Page 57 of Summoning my Grumpy Demon Boss

Of course, there’s no parking near Tegan’s apartment, so I spend twenty minutes driving up and down the same block trying to find something. When I do, it takes a hell of an effort to get my Hilux into a tiny spot made for something more the size of a toy car. I don’t let Mia see me struggling, though. Bad enough she’s already going to be thinking of me as the monster who doesn’t fit in.

By the time I hop out, she’s standing on the curb with a busty blonde I assume must be Tegan. They give me cheerful waves that I try to return. “Hey, that was nice work getting that beast in there,” Tegan says.

I only smile. “Yeah. Tell me about it.”

I take Mia’s bag and hold my spare hand out to Tegan. She just blinks at it for a moment. Then her eyes widen and she leans in to kiss me on the cheek. “Handshake. Old school! Nice to meet you, hot tradie. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Tegan!” Mia flushes, but she’s grinning, and that wins a lot of points in my books. “Come on,” she says. “I can’t wait for you two to get to know each other.”

We head up the stairs to the third floor apartment Tegan rents. It’s small, but cute. I instantly like her more when I see a big canvas I recognise as Mia’s work displayed in pride of place above her sofa.

“That’s a good one.” I gesture with a jerk of my head at the painting, since my hands are full of our bags.

Mia smiles. “You like it? I made that one as a housewarming gift when Tegan moved in here.”

“It’s beautiful.”

Tegan appears from the kitchen with three wine glasses and a bottle of red wine, grinning from ear to ear. “You two are adorable! Go put your bags down, and then let's drink. I’m going to order some pizza. Are you hungry?”

Over the next few hours, I become a big fan of Tegan. She’s funny, she’s crude, and she can drink! Best of all, she’s definitely not a fan of Oliver.

When we’re finishing the second bottle of wine and the third pizza, she holds up her glass. “Cheers, everyone. To blowing off that dick, Oliver in favour of...well... blowing off dick!”

Mia just manages to stop herself from spitting her wine back into the glass. “Oh, my God. Please tell me he didn’t.”

Tegan shrugs with an angelic little smile. She’s not fooling anyone. “I can neither confirm nor deny, but I will say that a particular story did the rounds.”

Mia covers her face, peeping through her hands. “I can’t believe he walked in on us like that and then spread it around.”

Tegan quirks a brow at her. “Can’t you? I can. You know what else, though? Some rather unfortunate images of his tiny dick somehow got leaked all over the internet, so don’t feel too bad.” She reaches over and squeezes my bicep. “I can tell you right now, Mia, you’ve totally upgraded.” She shifts to a dramatic stage whisper that I can hear clearly. “And you’ll have to confirm the rumors about supes. Is it true they’re all hung? Because I’m ready to give up on human men.”

“Tegan!” Mia turns bright red.

Tegan just laughs. “Can’t say the same for Oliver. That mole he was fucking is downgrade from you.”

Mia grimaces. “I’m sure she’s not. And it doesn’t even matter. I just want everyone to be happy. I just wish Oliver wouldn’t have come to Kraken Cove at all.”

I can’t keep the scowl off my face. She’s being too kind again. Tegan catches me, though, and lifts her glass. “Yeah, I’m with Luke. You are, and always have been, too good for him.”

I lift my glass with a grin. “I’ll drink to that.”

Mia rolls her eyes, but eventually lifts her glass and we all drink. Tegan goes to pour us more wine, but only a few drops come out into Mia’s glass before the bottle is empty. “Don’t worry!” She gets to her feet. “I’ve got more!”

Mia waves her off. “No, no. No more. I have to see my parents and talk to Oliver tomorrow. I can’t do that with a hangover.”

“Luke?” Tegan waggles her eyebrows at me, but I shake my head.

“No, thank you. I know when to take her lead.”

Tegan rushes forward and pinches both my cheeks like I’m five years old. “Aaaawww. He’s a keeper!”

I pretend to be annoyed, but really I’m beaming. I can only hope meeting Mia’s parents tomorrow goes so well.

Yeah. Should have rolled over and kept dreaming.

When I do roll over the next morning, my day starts well. Tegan’s spare bed is actually a sofa bed with not enough roomfor my large frame and certainly not enough for me and Mia together. That only means when I roll over, she’s right there, and I get to pull her against me and snuggle into her sweetness. I stubbornly ignore how tight and sore my skin feels just for a few more moments with her in my arms. God, that’s a good feeling. Nor sure I’ll ever get tired of it.

“Mmpf. What time is it?” She pulls the covers over her head.

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