“Uh, okay, I guess.” My face was still buried against the wood door.
I’m never moving from this spot. As long as I stand right here forever, my life can’t get any weirder and I can’t screw it up any more than I have already.
“Did you have fun?”
Jumping, I slapped my hand over my mouth to hold in a squeal. I turned and let out a breath, dropping my hand. “Chay. What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be slaving over your project?”
He slipped his fingers in his pockets and shrugged. “I should be working on my project, but there was something more important I needed to do.”
We seemed to move in concert. He slid his hand under my hair and cupped the back of my neck, and I leaned forward and fisted my hands in his hair, pulling him to me. I tilted my face up to him, and he lowered his lips to mine. I lost myself in his slow, tender kiss. Fingers of warm electricity made its way through my body, sparking off the sides of my veins like the stars of sparklers, and I moaned into Chay’s mouth.
When he broke our kiss—because, hey, we had to breathe sometime—I said, “Chay, not that I’m not thrilled you’re here, because I am. Beyond thrilled, actually. But, why are you here?”
“Look in the backyard.” He jerked his head toward the back window.
I rubbed my temples where an ugly migraine was building. “Ugh, again? How many of them? Just the two?”
“Nope. Six.”
“Six. Wonderful,” I sighed. I wasn’t planning to deal with the little red goblins when I got home. “What do they want?”
“You. I’ve been sitting out there with your dad for an hour. They ignored us. They’re running around like normal, digging up flowerbeds, swinging, trying to climb trees. Someone should really explain that their legs are too short for that.” He chuckled.
“Let me change clothes, and we’ll go see what they want.”
“Can I come?” Chay winked.
I stopped halfway up the stairs and looked down at him with a smirk. “My dad likes you, but I think that would definitely put you on his shit-list.”
“You’re probably right. I’ll just stand here and enjoy the view.”
That doesn’t make me feel self-conscious at all.
I hurried up the stairs, stripped out of what I was wearing, and into my favorite faded jeans and a sweatshirt.
“‘Kay. Let’s go see what the imps want tonight,” I said when I got back downstairs.
“I like you like this better.” Chay looked me up and down.
“Like what?”
“Faded jeans, your favorite sweatshirt.” He wrapped a finger around one of my belt loops and pulled me to him.
“How do you know it’s my favorite sweatshirt?” I laid my hands on his chest.
“You wear it a lot on weekends.” He kissed the hollow behind my ear. I curled my fingers into him and sighed his name.
“Mm. Wait, how do you know?” I pulled back and looked at him.
“I see you. I live behind you, you know.”
“Hmm, I don’t know if that’s sweet or creepy.” I raised an eyebrow.
He kissed the tip of my nose. “Sweet, definitely sweet.”
I laughed. “Okay, whatever you say. Creeper.”
“The only thing I don’t like is this.” He reached behind me, took the clip out of my hair, and ran his fingers gently through the wavy strands. “You should wear it down.”
My voice stalled. I let my gaze roam over his face. I drank in his features, his odd-colored eyes that looked more green just then than blue, his strong jaw that had a day’s worth of stubble, and full lips—the bottom just a little fuller than the top, giving him a natural pout that was too damn sexy to be legal and begged to be nibbled on, his dark hair cut short on the sides but left longer on the top, giving him that natural bed head look that was hotter than hell itself. I reached up and smoothed back a lock of hair that had fallen over his forehead. “Okay,” I whispered when I found my voice.
Chay tilted his head and looked at me. “What?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. I’m just glad you’re here.”
“Me too.” Turning me around, he threw me over his shoulder. I giggled as he carried me into the backyard. Chay put me on the edge of the deck and sat next to me, his arm wrapped around my shoulder.
“Milayna’s here,” one of the hobgoblins cheered, smiling wide.
“Yeah, I’m here. What are you doing here?” I rolled my eyes and buried my face in the curve of Chay’s neck. I was so over the pipsqueak duo.
“Did you have fun tonight?”
Burgundy hoodie. Black boots.
“I had an okay time, why?”
“Because Azazel said to tell you—”
I jumped off the deck and kicked the goblin. He rolled head over butt in the air, cussing the entire time. I turned to Chay. “I need to talk to you.” When he didn’t move, I grabbed the sleeve of his suede jacket. “Now.”