Page 8 of Love is Trash in Hallow's Cove

I stare in his direction for a dazed moment, trying to make sense of what happened, then glance down at the books. That was bizarre, but at least now I havesomething to read to keep me entertained at night, since I’m apparently repulsive to attractive monsters like Jake.

I head out the front door, replaying our conversation to try to figure out what I did that made Jake so uncomfortable. Maybe he’s always like that. God, I hope that’s what it is, because I don’t know if my ego can handle it otherwise.

I’m thinking about his horrified look when he saw me, and not where I’m going, when I collide with something solid, my books tumbling to the ground for the third time today.

“Whoa!” Strong hands grab my arms to steady me.

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry!” I exclaim to the poor person I walked into. “I didn’t see…”

My words fall away when I look at their face. A horned person with dusky red skin grins down at me with sharp teeth.

“And here I thought stumbling into a pretty woman was an unrealistic meet cute,” the demon says, voice teasing and warm as they scoop up the books I dropped with their tail.

“P-pretty?” I ask, stunned that someone finally seems interested in me.

“Sorry, I meant stunning,” they say, giving me a devilish smile.

I’m sure my cheeks are turning the same color as their skin as they pass my books back. “You’re not so bad yourself,” I say with a flustered smile.

“I’ll take it.” The demon takes a small step back and blatantly gives me a once over. It’s a little forward for mytaste, but maybe that’s just a cultural difference. “What’s your name, beautiful?” they ask when their gaze returns to my face.

“Hayley.” I grin at their flirtation. Finally, something is happening! I don’t feel the crazy butterflies or connection, but I don’t think demons have fated mates, so that’s okay. “A pleasure to meet you, Hayley. I’m Tryzx.” They extend a hand and this handshake goes a lot better than the one with Jake, though the scrape of their long nails against my wrist as they draw their hand back makes me shiver a bit. “This may sound super forward, but would you like to grab some coffee with me? I was headed down to the cafe to meet a friend, but they had to cancel. You walking into me feels far too much like fate to not at least ask.”

My heart leaps. Is this what I’ve been waiting for? A life filled with this hot stranger and a bunch of horned babies flashes before my eyes before I can stop my ridiculous fantasizing.

“Sure,” I say, turning away from the thrift shop. “Who am I to deny fate?”

Chapter four

Jake

Shit.Thisisbad.

I pace around the back room as Beans paces in my mind, begging me to go find her.

Hayley.

When my eyes met hers, the panty frenzy finally made sense. This gorgeous, sweet, perfect woman is my mate.

“I’m so fucked,” I groan to myself, sinking down onto the couch I’ve been reupholstering for Brooks, after his pet duck made a mess on it the other day. Our conversation replays in my mind on repeat, and I wince at how much of an asshole I was. Though, to be fair, I’m amazed I could say anything to her when every molecule in my body was screaming at me that Hayley is mine.

It’s not just internal screaming. Beans wants me to go and scream outside the bodega until she hears my mating call. It takes all my willpower to stop from shifting,reminding myself and my inner raccoon that she wouldn’t understand that and we’d end up with a restraining order.

A painful ten minutes pass before I can’t stand it any longer. I need to find her. Explain that she’s my mate and do my best to make up for my terrible first impression. If that doesn’t work… then maybe we’ll try the screaming.

“Store’s closed,” I shout as I step out of the stockroom. “Take what you want and get out.”

Fortunately, only Mrs. Ghrielle is shopping right now, and she knows my moods, so she drops some cash on the counter and hoists a lamp onto her hip before heading out. I follow behind, not bothering to turn off the lights before I lock the door.

Only the faintest trace of Hayley remains outside the shop, and I’m tempted to shift to my raccoon form so I can pick up her trail more easily. Then I remember she doesn’t know I’m the raccoon who stole her underwear, and if I want to make a semi-decent second impression, I need to keep that a secret. Definitely not something to bring up before a third date.

Beans yells at me that we don’t need dates, we just need to find her and she’ll fall into our arms because she’s fated to be mine. If only that were the truth—it was clear from interacting with Hayley that she didn’t have the same all-consuming need to touch and taste and…

Shit, I need to stop thinking about that before I get hard in the middle of Main Street. We have a bunch of tourists here for the weekend, and I know the mayor will be on my ass if I scare them away with my massive boner. I’m already in trouble for selling moonshine at the lastfarmer’s market without the proper permits. Why the hell do I need a permit, anyway? Just another sign of the government trying to control our every move until every trace of individuality is scrubbed away and we become mindless worker drones, giving our labor to our oligarchs with a smile.

I make a mental note to start another batch of moonshine soon. Fuck permits and fuck the man. I bet Hayley would like my moonshine. She doesn’t look very conformist, with her pastel hair and flowery jacket. I wish I’d come up with an excuse to get her to open it and show off what she had on underneath. She looks so soft and lush and…

“Dammit, no, stop thinking about her body!” I mutter to myself, and a tourist gives me a wary look and a wide berth as they pass me on the sidewalk.

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