Oh, my God. Me, too. Let’s do it.”

“Lock the door,” Cody said before heading for the bedroom.

“Turn off your phone,” Demmy called after him.

Minutes later, they stood beside the bed, both still fully dressed.

“You ready?” Cody asked.

“I think so.”

Demmy’s fingers were trembling as he unbuttoned the flannel shirt Cody had put on that morning. The air between them felt charged, and Cody was very aware of the smell of his body, the one Demmy was currently inside: clean sweat, a hint of body wash, and something unusual Demmy claimed belonged only to him. He pulled off the hoodie and then the t-shirt underneath, shivering in the slight chill and understanding why Demmy dressed in layers.

“I look better than I thought I would,” Demmy said with a nervous laugh.

Cody ran a hand down his torso. “You look amazing. You always have.”

“Well, I’m no Cody Bower.” Demmy pulled his shirt off and ran a hand up and down his torso. “I mean, look at you.” He lifted one arm and turned his head to draw in a breath. “Fuck, even from inside your body, the smell of you lights me right up.”

“I can smell it from here.” Cody squeezed the denim-covered bulge of his hardening cock. “And it feels like every nerve ending just got way more sensitive.”

Demmy’s eyes widened. “Yes! That’s exactly it. When I catch a whiff of you, at any point during the day, my whole body goes electric. Here.”

He leaned in and lightly kissed the side of Cody’s neck, right below his ear. A shudder ran through Cody, and he moaned.

“Fuck, that felt amazing.”

“Right?” Demmy hadn’t pulled away, and the movement of his lips against Cody’s skin sent aftershocks through him. “You like that?”

“Jesus Christ,” Cody said.

Demmy gently rubbed his stubbled chin across the spot he’d kissed. “How’s that?”

“Fucking hell, you trying to make me come in your pants?”

Demmy laughed and took a step back. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes bright. Cody could see the bulge in his jeans.

They watched each other—or themselves—as they finished undressing. Cody noted the love handles, but could appreciate how his shoulders and chest looked. And, goddamn, he really did have a big dick.

He suddenly felt nervous at the thought of taking that.

“I don’t look too bad,” Demmy said.

Cody frowned. “You look amazing.” He took a step back and spread his arms. “Look at you.”

Demmy laughed and blushed. “I am looking at me. I said I don’t look too bad.”

“And I corrected you and said you look amazing.”

The blush deepened, and Cody couldn’t recall if he’d ever blushed so hard when he’d been driving his own body.

"I want to feel what you feel," Cody said, his voice low. Strange to hear Demmy's voice coming from his mouth, but the words were all his. "I want to know what it's like for you when we're together."

Demmy smiled, a hint of nervousness in the expression. "It's... weird to want myself."

"But it's not yourself," Cody said, reaching up to touch his face. "It's me in here. And you in there. That's what makes it hot as hell."

Demmy leaned down and kissed him, tentative at first, then with growing confidence. Cody felt the scrape of his own stubble against Demmy's softer skin. The sensation sent shivers through him. Everything felt bigger, more intense.

"Jesus," Cody breathed when they parted. "Is it always like this for you? Every touch feels like it's turned up to eleven."

"Yeah,” Demmy said, trailing fingers down Cody's neck. “I always had a strong physical reaction to you. But ever since Nicolae bit me, all my nerve endings feel like they’re directly connected to my cock."

Cody groaned and pulled Demmy down for another kiss. It was strange to be the smaller one. To feel the weight and bulk of his own body pressing down on him. He reached down, wrapping his hand around Demmy's—his own—cock. It was surreal to feel it from the outside, to know exactly how the touch would register because it was the body he'd lived in all his life.

"Let me taste you," Cody said, pushing Demmy back onto the bed.

Demmy went willingly, looking up at him with wide eyes as Cody moved down his body. When Cody took him into his mouth, they both moaned—Demmy at the sensation, Cody at the taste. It was different experiencing it from this side.

"Fuck, Cody," Demmy gasped, resting his hand on Cody's head. "That's— Jesus Christ?—"

Cody hummed around him, experimenting with what felt good, what made his hips buck. He knew exactly how to touch, where to focus his attention, what would drive Demmy to the edge without pushing him over.

"Wait, wait," Demmy said after a few minutes, tugging gently at Cody's hair. "I don't want to come yet. Let me..."

Cody let Demmy's cock slip from his mouth with a wet sound. "Let you what?"

Demmy didn't answer, just slid down the bed and took Cody into his mouth. The sensation was overwhelming—not just physically but mentally, knowing it was his own mouth on Demmy's cock, but Demmy's consciousness directing the movements.

"Fuuuck," Cody moaned, gripping the sheets. The way Demmy's body responded to pleasure was so different from his own—less focused in his groin, more distributed throughout his entire body. Waves of sensation washed over him, leaving him gasping.

Demmy worked him expertly, using all the knowledge he had of his own body to drive Cody wild. When Cody felt himself getting close, he eased Demmy back.

"Not yet," he said, voice rough. "I want to feel you inside me."

The words made Demmy’s eyes go wide. "Yes. God, yes."

Cody fumbled for the lube in the nightstand drawer, nearly dropping it as he pressed it into Demmy's hand. Demmy slicked his fingers and reached between Cody's legs. The first press inside was strange—not unpleasant, but unfamiliar. Cody had bottomed for Demmy before, but the sensations registered differently in Demmy's body. And Demmy, while appropriately endowed, wasn’t as big as he was himself.

"Relax," Demmy murmured. “I’ll be slow and careful."

“I know. It’s just… different from this angle," Cody said.

He worked Cody open slowly, adding a second finger, then a third, until Cody was writhing and begging beneath him. It was all so new—the stretch, the fullness, the way pleasure burned across his entire body.

"I'm ready," Cody said. "Please, Demmy. I need to feel you."

Demmy withdrew his fingers and slicked his cock. He got into position between Cody's thighs, guiding himself to his entrance.

"You’re sure?" he asked, hesitating.

"Fuck yes," Cody said. "I've never been more sure of anything."

Demmy pressed forward slowly. Cody felt himself stretching around the thickness of his own cock. It burned slightly, but in the best possible way, sending sparks of pleasure shooting through him.

"Oh, my God," Demmy breathed as he sank fully into Cody's body. "It feels—I can't even describe it."

"Try," Cody said, wrapping his legs around Demmy's waist.

"Like everything I’ve ever wanted," Demmy said. "Like coming home."

He began to move, setting a slow, deep rhythm that had them both gasping. Cody clung to him, overwhelmed by the sensations coursing through him. Each thrust sent shockwaves of pleasure through his body, building in intensity.

"Faster," Cody urged. "Please.”

Demmy snapped his hips with more force. The change in angle had him hitting Cody's prostate with each thrust. Cody cried out, his back arching off the bed.

"Touch yourself," Demmy panted. "I want to watch you stroke it."

Cody reached between them, wrapping his hand around his—Demmy's—cock. The dual stimulation was almost too much to bear, sending him hurtling toward the edge.

"I'm close. So close.”

"Me too," Demmy said, his rhythm faltering. "Come for me. Let me see what I look like."

Cody stroked himself faster, matching Demmy's thrusts. When his orgasm hit, it was unlike anything he'd ever experienced—a full-body wave that seemed to go on and on, leaving him trembling and gasping Demmy's name.

The sight of Cody coming pushed Demmy over the edge. He thrust deep one last time, his body tensing as he emptied inside Cody.

For a long moment, they stayed connected, breathing hard. Then Demmy carefully pulled out and collapsed beside Cody, gathering him into his arms.

"That was..." Cody began, then shook his head. "I don't even have words."

"I know," Demmy said, pressing a kiss to Cody's temple. "I know."

They rested together in comfortable silence, processing the experience. After a while, Cody chuckled.

"What?" Demmy asked.

"I was just thinking," Cody said. "We've taken 'go fuck yourself' to a whole new level."

Demmy laughed, the sound filling the quiet bedroom. "We certainly have."

Cody nestled closer, despite the strangeness of being the smaller one in the embrace. "Think we'll ever get our bodies back?"

"We will," Demmy said, sounding more confident than he probably felt. "And when we do, we're going to have one hell of an advantage in bed."

“Yeah we will. Silver lining to a witch's curse."

"Exactly."

They drifted off like that, tangled together, discovering the comfort of sleeping in each other's arms from an entirely new perspective. Cody found it strange not being the bigger body. He had a moment’s panic, wondering if he fell asleep like this, would he dream as himself or as Demmy? And was it one of those situations where the longer something stayed the way it was, the more chance it had of being permanent? Like what his mom had warned him and his brothers about when they made faces?

Demmy shifted position—Cody figured one or both knees of his body were starting to protest—and turned on his side, pulling Cody up against him. Not being the bigger spoon felt weird, but also warm and safe and comforting.

“This is weird,” Demmy murmured against the back of his neck.

“Really weird,” Cody said, but he snuggled in more firmly against him. He noticed how perfectly his own cock aligned with the crack of Demmy’s ass.

“I sort of like being the bigger spoon,” Demmy said.

“Yeah. It’s nice to be the smaller spoon for a change. Damn, my body gives off a lot of heat.”

Demmy chuckled then kissed the back of his neck, and damn if Cody didn’t feel that zing all the way to his toes.

“It does, and I’ve always loved it.” They were quiet for a bit, then Demmy said, “But I miss being the smaller spoon.”

“Yeah, I prefer being the bigger spoon.” Cody turned his head. “No offense.”

“None taken. Totally get it.”

Another stretch of silence. Cody felt himself relaxing, Demmy’s muscles loosening, softening. He felt himself start to drift off, and wondered if they shouldn’t get up and move around.

The next thing he knew, someone was pounding on the front door.

“Wuzzat?” Demmy mumbled. His arm was still tight around Cody, both of them slightly sweaty from having snuggled together under the covers.

“Someone’s here.” Cody’s mouth was dry, and he licked his lips. He was still driving Demmy’s body, which was odd, but Demmy’s arm around him felt so good he didn’t want to get up.

“Where?” Demmy rolled away and cool air rushed in to fill the space. His voice was fuzzy with sleep and the words muted as he rubbed his face. “We’re home?”

“Yeah.” Cody swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. He could barely touch the floor, and it felt so alien and wrong the sensation brought him fully awake. “We’re home. And still body swapped. We fell asleep.”

More pounding on the front door.

“Someone’s here?” Demmy asked through a yawn. Then he sat straight up and turned to give Cody a wide-eyed look. “Oh my God. Someone’s here!”

“I know.” He slid off the bed and battled the vertigo of not being his usual height. He headed for the chest of drawers for clothes. “Be careful getting out of bed. It’s different than you’re used to.”

“Oh shit, your legs are long.”

Cody opened a drawer, found clothes for his original body, cursed, and closed it again. “Where are your clothes?”

“What?” Demmy came up behind him. “In my drawers where they’ve always been.”

They struggled a moment, opening drawers at random it seemed, then Demmy said, “This is stupid. You pick out clothes for me, and I’ll pick out something for you.”

“Good idea.”

Once they’d found outfits for each other and dressed themselves, they headed for the front door. Even after everything they’d just done, Cody found it surprisingly intimate, almost intrusive, to adjust Demmy’s cock and balls inside his briefs.

“I’ve still got your cum inside me,” Cody said quietly.

“Jesus Christ, you can’t say something like that now,” Demmy said with a gasp. But then he grabbed him by the arm and pulled him close for a hot, tongue-heavy kiss.

Cody put his hand on the lock and smiled. “Ready?”

“No.”

“Neither am I. Here we go.” Cody unlocked the door then pulled it open.

“Dems, you are here.” Grant turned his back and waved. “Codes and Dems are home. Come on!”

“What the fuck?” Cody said.

Grant pulled his head back in surprise. “You’ve been living with my brother way too long, Dems. You’re starting to sound like him.”

Cody stepped back and watched as Grant’s family tromped into the house, followed by Roman and his family, then Brady and his wife and young daughter. Ollie and Dave climbed the porch steps next, followed closely by his parents.

“What the hell is all of this?” Cody said. “An intervention?”

Every Bower family member stopped and stared at him.

“What Demetrius, um, Demmy, is trying to say,” Demmy said, and Cody nearly slapped himself in the forehead. “Is that we’ve been trying out each other’s personalities for a while now, in an effort to experience the world as the other one might.” He smiled as everybody looked between them. “So, Demmy has been acting more like me. You know, kind of gruff and crabby, and like a jock?—”

Fucking Roman snorted. The fucking bastard who never once played football.

Demmy, the most patient and amazing husband a guy could ask for, ignored him and continued. “And I’ve been acting more like him. You know, not causing waves, trying to keep the peace.” He smiled, but he looked more scared and uncertain than amused, and Cody’s heart—or was it Demmy’s heart—broke a little bit. Then Demmy stared directly at Roman. “Ignoring immature slights.”

Cody bit his lip to keep from laughing. He felt an intense rush of satisfaction as Roman’s cheeks burned with a blush. Score: Roman one, Demmy one million and one. Boom, motherfucker!

“Oh,” Cody’s mom said, smiling. “Well, I’m glad you two are working on your relationship.”

“Working on our…?” Cody started, but stopped himself at a warning look from Demmy. He cleared his throat, ran a hand over Demmy’s thinning hair, and said, “Thank you, Alice. We like to keep things moving in positive directions.”

“So, with all that out of the way,” Demmy said. “What the hell are you all doing in our house?”

“We were headed to the movie in Harriettville and stopped in to see if Romes and his fam wanted to go,” Grant said. “Then Moms called me and said they had some questions about stuff in the storage unit, so I called everyone else and we all came over here.”

“Aren’t you lucky?” Dave said, fixing Demmy with a smirk.

“Are we?” Demmy replied. “What kinds of questions?”

Multiple conversations erupted all at once. Cody tried to keep track of it all so he could help direct Demmy’s responses, but then Ollie sidled up alongside him.

“What’s going on with you and your sasquatch?” Ollie asked in a low voice.

Cody had to keep himself from going off on Ollie. Like almost physically restrain himself. He allowed himself a moment to gather his patience before saying, “Just like Cody said, we’re trying to see things from each other’s point of view.”

“Uh huh. That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Nothing else is going on?”

“Why do you think something else is going on?”

Ollie leaned in slightly. “You’re avoiding the question.”

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“By answering my question with a question.”

“Really?”

“Jesus Christ,” Ollie breathed. “You’re getting really good at acting like Cody.” Then his expression shifted, lighting up as his goddamn reporter instincts kicked in. “Or you’re actually him.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Cody said. “How would that even work?”

Ollie seemed to back down from his guess. “I don’t know. There’s a witch running around town, so anything could happen. I guess I’m just talking out my ass.”

“Just an ass Muppet, like always,” Cody muttered.

“Ah ha!” Ollie shouted, pointing at him. “I knew it!”

“Knew what, babe?” Dave said, frowning as he came up for air from the raucous Bower family conversation.

Cody pressed his lips tight and gave Ollie a long, hard stare. He watched the elation in Ollie’s expression slowly evaporate, leaving confusion and a bit of concern. Good. After a second, during which Cody felt Demmy’s heart pounding hard, Ollie cleared his throat and smiled over at Dave. “Nothing important. Demetrius just confirmed Cody once had an STD when he was in college.”

“What?” Cody’s mom said, spinning around to stare at Demmy. “You what? Is that true?”

“What?” Demmy spluttered and stammered, a panicked expression on his face as he looked from Cody’s mom to Cody and back again. “No! That’s not true at all! I’ve never…” Demmy looked over at Cody again and cocked his head in a questioning manner. “Had an STD. Have I?”

Cody shook his head as he stared wide-eyed back at Demmy. Keeping his eyes on Demmy, he reached out and grabbed a fistful of Ollie’s shirt, then turned to fix him with a hard glare. For his part, Ollie just stood and looked at him with a grimly satisfied smirk.

“Nope,” Demmy said, looking back at Cody’s mother. “Never had an STD.” He glared at Ollie. “Why the fuck would you say that?”

Cody tightened his fingers in Ollie’s shirt and imagined himself burning a hole into his forehead. Ollie shrugged as he looked at Cody’s family standing all around them. “Sorry, I must have heard Demetrius wrong over here. I thought he said STD, but maybe he said something else.”

“What could he have possibly said to make you think it was that?” Cody’s father looked from Cody to Demmy. “Answer us, son. What the hell happened to you in college?”

“Nothing!” Demmy said, his voice rising in pitch. “I swear! I’ve never had an STD. I’ve always used a condom. Well, except with Demetrius… um, Demmy. But that was because he has an allergy to nonoxynol, and condoms treated with that were all we had the first time we?—”

“You can stop talking, Cody ,” Cody said over Demmy’s unfiltered stream of consciousness ramble. He slowly pulled Ollie in closer. “I’m sure your family doesn’t want to know about our sexual history.”

“That’s for damn sure,” Roman said gruffly.

“Dudes, it’s all a healthy reflection of the people they are,” Grant said.

“Wait,” Brady, the youngest of Cody’s brothers, looked around at all of them. “Did Cody and Demetrius go to college together?”

A new debate about Cody’s college years kicked off, and he took the opportunity to finish reeling Ollie in, turning his head so they were almost nose to nose. “Knock it the fuck off.”

“I’m right, aren’t I? You’re Cody.”

“Shut your fucking mouth about it and help us get everyone calmed down and out of here, and we’ll give you all the details.”

“This is about the witch we saw in the woods, isn’t it?”

“I repeat, help us get everyone out of here and we’ll give you the full story.”

“Are they about to kiss?”

That had been Hilari, Brady’s wife. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at Cody and Ollie. Cody still gripped Ollie by the shirt, holding him close. Only to everyone else, it looked like Demmy holding Ollie close. Demmy, who had once dated Ollie.

“Oliver?” Dave said. “What’s going on between you and Demetrius?”

Right. And Ollie, who was now engaged to Cody’s younger brother.

Ollie looked down to where Cody still held a fistful of his shirt. “Um, just a little discussion about the events going on here in town.”

“Events?” said Madison, Roman’s uptight wife. She fixed Roman with a hard look. “You said all of that was over now. You promised me what happened to you and Summer could never happen again.”

“It’s not,” Demmy said quickly. “I promise. It’s not what happened before.”

“Which means it’s something different?” Summer asked, looking between Cody and Demmy. “What is it this time?”

Cody had a brief memory montage of the time she had run away from home in Utah and caught a bus to stay with them. The same time Nicolae, the alpha werewolf, had staged a takeover of the town. Even from where he stood, Cody saw the spark of interest in her expression. He wished she lived closer. She’d make one hell of a Critter Catcher.

A knock on the door saved him and Ollie from having to respond. Since he was nearest the door, Cody released Ollie and gave him a gentle shove back before he turned to open it. He didn’t even bother to look through the peep hole or ask who it was, he was just grateful for the interruption.

“It’s witches this time?” Jugs said as he barged through the door, wide shoulders bumping it farther open and nearly knocking Cody on his ass. Agatha, his veterinarian girlfriend, and a previous Critter Catchers client, was right behind him. She was followed closely by Clarabell, who wore a black hoodie over a white t-shirt with the X-Files logo, faded black jeans, and her Doc Martens decorated with flying saucer stickers.

“I had to let Jugs know,” Clarabell was saying, looking down as she adjusted the messenger bag around her shoulders. “I ran into them at Margie’s, and he started asking me questions.” She looked up and came to a dead stop at the sight of everyone staring at her. “Oh.”

Cody winced as he stood in place, still holding the handle of the door.

“Oh, shit,” Jugs said quietly as he looked at the packed living room. Then he pulled a wide smile up from somewhere inside him and delivered a surprisingly delicate finger wave. “Hi, Bower family. Haven’t seen most of you since the wedding. This is Agatha, my girlfriend.”

For their part, everyone in Cody’s family returned his greeting with their own, although a bit subdued.

Before anyone could think of something to say, Dexter, Grant and Mac’s twelve-year-old son, said in a creaky voice, “Was Uncle Demetrius going to kiss that other man?”