Page 43 of Demon Dating Service
It wouldn’t take much at all for him to close the short distance between them and taste those lips. He could finally feel for himself whether those lips were as soft as they looked.
No! No kissing. That was too fast. His brain searched for something else to focus on. He was missing something. “Drinks!” He shouted. He’d been getting some water for both of them. Fuck, his brain had shut down and was not rebooting.
He shot to his feet, narrowly missing a collision with Matteo’s head, and rushed into the kitchen. With a silent curse at his building nerves and the overwhelming awareness that a house full of demons was watching their every move, Luke fixed them some glasses of water and brought them to the living room with some paper towels.
As he returned, Matteo was flipping open the pizza box and folding the lid so that it fit underneath.
“I wasn’t all that hungry earlier. Now this smells so good, and my stomach won’t stop rumbling,” Matteo said with a little moan.
“This is my first time trying their pizza. I had their hot wings, and they are insanely hot but so good.” Luke placed a glass of water in front of Matteo and put one down for himself. He picked up the remote and turned on the TV. “What are you thinking of for a movie?”
“How about something action-y? Lots of explosions. I’m more relaxed than I was, but I don’t think I could take anything too serious.”
He knew exactly what movie to put on—The A-Team. Lots of explosions, ridiculous chases, and funny banter. He pressed play on the movie, and they dug into the pizza. It might have been lukewarm, but it still tasted amazing. Luke was going to offer to stick in the oven to warm it up, but they were both shoveling in pieces so fast that it didn’t seem important any longer.
They polished off the pizza with relative ease and sat back, chatting through the movie. During the many times they leaned up to get their drinks and then sat back again, they might have inched closer together. So close that their shoulders brushed. Luke froze on the outside while butterflies took flight in his stomach. It was almost impossible to pay attention to the exciting climax of the movie now. Matteo was close enough that Luke could smell the faded notes of his cologne mixed with the lingering scent of pizza sauce and cheese.
As the credits rolled, Luke began to panic. What now? Matteo’s shoulder wasn’t merely brushing his, but it was pressing into it. Their arms weretouching!If he moved, that would all end. If he were brave, though, he could lean toward Matteo and kiss him, but he wasn’t that brave. Not even close.
“So…um…” Matteo started, at least sounding like he was in the same indecisive boat as Luke. “Do you have some studying you want to get done?”
That’s right!He wanted to use Luke’s house as a quiet location to study. He’d totally forgotten.
“Oh, wait! It’s Friday!” Matteo smacked his forehead, and Luke barely stopped his hand from shooting out to rub that spot for him. “You probably have no interest in studying today.”
“No, I wouldn’t mind getting some reading done,” Luke said. “I’ve got an enormous collection of books I need to work through. Do you want to study for a while?”
Matteo’s sunny smile returned in a heartbeat. “Yeah. I mean, if you wouldn’t mind. Should we read here…? I know your roommates are giving us some space, but I’d hate to take up a common area like this.”
“We could study in the library. Ogos is usually the only one who hangs out in there, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. Or…we could read in my room. We’d be out of the way in there.”
“Yeah, that sounds great! Besides, I’d love to see your room.”
Luke huffed a little laugh. “Don’t get your hopes up too high. There’s not much to it. Just a lot of books and notes for my thesis. Pretty boring.”
“What? You don’t have a flock of plush birds on your bed?” Matteo teased as he helped gather up the pizza box and used napkins. He accompanied Luke to the kitchen, where they disposed of their garbage and refreshed their drinks. After a quick pit stop in the family room to grab their bookbags and coats, they trekked up the stairs.
“All my roommates have rooms here,” Luke explained as they crossed the second floor. “Not much to see except for the bathroom.” Which he remembered to point out in case Matteo needed to use it. “My room is in the attic.”
“Whoa…lots of stairs, but private, right?”
“Definitely.”
“Um…so…are you dating anyone?”
Luke’s foot slipped off the stair he’d just stepped on, and he barely managed to slam his hand against the wall to keep from face-planting. He had not been expecting Matteo to ask him that. He cleared his throat and continued. “Watch that step. It’s…slippery. Uh…dating? No, I’m not dating anyone. I don’t have much time for it.”
“Oh. Yeah. You’re busy with your thesis and classes,” Matteo replied.
Why did he sound so disappointed?
Fuck! Was he interested?
“What I mean is that I’d love to date. Like to, I mean. I’ve quit two of my jobs. My landlord is paying me to help keep up with the house, so I’m hoping to have a lot more time on my hands now. For dating, that is. Are you dating anyone?”
And of course, when he blurted out that last question, he had just reached the top of the stairs, so he spun around and practically shouted it in Matteo’s face.
Dear fucking God and all the damn demons listening to him through the walls, could he be more awkward than this? He would have to ask Azroth if he was cursed or born under a cursed star, because normal people couldn’t be this awkward.