Page 41 of Never Say Die
Aiden flopped until they were nose to nose. His chest twinged.Close, his heart said, and reached.So, so close.“Look, I asked the devil—Lucifer, good ‘ol Black Phillip, my main man Satan—for a favor. Whatever happened after that, whatever went wrong mid-transaction, that was. . .” He paused to chew on the inside of his cheek. “Kelly said that wasyou, okay? Not me. I didn’t bring you back.”
“Oh, we trust the psychic now? Good to know,” Shay said,biting the words at him. “So, what? You think I’m a demon? C’mon. I’m obviouslynota demon.”
“Obviously not,” Aiden said. He pushed his finger between Shay’s lips and prodded a fang.
Shay snapped at his hand. “I’m not, like…” He exhaled hard. “I’m notpowerful.”
“You broke open a ribcage.”
“So?” Shay asked, childishly.
“You lifted me off the ground?—”
“You’re built like an alley cat. I could’ve done that before.”
Aiden kicked him. “Anyway. Demonic possession is a thing?—”
“I’m not possessed—I’m changed. I’mchanging.”
“Yeah, I hear you,” Aiden said, softer than he’d meant to. “I don’t know what you are, okay? I don’t know what to call you. Did you send flowers?”
Shay nuzzled the pillow, lit by brake-lights beaming through the window. “Yeah, I did.”
“Feel better?”
His mouth curved into a disgusted frown. “No. Do you?”
“Just glad I’m not the one in a body bag,” Aiden said. “Can I get some sleep now?”
“I sincerely don’t knowhowyou sleep, but go for it,” Shay said.
Aiden closed his eyes. He stayed quiet for a moment, lulled by the rumbling engine. “Why’d you kiss me?” he asked, hushed and accidental, on the cusp of dreaming.
“Same reason you did,” Shay said.
“To distract me?”
“We should stop lying to each other,” he said, and dragged his finger down the slope of Aiden’s nose.
Aiden swallowed. “Wasn’t a lie.”
“Wasn’t the truth either.”
“Since when has the truth mattered?”
“Always mattered.”
“Don’t fuck with me, Shay.” Aiden opened his eyes. His nostrils flared. Fear and fury and relentless hope knotted in his chest. For so,solong he’d wanted this—this moment, this revelation, this confession—but now that he had it, right there, right in front of him, he couldn’t understandwhyorhow. “I kicked you off a cliff, remember?”
“And I almost tore your throat out,” Shay whispered, dusting his lips across Aiden’s mouth. “I’ve always been easy for you, Aiden Moore. Stop acting like you didn’t know it.”
Aiden froze. The heaviness winding in his stomach worsened, and his throat cinched. Of course, Shay Bennett, wanted by everyone, adored by everyone, chased by everyone, would challenge Aiden’s bruised and vicious heart.Fuckingtypical.
“Now who’s lying?” Aiden asked, and promptly rolled over.
Shay sighed and mirrored his movement, rolling onto his side. He shuffled backward until their shoulders touched. Quiet enveloped the bedroom, disrupted by the barely-there echo of electronica thumping through the speakers in the front cabin. Aiden found himself listening with his body—tracking every breath Shay took, the rise and fall of his shoulders, the mindful bend in his ankles as he shifted his hips against the sheets. He didn’t mean to fall asleep, but he did.
Thankfully, he didn’t dream.
