Page 31

Miri

M iri slid two pans of banana bread into the oven and stepped back.

She sighed. So much for baking calming her down.

Her stomach had been turning somersaults all day.

As amazing as it had felt to watch Jason get his ass kicked, there was a part of her that couldn’t stop worrying.

There was no way Jason Stick-Up-His-Ass Wilson was going to take a blow to his ego lightly.

Hopefully, he would just ignore her and give her the silent treatment for the rest of the semester… but that was probably asking for too much of a miracle.

Her phone buzzed on the counter. Miri swiped the notification open.

Duke

Hey, love. Make sure you hydrate today.

That was a lot of tequila going around last night.

She shook her head, a small smile curving her lips. Duke was a total mother hen. For a demon with such an aggressive case of resting bitch face, he was a total sweetheart.

He might not be much of a talker, but he was always there looking out for her. How many times had Miri caught him watching her or absently patting her shoulder like he was checking she was still there?

Duke

Hey, love. Make sure you hydrate today.

That was a lot of tequila going around last night.

Miri

Two water bottles down already. See you tonight 3

Hopefully, he’d sent Ace the same reminder. He’d been knocking back shots like they were water. The poor demon had definitely looked a bit worse for wear on his way to work this morning.

Humming to herself, Miri unwrapped a block of cream cheese and dumped it in a bowl. Did she need to make cream cheese frosting? No. But everyone knew a slice of banana bread was ten times better with a hefty smear of cream cheese.

Plus, her cream cheese frosting had gotten her marriage proposals, and while Miri wasn’t on the hunt for a ring from her demons, it wouldn’t hurt to remind them just how irreplaceable she was from time to time.

Soft foot steps echoed in the hallway. Speak of the demon…

Kaz padded into the kitchen, his bare feet slapping on the tile.

Miri didn’t bother to look up. Of course, it was Kaz.

For a guy who claimed to avoid carbs and was always whining about keeping up his physique for work, he sure did spend a lot of time haunting her kitchen and trying to lick crumbs off her lips.

Not that Miri was complaining. That forked tongue of his was one hell of an experience.

A strong hand caught her hip and dragged her back a step. Leaning over her shoulder, the demon kissed her temple.

“Are you busy?”

Miri glanced at her timer. “I have an hour until this needs to come out of the oven.”

Kaz could do an awful lot in an hour— he’d proven that already. On the counter mostly.

“Great.” He beamed down at her. “Can you help me with my hair?”

She blinked. “Your hair? What’s wrong with it?”

Tilting her head back, she studied the purple locks. Usually he kept it tied back in a haphazard knot at the back of his head, but today it was loose and brushing his shoulders. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. Maybe he needed a trim?

She was probably the last person he should ask. Sure, Miri cut her own hair, but curls hid a lot of sins and amateur mistakes. Except for bangs… never again.

“It’s time to dye my roots again and I always struggle with the back.” He smiled sheepishly. “Normally Ace does it for me, but he’s covering for someone who called out sick at the coffee shop. It shouldn’t take very long, the dye’s pretty strong.”

Aw, the roots. She hadn’t noticed. All her demons stood at least a head taller than her—head and shoulders, in Duke’s case. The only time Miri got a good look at the top of their heads was when they were on their knees in front of her.

It was safe to say, their hair wasn’t much of a concern when they were feasting between her legs.

“Ace does it?” Gripping Kaz’s good horn, she tugged his head down for a peek. Dark brown roots peeked through the purple. “Let me guess, he was a barber in one of his five-hundred past professions?”

Kaz snorted. “Knowing him, he’ll claim he spent some time as Vidal Sassoon’s muse.”

“Before or after, he was a particle physicist?” she teased.

Still giggling to herself, Miri followed Kaz upstairs to the bathroom. He grabbed an old bath towel stained with purple dye and wrapped it around his shoulders. The demon passed her a small bowl filled with dye.

She stared up at the back of his head. Well, that definitely wasn’t going to work.

“Umm, Kaz?”

“Yeah?”

“Unless you can magically shrink yourself by about two feet, I’m going to need you to sit down somewhere or find me a step stool.”

He turned, his towel flaring like a cape. His golden eyes blinked down at her. A faint blush painted his cheeks as he scrubbed his hand over the back of his head.

“Right. I forgot you were tiny.”

Tiny? No, he was just a giant. Miri glared at him. She was a perfectly healthy height, thank you very much.

Ignoring her glower, Kaz stepped into the shower and folded his long legs to sit on the edge of the bathtub. He tipped his head back to look at her.

“Is this low enough… or do I need to lie on the floor for my shrimpy human?”

“Bold words when I’m the one holding the dye,” Miri deadpanned.

It would be so easy to paint a dick on the back of his neck. It’s not like he’d ever know…

Smiling to herself, Miri scooped dye onto his head with the little brush.

She dabbed and swiped the brush. Did she have any idea what she was doing?

No—in fact, Miri was pretty sure this was going to be the splotchiest dye job Kaz had ever had—but her inner Picasso was enjoying playing with the little paint brush.

A little bit there, a dab here. A little glob landed on his forehead. Miri winced. She’d definitely have to scrub that off later. Good thing purple and gold went great together.

Kaz sat perfectly still. Brushing dye over his hair, Miri listened to him hum and tap his feet against the bottom of the bathtub. Could he be anymore adorable? She dabbed a little more dye on the roots by his horns and left the brush in the bowl.

“Okay, I think I got it all.” Miri stepped back to inspect her work. It looked pretty good to her. Not that she was a hair stylist or anything. “I’ve only dyed my hair once and it was a disaster, so if it turns out terrible… blame Ace.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket and set a timer. His fingers tapped across the screen as she rinsed out the bowl of purple goop in the sink.

“So, what color did you dye it?”

She winced. “Blond… or at least it was supposed to be blond. It turned an awful shade of booger green.”

Kaz laughed. Pivoting in his seat, he turned to hug one arm around her thighs.

“Good thing you make a stunning redhead… though I’m sure you were just as lovely with booger curls.”

He couldn’t possibly be any more wrong. Poor teenage Miri had been forced to live in headscarves and baseball caps until she could get an appointment with a stylist. It had been the longest two weeks of her life.

Soaking a rag with water, she tilted Kaz’s face up toward the ceiling and rubbed at the purple streaks on his forehead. Yeah, that was definitely going to stain a bit.

“Out of curiosity, why blond?” the demon asked.

“I was sixteen and overheard Johnny Richardson tell his buddies he had a thing for blondes.”

Johnny might have had a hard on for blondes, but he certainly hadn’t had one for green-haired geeks who played the clarinet. The joke was on him, her boobs and self-respect had both doubled in size that summer. Miri had happily shot down his awful flirtations the following year.

“So you had a lady boner for this Johnny Richardson?”

“Bingo.”

“Was he cute?”

The question rumbled with a dangerous growl. Pausing her ministrations, Miri leaned back to catch his eye and raised her eyebrows.

“Are you seriously jealous of a brief teenage crush who I haven’t seen in over a decade?”

“No, that would be ridiculous.” Kaz sniffed dismissively. “I bet I could have taken him, though.”

May the universe save her from the delicate egos of men and demons.

“Yes, you’re very tough,” she promised.

Miri bit down on her lip to keep from smiling. It was hard to keep a straight face when she was scrubbing bright purple dye off a man sitting in a bathtub and wearing a towel cape.

“Can you scratch my horn?” Kaz waved a clawed hand at the top of his head. “Around the base?”

She eyed the two horns. “Which one?”

“The broken one. It always itches when I dye my hair.”

Careful of the vibrant dye, Miri scratched her nail on along the base of the shattered horn. She’d known they were sensitive—the groans she’d torn from their lips in the bedroom were proof enough of that— but she hadn’t realized they could itch too.

“How did you break it?” The hard material felt like stone under her nails. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

“Doing very manly, teenage things.”

“Is that code for you did something dumb and embarrassing and you don’t want to tell me?” she laughed.

“Yes,” Kaz sighed, his shoulders hunching inward. “I fell out of my bedroom window.”

Miri couldn’t stop the snort that left her nose. Of all the things she could have guessed, that wouldn’t have even made the brainstorm session. A fight, sure. A prank gone wrong, absolutely if Ace was involved. But a window?

“Were you sneaking out for a party or something?”

“To play Dungeons and Dragons. I was grounded and we only had two sessions left in the campaign.”

A giggle burst out of her.

“Sadly, I have not always been this cool and handsome of a demon,” Kaz continued with a wince. “I had asthma and acne the size of hubcaps, pretty much the opposite of a debonair ladies’ man.”

She could see it. Sweet, silly teenage Kaz clutching an inhaler as he painted Dungeons and Dragons miniatures on a Friday night.

“I think teenage Miri would have been obsessed with teenage Kaz.” Miri bent down to press a kiss to his temple. “It was braces, clarinet, and musical theater for me.”