“He wasa jerk. Moody. But there had been brief moments that I’d spent with him—like a nanosecond—when I thought I might have seen the real Daemon. Atleast a better Daemon. And that part made me curious. And the other side, the jerky one, yeah, that part didn’t make me curious.It sort of excited me.”

“I…I was just excited.”“Yeah, I’d say you were,” Dee said, grinning like an idiot.Daemon was staring at me like he’s just won the lottery. “I kind of like this level of excitement. Makes me think of—““Daemon!” both of us shouted.“What?” He grinned, tousling Dee’s hair. “I was only suggesting—““We know what you were suggesting.”

“I tried to push down my anger. One thing I hated more than Daemon's douche-nozzle side was him telling me what to do. "You don't own me, Daemon.""It's not about ownership, you little nut.""Nut?" I glared at him. "I wouldn't call me names when I have a knife in my hand.”

“I think I might have blushed. Damn me.-Daemon”

“I was a total fail next to Ash, but Daemon said something about me wearing his clothes that sent blood rushing to every part of my body and I didn't care if I looked like a hunchback next to her.”

“If you fall and break something, I’m going to be irritated.”Daemon grabbed my arm as I started to slip.“Sorry, not all of us can be as awesome---“ I squealed as he slid an arm around my back and lifted be into his arms. Daemon zipped us up the driveway, wind and snow blowing at my face. He put me down, and I stumbled to the side, dizzy. “Could you give me a warning next time?”He grinned as he knocked on the door. “And miss that look on your face? Never.”Sometimes I seriously wanted to just punch him in the face, but it made me warm in all the right place to see this side of him again, too.“You’re insufferable.”“You like my kind of suffering.”

“It took me about a half an hour to weasel Daemon away from my mom.Maybe I wouldn’t have to worry about her and Will. Maybe I needed to worry about her and Daemon. Cougar.”