Page 52 of Legendary

We’d had our moments growing up where situations led to physical violence, but this felt different. I didn’t want to cause him harm in any way, because I knew he was just worried about us being here and making sure everything went as smoothly as possible, even if villainous hellhounds got in the way. Dani wasn’t even mine, but Ifeltlike I had to defend her like she was.

He let out an exasperated laugh, not like something was funny, but like something was finally dawning on him. “Nick, tell me something, would you?”

“Sure.” I said, hesitantly.

“She wasn’t just a one-night stand, was she?” His question was so stark and upfront. It was almost like he knew the answer but wanted me to speak it into existence.

I just stared at him, wondering if I should shape my words a certain way, if I should try to dress them up to make the answer more appealing to him. Reese looked at me as if he was just waiting for me to say something stupid and dig myself an even deeper hole. I placed both my hands on the back of my neck and brought my elbows together, leaning my head back. “No.” The amount of tension that I didn’t even know I had immediately lifted once the word left my mouth.

Reese tapped his front teeth together, processing my answer. He started pacing in front of me. To the left, to the right, stop, left, right, stop. I had to close my eyes to stop watching him. He finally ceased his movements and dropped his shoulders in a defeated way. “Well, fuck.”

“That's one way to put it.”

“Nick. So, ugh, you’re telling me that the time you spent with her in your bedroom wasn’t the first time?”

I pressed my lips together. I hadn’t considered that I would have to explain the training room to anyone. “No.”

“Well…okay.” He blew out a breath, opening his mouth and then blowing out another breath. “When?”

I raised one of my eyebrows, suspiciously. “You really want to know all the details regarding that?”

Reese shrugged. “I’m genuinely wonderingwhenyou would have had time to even have sex with her. Predictable, rule-follower Nick has spontaneous sex with a demon, like you skipped the starter and went straight for the whole meal.”

I quickly looked down at the floor, rubbing the tip of my shoe against the wood. “You’d be surprised.”

Reese waved his hands in front of him. “You know what, whatever. I knew shit was off when I initially found out you guys fucked. You’ve only done a one-night stand twice and both times I had to talk you out of trying to take them out on dates the next time you saw them. You just aren’t the type which I respect but come on Nick. A demon?”

“It’s not like I wanted this to happen, okay. I’m in unknown territory with her and with that I’m very, very fucking confused.”

“She’s got your overthinking ass working overtime,” he joked, stepping forward so that he was a few steps in front of me. “So…you like her?” He squinted as if what I said next would mold his words afterwards.

I rubbed the space over my eyebrow, feeling like a headache could appear at any moment. I knew my answer though. That was easy. “Yes.”

“Even though she tried to kill a child, she might end upactuallykilling all of us,” he added.

I rolled my eyes. “You can’t say shit like that. As much as you aren’t her biggest fan, you and I both know she didn’t want to kill Yuri and she would never intentionally try to hurt us. Natalia told all of us to try to keep our wits and she’s trying to do the same, but it’s probably a lot harder for her.”

Reese made a small gagging noise. “Oh, shit. You really,reallylike her.”

“Shut up.”

“I do mean it though Nick, Lilith first, your weird situation with Dani later or I promise you, I will keep my promise and call you Nick the Dick at your funeral. There are a lot of people depending on us to be focused. You and I both know we can’t leave them in the hands of Ariel for long.” It was meant to be a joke, but in all honesty he was right. Even though I hadn’t asked her, I knew Natalia was doing her best to be the leader for Oculus but also keep an eye on The Skies while also accompanying Zane to check on my family. Reese had a point in making it known that I didn’t lose focus forthat reason alone. “I want you to be happy, but you know, I also don’t want to die. Not yet anyway.”

“I know. I’m pretty good at multitasking. One of the many things I’m better at than you.”

He lightly punched me in the shoulder. “The whole you being super off lately… is that because of her?”

I knew by ‘off’ he meant my sleeping on the bathroom floor, constantly zoning out, and particularly cagey behavior. You didn’t have to be the smartest person in the room to figure that one out. He had just found out that Dani was a lot more to me than just a teammate and as much as I wanted to confide in my best friend, I couldn’t. He was already worried I wasn’t focused enough; I didn’t need him to be more concerned.

I shook my head. “No, that’s just me trying to figure my shit out. I’m not leaving anything to chance so stop worrying. Like I said the other day, I didn’t feel too hot that night, so I passed out in the bathroom.” I took both his shoulders in my hands. “Dani isn’t the problem.”

I was the problem, but that was for me to figure out. Not him.

He let out a sigh, nodding. “I’m sorry for what I said. She’s not just a piece of ass, got it, that was a bad comment.”

“Thanks. Happy you understand—”

“On the other hand, you went back for more, so I wouldassumeher pussy is phenomenal, I mean…”

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