Page 59 of Forbidden! Exorcist Roommate
I turned to leave before he called, “Wait. Could you feed Demetrius?”
“Sure.”
I retreated to Chase’s bedroom, found the bottle of predator bites, and tipped a few onto the water’s surface. I smiled as thered betta swam up to catch them. The sight of his gleaming scales among the tranquil greenery calmed me.
Demetrius was wonderfully taken care of. He was lucky that Chase had found him.
I felt like I’d been brushed by the same luck, too.
After getting ready to retire, I turned off the lights and slipped into bed. Chase’s bed. An instinctive shiver rippled over my body as I remembered burying my face in his neck, sucking down his scent like it was oxygen. My lower half still hummed with satisfaction, but now my mind wandered into a fog of doubt.
Whatwerewe? What was our relationship?
And what would happen to us when this week was over?
13
Chase
The collarof my work-issued polo itched my neck. The material was cheap and scratchy, and I hated wearing it. But what I hated even more was the know-it-all gym bros who came into the store just to show off.
I forced a patient smile on my face as I watched a dude curl a twenty-five-pound dumbbell. He did a few reps too many before asking, “Got anything heavier than this?”
“Sure, we’ve got free weights up to—”
“Got like a fifty?”
I tried not to be annoyed at being cut off. “Yeah, right behind you.”
The dude turned, saw the weights, and pulled them off the shelf without waiting for me. He grunted as he did an entire set of bicep curls. His sleeveless shirt let him show off the bulging mass of his arm, which I couldn’t care less about.
As the customer worked out, my mind floated to Sagitta. I wondered how he’d look in a sleeveless shirt. I’d never seen him wear anything but prim black button-ups. I swallowed, imagining what he looked like underneath his clothes...
The dude grunted, which wrenched me back to reality. “I’ll take ‘em. These are for my girlfriend, anyway. I use heavier shit at the gym.”
Dunno why I needed to know that, but okay,I thought.
“Sure. I’ll ring you out up front,” I said, reaching for the weights.
But the dude hauled them up without giving me the chance. “I’ve got it.”
He’d left all his used dumbbells on the floor. I scoffed under my breath, making sure nobody could hear. I was a nice guy, but assholes like that tested my patience. It pissed me off when people clearly didn’t give a shit about others around them.
I leaned down to pick up the dumbbells strewn around.
“Hells, what an arrogant, pompous brute!” said a flamboyant voice in my head.
The dumbbell flew from my hand, landing with an earth-shatteringthudon the ground. I was lucky it didn’t land on my toes—or worse, the customer. But the explosive sound reverberated through the whole store. Every person turned to stare at me.
Meanwhile, prickling hot shame and confusion mixed into a cocktail of dread in my chest.
“Did you miss me, dear?” Faust asked, oblivious to the trouble he’d just caused.
“What the hell are you doing?” I hissed out loud. Then I realized too late what a big mistake I’d made.
Shit.
The muscled dude’s jaw fell open. Then his face turned purple and his brows furrowed so hard they fused together.
