Page 31 of A Single Soul

I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

“Ooh, look at the arse on that one,” Andras said.

“My, my, he’s certainly pretty.” Raziel sighed. “Pity we can’t see his face.”

I swallowed, which took some work, since my mouth had gone dry. They were both right, but I didn’t need to see his face. I’d have recognized that bind rune tattoo on his left shoulder from a mile away. One look at that familiar, simple black symbol unlocked a memory from a couple of years ago.

“I had a health scare when I was in my twenties,”Cory had told me while we’d cooled down after a workout.“My grandfather—he believed runes were powerful, and after we knew everything was fine, he suggested getting this one. For health and vitality.”His soft smile had made my pulse jump.“He got one with me.”

“You made sure the artist wasn’t a trickster, right?”I’d asked, fighting the almost irresistible urge to run my fingers over the smooth lines.

“Are you kidding?”He’d scoffed.“You think I’m going to risk Loki himself doing my tattoo?”He shook his head.“God, no. I went to a non-magic artist. I’m not stupid.”

No, he wasn’t. I was, though. I’d made a deal with the fae, and that deal had me slamming face-first into my attraction to him at every turn.

Attraction. Right. Because that was clearly all this was.

I shook that thought away. Curiosity and maybe a smidge of masochism had me scrolling through his profile and everything he’d written. Not just reading the words, but hearing his voice in my ear as if Cory were sitting beside me and whispering all his desires right to me.

“I’m a top,”I could hear him saying in a sultry purr.“Also I won’t be mad if you want to make out instead of watching the movie.”

It took all I had not to groan with frustration. I was never going to be able to concentrate on another movie in Cory’s presence again. He liked to make out instead of watching? Really? Fuuuck. And ofcoursehe was a top. Of course he was. I’d known that for a long time. But the reminder didn’t do much for maintaining my sanity.

And the profile went on.

“I don’t mind hookups or friends with benefits. If there’s potential for more, I’ll probably take a while to warm up to an actual relationship—once bitten—but if you’re patient with me, we could really be something. If not, we can still have some fun.”

I closed my eyes and exhaled. It was heartbreaking how cautious Cory was when it came to love. I didn’t blame him, either—his last two exes had been real pieces of work, and I was pretty sure everyone in our social circle had celebrated when they’d gone. Cory had joined in with the first one; good riddance to bad rubbish and all that. The second… Well, he’d been utterly crushed. We’d all done what we could to support him and help him get through it, all the while quietly wishing the doorshadhit that asshole on his way out. After how he’d treated Cory, after how he’d left him, that fucking dickhole deserved to be miserable like someone who’d crossed a fae.

“Would it be wrong to tell one of the fae that Max insulted their family?”Kayla had asked after one party where Cory had been a shell of himself.“Put him on their collective shitlist?”

“Absolutely not,”I’d said through gritted teeth.“But if the fae find out we lied…”I’d grimaced. So had she.

So we hadn’t gone to the fae and put the ex in the crosshairs of a trickster’s grudge. It had sure been satisfying to imagine it, though.

“Well?” Andras prodded, smacking the side of my neck with his tail. “Are you going to swipe right on him or not?”

Sighing, I exited the profile without swiping either way. Then I closed the app, tossed my phone on the table, and got up. “I should get ready. Apparently I’m going clubbing tonight.”

“But… but…” Raziel sputtered. “What about that profile? He’s perfect!”

I winced. Oh yeah, he was absolutely perfect. He was also perfectly out of my reach, perfectly uninterested in anything beyond friendship with me—perfect for someone who wasn’t me. He liked to let things progress slowly? Okay, I could buy that, but we’d known each other a long time. We were about as close as two people could be without crossing over into intimate territory. If it was going to happen, it would’ve happened a long time ago, so… no point in agonizing over it.

“I need to get ready” was all I said to Raziel and Andras.

They kept arguing, of course. With me. With each other. With my absolute idiocy at not swiping right on someone who was clearly put on this earth for the express purpose of being my exact match.

I just ignored them as best I could, which was surprisingly easy. All my whirring thoughts were louder than my annoying angel and demon. As I put on the khaki Henley Cory had picked out for me, a ball of lead grew in the pit of my stomach.

Could I really do this?

Not the part about going to a night club and dancing like I hadn’t done since law school. I mean, yeah, I was still dubious of that. But…

Going with Cory?

How was I even supposed to notice other men with him in the room?

How was I supposed to connect with another man when the one I wanted more than any of them wasright there?

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