The Demon King of Lust

Chapter 22

I get home around 7 pm and Zahra is yelling at the TV.

"Are you kidding me?! Kate's pavlova was trash and you know it! You call those stiff peaks?!?"

I take off my coat and round the corner.

"Great British Bakeoff again?" I ask with a smirk.

Pumpkin is laying in her lap and drowsily opens his eyes. He throws his weight to the side until he's able to roll off and come greet me.

"You're home! Is your grandma with you?" She grabs the remote and pauses her show.

"No, I just dropped her off at home. I had no idea she was just going to show up here."

"Clearly," she teases, holding back a laugh. "Since you had a gentleman caller over. I tried to warn you by the way."

"Yeah, I realize that in hindsight."

"Speaking of which..." She waggles her eyebrows. "We have a lot to catch up on. What happened last night?"

I sit down on the couch and Pumpkin quickly makes his way to my side, flopping sideways for belly rubs.

"Well, I went to see him. I thought that we could just be friends with benefits and... uggh I dunno. He said he didn't want to just be friends."

She gasps and looks at me wide-eyed.

"What? Wait you mean... I'm confused... he wanted the 'benefits' or what?"

"No apparently he wants... I'm not really sure where we landed actually, but I guess we're trying to maybe... date."

She squeals so loudly it startles Pumpkin and he jumps off the couch in a panic.

"He likes you!"

"I guess he does." I shrug. I can't really get into the finer details with her—that he's a demon, that I've been wrong about someone's intentions before, that he hasn't really had a serious monogamous relationship until now because he literally would die if he did.

"Why do you seem so grumpy about it then?" She tilts her head and leans toward me.

"I don't know. I'm gun-shy I guess... I've learned a lot of things about Vic since we broke up, and it makes me wonder if I ever really knew him in the first place. I feel like I can't trust my instincts. I don't know who to trust or who has genuine motives."

"Oh babe..." she says, reaching across to grab my hand in hers. "I'm sorry you feel like that, but it's not true. I know we haven't known each other that long, but your instincts are usually right on the money. Remember when I was dating that guy Darius and you said he was an epic creep?"

"Yeah. And you stopped seeing him but you never told me why."

"Well I didn't tell you this because it was super embarrassing, but he literally told me he could never marry a woman with B cups or lower."

My jaw drops at her confession.

"What the fuck..."

"Oh just wait, it gets better. I told him that we weren't compatible then and he says 'Oh no, it's fine. If we get married, I'll buy you some better ones.' Better ones?! Can you believe the nerve??"

"Jesus, Zhar..."

"My point is, though, is I think you do know. I think deep down, you understand a person's heart. And so Victor snuck past your defenses. That doesn't mean you can't trust yourself."

"Yeah, well, I also spent the day with my Grams insisting that Kieran is a..." I hold up air quotes and sigh. "...fuckboy and can't be trusted."

"Oh no, she met him?"