Page 23 of Demon Dating Service

The day the crows had chased those frat boysandMatteo across the quad.

Luke gasped so hard he choked on the air.

Matteo hit him several times on the back as Luke coughed, trying to catch his breath and remember how to breathe like a normal human being.

“I didn’t train the crows to attack anyone!” Luke forced out in a rough voice between the coughing.

“What?” Matteo screeched, his eyes so wide they looked like they were going to roll out of his head. “Oh! That day on the quad!”

“Yeah! I didn’t—I mean—the birds…are you okay?”

Fuck! Couldn’t someone come along and bury me under the ten-pound bags of potatoes? This is painful?

Matteo laughed and gave him a light punch on the shoulder. “Yeah, I’m okay. Was just scared more than anything. No harm done. The crows were trying to protect you, right? I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. No big deal.”

“Protect me?”

“Yeah, because those assholes poured their drink on you. Right?”

Luke squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. For a heartbeat, he considered agreeing with Matteo, but he couldn’t. That was the kind of “harmless” lie that would come back to bite him in the ass.

“No,” Luke groaned. “I did that. As I was getting ready to leave with my friend, I grabbed my drink, and the lid came off my cup.”

Matteo hissed, and Luke opened his eyes to see Matteo wince. “Man, that was a fucking bad day for you.”

“Pretty much. Do you mind if we talk about something else?” He would prefer to go the rest of his long life without ever having to think of that horrible day again.

“Yes!” Matteo moaned, as if he were drowning in relief. The young man’s face went blank for a second, and his eyes darted back and forth as if he were searching his brain for a new topic. His expression lit up like a thousand-watt bulb. “So, do you come to this grocery store often?”

Luke’s mouth fell open.

Matteo’s swarthy complexion turned bright red two seconds after he finished speaking. Luke could see the exact second itclicked in Matteo’s brain what he’d said. If he hadn’t been so shocked, he would have been laughing.

“No! No! No! I didn’t mean it like that!” Matteo’s hands shot up toward Luke, but he seemed to have forgotten that he had one of those plastic baskets in his right hand, so it went with his hands and nearly hit Luke in the face. Luke jerked out of the way before Matteo could clock him with it. Matteo cried out and whipped his hand away. The basket flew free behind him. Thankfully, there was no one else in that part of the produce aisle, and the basket bounced harmlessly across the worn linoleum.

“Oh, my fucking God,” Matteo muttered as he marched after his errant basket. “I’m not this big of a dork.”

Secretly, Luke prayed he was, because it made him that much more perfect. Sexy, kind, and a bit of a dork. Was there any more intoxicating combination in the world? At the moment, Luke was going to say hell no.

Matteo walked to him, his footsteps just a shade short of being called a stomp, and let out a heavy breath. “What I meant was that I’ve never seen you in this store.” He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. “Now I sound like a stalker spouting the world’s worst pickup lines. I?—”

Luke had pity on the poor man and placed his hand on Matteo’s shoulder. He squeezed, stopping his words. “No, I don’t get to shop for groceries that often. I work two jobs plus take classes. Keeps me busy, and I eat a lot of crap. That’s what I was doing when you came over—trying to figure out something healthy to eat. So I don’t get scurvy.”

He should have stopped prior to that last sentence of scurvy nonsense.

Whatever. Matteo didn’t seem to mind since the guy was flashing him a big “thank you” look.

“Smart. Healthy is good. I try to pick up something from here every Thursday night, so I know I’ll have at least a couple of healthy meals a week,” Matteo replied.

Finally. This is what normal people sounded like.

“Have you decided on something?”

Luke shook his head. “I don’t cook much, and I don’t want to get a bunch of stuff that’s going to go bad before I can use it up.”

“Would you like a suggestion?”

“Yes, please!” His heart burst out of his body and skipped around them. Not only was Matteo talking to him, but he was willing to help him.Best day ever!