Demon Kissed - Katie May Page 0,54
to tug on his hand, but he just stands leisurely and captures my chin in his hand, turning my face back towards him.
He leans close, like he’s about to kiss me, and dammit all, my knees go weak. They definitely cannot tell the difference between a fake date and a real one.
Zolroth leans in close on my good side and whispers, “Stop panicking, love. The guys have my back. Just because an angel could kill me doesn’t mean they will. They’d have to get to me first. My team wouldn’t let that happen. We’re taking precautions.”
I want to argue, but he spins me in a slow circle and points me toward the rack lined with balls. “Now, choose your weapon.”
He releases me, and I stumble toward the bowling balls, mind still spinning with all of this new information. I know so little about them, about all of this, because I’ve been so focused on William.
But here they are, putting themselves in danger to help me.
Way to be an asshole, Kat, I scold.
Well, no more. I’m gonna do everything I can to find out all about Zolroth and the rest of the guys. And I’m gonna help them. Somehow. My puny, weak, human self is going to help. Maybe I can capture this demon woman and recite decathlon facts until I bore her to death.
Resolved, I grab the lightest ball I can find, because I don’t want to remember this date as I’m rubbing my aching, non-existent muscles tomorrow.
“Blue ball? Not very nice, but very accurate,” Zolroth says in my ear.
I nearly drop the ball onto my toe. Luckily, he has demon reflexes, and he catches it before my foot is smashed to smithereens and carries both our balls toward the lane.
He’s somehow already programmed our names into the scoreboard on the little screen at the table. I peer down at it.
“SnuggleButt and CuteseyPoo?” I say sarcastically as I turn to him, raising an eyebrow. “And which one am I supposed to be?”
“Well, who’s got the better ass?” He grins as he puts the balls into the return.
“Guess I’m up, CuteseyPoo.” I laugh and grab my ball, nearly skipping to the lane. For all his regal persona, Zolroth’s got a humorous side. It’s fun to discover, and I wonder if it’s a side he often lets others see. Part of me thinks it’s not.
But then that part of me starts to get smug and gloaty and tosses a feather boa around her neck like she’s special. I throat punch her.
Thoughts like that are going to make me forget this is a fake date. Which I cannot do.
I line myself up for a shot and swing my arm back just as Zolroth calls out, “Love your fingers touching my balls!”
Distracted, I totally biff my throw. I mean, embarrassing gutterball all the way down. I turn around and stomp back to Zolroth, who’s shaking with laughter.
“Cheater!” I give him a little shove. It’s small and somewhat playful because a, let’s be honest, I was gonna gutterball anyway, and b, I can see Janie’s and William’s eyes drifting our way, and I want it to seem like Zolroth and I are having the most fun ever.
“Demon, love,” he says by way of explanation. “The difference between demons and angels? They’re so tied up in rules, they have to shit in a straight line or they get in trouble.”
“Yeah? But are you obligated to cheat?” I poke him in the chest.
“Well, lying, cheating, and stealing are kind of perks of the job.”
I narrow my eyes. “What will it take to get you to stop cheating?”
He lifts a shoulder. “I dunno. Maybe if you sat on my lap between each frame—”
“We can keep him from cheating.” Raz is suddenly standing right next to me.
I peer up at his dark eyes. His jaw is tight, but otherwise, his expression is as closed and unreadable as always.
Is he trying to be helpful? Or is he trying to horn in on my date? Besides, he’s supposed to be a teacher.
“Umm…”
The other guys are suddenly there, all their balls in their hands. Not those ones, their bowling balls.
“Our lane got shut down,” Raz says loudly, so William and Janie can hear. “Thanks so much for offering to share yours.”
I glance over at their lane, where somehow, suspiciously, the pin machine is malfunctioning, rising up and down and up and down repeatedly.
“Don’t tell me you just broke that!” I hiss.
“Fine. We won’t tell you.” Van saunters past me to put his