Page 2 of Prince of Ruin

We clean up the rest of the mess together, using the paper towels Hannah brings until she finally ushers us off.

“I’ll use the carpet shampoo-er to clean the rest up later,” she assures me, a bright smile on her face.

“Thanks for helping, Hannah,” I say as I stand. “I owe you.”

“Just keep coming back,” she offers me a wink before striding off.

The man snorts and stands to his feet, carding his fingers through his shaggy hair as a half-smilecrosses his features, complete with a fucking adorable dimple. Holy hell. He looks a little older than my twenty-three years, but not by much. He has a medium build, and is several inches shorter than my five-foot-ten.

“Got yourself a secret admirer, huh?” he asks, green eyes shining.

A chuckle erupts out of me as I stand. “Not so secret. Too bad I’m gay.” I inwardly cringe. Was that too forward? His striking appearance has me all tongue-tied, and I can’t even remember what I came to the library for. I mean, he looks like a book boyfriend who stepped right out of a romance novel. You’d half-expect to find a wiry nerd like myself haunting the library at nine AM, not a male model.I think I’ve gone way too long without a good fucking if I can get a hard-on this quickly with someone I just met.

I shift awkwardly, casting a quick glance at him to get a read on him, but he doesn’t seem put off at all. That half-smile deepens, and I legit might be having a stroke right now.

“Anyway, thanks for helping,” I say, casually sliding my hands into my pockets. “You didn’t have to…clean my mess.”

“No worries.” He doesn’t make a move to leave, thank god, because there’s something about him that completely sets me at ease…and threatens to give me a major boner. I look at the stack of books he swipes from the table, recognizing half of them as the gay monster romances I’ve read and re-read.

Oh shit. I’m a goner now.

“You are going tosolove those,” I say, then wince. What am I doing, admitting that I read gay romances? Featuring monsters, no less? But he only offers a brilliant, shameless smile as he admires his book haul, long lashes fanning those tanned cheekbones. God, he’sgorgeous.

“Yeah, I read some of her other books,” he says, studying the stack. “I’m in the area for a while so this should keep me busy.”

“How long are you here for?” I try not to sound overly desperate.

That beautiful smile broadens across his perfect features, making my heart do that swooping thing. Seriously. What the fuck is wrong with me right now? I must have major blue balls because I rarely fall this hard this fast. But as I study his lips, I can’t help but wonder what those full, masculine lips would look like wrapped around my cock, those shamrock-green eyes peering up at me.

Fuck.

“The weekend.”

I blink and force my eyes from his mouth to his steady gaze, which, by the way, is filled with some sort of humor, as if he knew what I was thinking just now. My cheeks burn, and I can’t hide my flinch as I run myfingers through my pink hair, shaved on the sides and slightly longer at the top.

I look at his whole stack of books. “Just the weekend, huh?” I chuckle. “You planning on reading all those over the weekend?” He’s got, like, six books there. I mean, I’m a fast reader, but not six-books-in-a-weekend reader.

He flinches and looks at his bookstack. “Gotta have backups in case the first ones don’t grab you, y’know?”

Sure, sure. Whatever. He’s apparently a quit-if-the-first-page-doesn’t-grab-you type. Huge red flag there, so I should definitely probably let this one go. “Well, thanks for the help…?”

“Aden.”

I smile. “Aden. I’m Clav.” I hold out my free hand, and he clasps it in a firm handshake. His hand is warm and strong, and just the touch sends a shudder through me. Straight to my cock.

“You know, you look kind of familiar, Clav,” he says, releasing my hand to readjust his book-haul.

My mouth twitches into a smile. I’m pretty standard, to be honest. Your typical wiry college drop-out, wearing black rimmed glasses, skinny jeans, and a graphic T. But my pink hair makes me stand out a little more in a small town like this.

“You see a lot of guys with pink hair?” I ask, cocking a flirtatious brow. What Aden doesn’t know isthat my hair is naturally white. Like, grandma-just-got-a-perm white. So, I dyed it pink, you know, to look less like a grandma. And it’s my favorite color. But in a town this size in rural Indiana, I get a lot of stares, like how Aden is staring at me now.

“No, I guess not.” He shrugs. “But your eyes…did you grow up here?”

My eyes. Gray as storm clouds, though they almost look silver when they catch the light.

“Born and raised,” I say, then jerk my chin at him. “What about you? What brings you to Bone Hollow?”

I think I see him flinch before he turns and makes his way to the checkout counter. “I’m…uh…just passing through.”

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