Page 110 of Ink Deep Devotion

“Dash uses the room in our third garage for storage.” Damian tells me,“You should check it out.”

“Is that an invitation?” Nova purrs as she brings the bottle of polish to her nose and inhales.

I shake my head. Nova and her bad habits. She actually eats her lip gloss. She licks the wand because she claims the flavor smells so delicious. I’m trying to fix her. I’ve been buying her bags of organic lollipops in hopes it will curb her point of the lipgloss.

“Hell no. You’re not welcome anywhere near of campus house.” Damian retorts.

“Hey,” Nova swats his shoulder,“Rude. Next time, I’m going to smudge the paint on your cuticles purposely.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Damian shrugs as he watches her continue to paint his nails.

“Is it a sex dungeon?” Nova continues.

“I was talking to Mila,” Damian snarls.

Nova gasps, eyes flaring wide with excitement.“So it is a sex dungeon!”

“No!” Damian snaps; his neck stiffens with annoyance, “You seriously need to be committed.”

“They tried that, silly, you can’t improve perfection.” Nova grins as her shoulders bounce with glee.

Nova is… bulletproof. Any insult is just another brick she layers in front of her heart to protect it.

Damian scoots closer to me, but Nova grabs his hand and continues to paint his nails.“You should look inside.” He whispers, his eyes pressing into me like a weight I won’t be able to remove until I find that room.

I lick my lips and nod.What’s in that room?

He stands abruptly and snatches his hand free, his eyes looking at the paint on his nails.“Where are you going?” Nova pouts,“I haven’t painted your toes yet.” She holds up a glittering red nail polish.

“You’ve done enough damage.”

“I haven’t even begun,” Nova replies, but instead of sass, her voice sounds like a warning.

“You okay?” I ask Damian.

He nods,“I have to go check on something.”

I part my mouth to ask if it’s Dash, but Damian shakes his head.“I have dinner with my family tonight. I should warn you both. Titan and Dash are always in a bad mood after a family dinner. It might be wise not to piss them off.” He looks at Nova for a beat longer before he leaves.

“Where do you think he’s going?” Nova asks.

I shrug. Damian’s secrets are at much deeper depths than the rest of the kings. When he’s ready to tell me, he will.

???

“Are you serious right now!” Nova snaps, tossing her hands into the air. She then grabs the bag of lollipops and, with annoyance, shoves one into her mouth.

“What?”

“It’s been,” she glances at her designer watch,“five hours since Damian left. The sun has set, and you’re still here, still on this couch, after Damian told you about a mysterious room Dash has.”

“You’re the one telling me to make Dash suffer by ignoring him, and now you want me to go back to his campus house willingly.”

“No! Yes!” She sucks the candy, making a loud pop.“I want you to ignore his ass, but go snooping! Go!” She waves her hands dismissively.

Did I ponder it? Yes.

Groaning, I reach for a lollipop, but I taste nothing when I plop it into my mouth.“I know whatever I find will make me want to run back to him, Nova.”

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