Page 7 of I Accidentally Summoned a Demon Boyfriend

“Right. Well, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” He winked at me, and then his horns appeared, as if he thought they would trigger something in me. When he didn’t get the response he’d hoped for, the pressure built in the room. It felt like invisible hands wrapping around me, pressing in on every side.

And then the demon disappeared.

Turns out, my stomach wasn’t completely empty. I vomited for another twenty minutes after that.

“I’m so sorry we didn’t make it,” Keri started her sad apology as soon as I stepped across the threshold to her newly-painted apartment. The smell was nearly as overwhelming as her blabbering. “There was just so much going on. You know how it can get. I-”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” I waved her off as I scanned her apartment for any anomaly.

There was nothing out of place, no demon visitors standing in the corner waiting to taunt me. It was still Keri’s boho style with the large rustic area rug, tall plants, massive oil paintings that covered the wall, and patchouli incense burning in the corner on a glass shelf. It was her favorite scent. She’d recently done an accent wall in Castleton Green, which I knew because she’d called me talking about how every green she’d found before had too much army to it.

“Girl, what are you doing?” Keri closed the door and followed me. “Are you okay?”

“Keri…” I turned to her, whispering like a kid about to be scolded by the principal at school. “You will not believe the shit that happened to me last night.”

“Damn it. What happened? Please don’t tell me some perv slipped something into your drink. Is that why you stopped responding last night?” Keri put her hands on her hip. I could already see the legal side of her mind gearing up. “We’ll find them. They have security everywhere. I didn’t get this law degree for nothing. I may not be able to throw hands anymore, but I will throw their ass in jail for fucking with my friend!”

“No, nothing like that. And I stopped responding because I was pissed about being stood up!” I paused, mentally comparing an attempted assault to an actual round of midnight acrobatics with a demonic entity. Which one deserved more outrage? “Actually, I think this is worse. I mean… yeah. It’s way worse.”

“You’re freaking me out. What happened?” Keri grabbed my arm and pulled me to the couch to sit next to her.

I stared at the new piece of furniture that looked out of place with her stuff. She’d thrown a few fuzzy pillows over the modular nightmare, but it still didn’t feel like it belonged there.

“Is this his couch?” I tried to keep my tone from edging toward critical as I ran my hand across the grey material. “Doesn’t really seem like your normal style.”

“Rayna,” Keri snapped her fingers, “focus. Tell me what happened.”

“Right. Okay, so I’m sitting there pissed off about my friends standing me up and leaving me alone in lonely single land.” I shot Keri a side eye. “So, I go home, crack open a bottle of wine, and start vibing on my own. And you know things are good. I’m not exactly happy about being by myself, but as a single girl, you figure out a way to make it work. Anyway, do you remember that book I told you about? The one about the girl who says a spell and magically creates the perfect boyfriend? Well, I may or may not have opened that book, let the moonlight into my crib, lit a few candles, and performed the spell.”

“So what? That’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Ray.” Keri’s eyes widened as she locked onto a distant memory. “Remember when we used to get together and do that thing at sleepovers? The spell that’s supposed to let us lift someone with our fingertips? What was it? Light as a feather, stiff as a board. That never worked.”

“Okay, but…” I felt my face warm with embarrassment. “This may sound insane, but I think it may have worked.”

“Maybe it’s the lack of caffeine in my system, because that three-hundred-dollar piece of junk espresso machine I just got crapped out on me, so I may need you to correct me. Did I just hear you say you did a spell, and that spell created a man for you?” Keri looked at me with those mothering eyes. Whenever she felt concerned for me, which happened far more than I care to admit, she would get those eyes. The expression meant she’d be ready to call my therapist. Luckily, she didn’t have the number. “Please tell me I’m trippin’ and that is not what you just said.”

“You’re not, and that is what I said.” I felt the knot form in my throat. Was I really telling my friend this? For a moment, I thought I’d lost my mind, but what I felt was real. “Only, I wouldn’t exactly call that thing boyfriend material.”

“Girl, what the hell are you talking about?” Keri slapped me on the shoulder. “Stop playing around, Rayna.”

“Keri, the spell worked!” I stood from the couch and paced circles around the bulky coffee table that Keri said she never wanted. She hated furniture that broke up her open spaces. “That dumbass author I usually fawn over put an actual fucking spell in her book. I did it, and it worked!”

“Right.” Her word trailed off as she watched me. That concern grew more prevalent in her expression as the corners of her lips dropped and her eyes narrowed.

“Don’t look at me like I have one foot in the white room.” I pointed at her. “I know that look.”

“I’m not saying that, but maybe it’s time to see your therapist?” Keri stood and met me at eye level. “I mean, it sounds to me like you may have had a little too much to drink, and that inspired some vivid dreams.”

“Dreams that spilled over into this morning? I woke up, and he was still here!” I pointed to the floor as if we were standing in my home instead of hers.

“And where is he now?” she asked, that gentle counselor voice in full effect.

“Gone,” I whispered.

“Gone? Where?” She looked at the door, as if he would appear there.

“That’s the thing. The man, the thing I conjured, was…” Suddenly, I couldn’t say it. It was ridiculous. No wonder my friend was so concerned about me. Maybe I’d finally lost it. Sir Booty Juice had broken me.

“Was what, Rayna?” Keri pulled me back to sit down on the couch. She positioned herself between me and the door, like she was afraid I would take off running.

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