Page 8 of Demon's Heart

Missing their chance to imprison the backstabbing swine was a blow, but not when weighed against saving Harper. They’d get Luc. He’d come back to the Human Realm, and now that Dante knew Luc could disguise himself in the magic he’d stolen from him, Ash, and Onyx, Luc wouldn’t be able to use the same trick twice.

But there was no ignoring the unease of not knowing what the Devil would do next.

4

OLLIE

Ollie wokeup Sunday morning with a half-hard cock and a sinking disappointment crushing his chest.

What the…? Had he been having some sort of weird dream? He closed his eyes, and Dante’s magnetic stare popped into his head.

Nope. He was not lying around longing for some guy he’d met twice. He wasn’t disappointed about Dante. How could he be when he didn’t want anything from the guy?

Ollie had everything he needed. No man necessary. Even not getting laid last night wasn’t a big deal. Whatever was going on with his sad boner was nothing but a weird fluke.

Ollie ignored his cock until his erection deflated. He had brunch plans to get ready for.

An hour later, his best friend Dex buzzed to be let into the building.

Ollie already had a fan going. The apartment had never cooled down last night, and he almost couldn’t bring himself to preheat the oven.

A knock came from the front door, and Ollie hurried down the hall.

“I’ve got cinnamon rolls.” Dex lifted a familiar canvas bag, grinning like a dork.

“Thank god.” Ollie pulled him inside. “They’re the only thing worth heating this place up for.”

More Sundays than not, Dex came over for brunch, bringing day-old treats from the bakery on the ground floor of his building. They’d started the tradition years ago when they were both still studying and couldn’t afford to go out. The bakery owner often gave Dex stuff for free back then, after everything that had happened with Dex’s parents, but now Dex insisted on paying.

Dex headed straight for the kitchen. “The cinnamon rolls are fresh, by the way. They’d still be hot if it didn’t take so long to walk here.”

Ollie flipped on the coffee maker. “But we’re supposed to get day-old stuff. It’s tradition.”

Dex unpacked the cinnamon rolls. “Screw tradition. Look at these.”

Three large cinnamon rolls sat in a tray, smothered with icing. “Fuck yeah. Okay, they look better than sex.”

Dex snorted. “I’m guessing you stayed in last night.” His teasing smile fell. “Or was he an ass?”

“No. I stayed in.” Ollie turned away and got out the mugs. “I’m over hookups.”

“For real?”

“Yeah.” Ollie leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. “I spend more time getting rejected and scrolling than having fun. I deleted the app.”

“If it’s not making you feel good, that’s probably the right thing to do.” Dex bumped his shoulder into Ollie’s encouragingly.

“I’ve grown so much, figuring out how to do what’s right for me,” Olliemuttered.

“You have,” Dex said, apparently ignoring Ollie’s sarcasm as he put the cinnamon rolls in the oven.

Ollie bit back a smile.

He fucking loved Dex in a non-romantic way.

Dex had helped him get away from his abusive college boyfriend, Brayden, even after Ollie had been a terrible friend and ignored Dex for months. He used to think he didn’t deserve Dex, but that wasn’t true. He deserved a good friend as much as Dex did and hadn’t flaked on Dex once since he’d left that asshole.

Ollie pulled a few containers of fruit out of the fridge and began washing them.