“I can help Katy," Blake wheezed. "Good enough for you?""What?" I demanded, dropping my hands."Yeah, see, you saying her name alone makes me want to kill you. So, no, not good enough for me.”

“Fuck," he said, sliding his hands down to my thighs. "You're making this very hard to be the good guy you said I was last night.""I'm not drunk."He pressed his forehead to mine, chuckling softly. "Yeah, I can see that and while the idea of taking you right now, against the wall, is enough to make me lose control, I want you to know that I'm serious. You're not a hook up. You're not a friend with benefits. You're more than that to me."I closed my eyes, breathing heavily. "Well, that was...really sort of perfect.”

“I don’t think we got the chance to introduce ourselves the other night at the diner. My name is Blake Saunders.” He offered his free hand.Daemon glanced at Blake’s hand before returning his gaze to me. “I know who you are.”Oh, geez. I twisted toward Blake. “This is Daemon Black.”His smile faltered. “Yeah, I know who he is, too.”Laughing under his breath, Daemon straightened. At his full height, he was a good head taller than Blake. “It’s always nice to meet another fan.”Yeah, Blake had no idea what to say to that.”

“I can be a dickhead and I do it on purpose. I tend to bully people into doing what I want. And I let everything that had happened with Dawson amplify those…uh, personality traits. But—” He removed his finger, and his grin spread into a smile. “But you…you make me want to be different. That’s why I didn’t kill Blake. It’s why I don’t want you making those decisions or for you to be around me if I am choosing those things.”

“I texted back: Did you make it home? A few minutes passed while I stared at my phone. Yeah. Fam showering me with affection. U cld learn frm them. I think you get enough attention.I'm needy.Boy, don't I know that. ”

“You told me you wanted to marry Seth's bed, and then you told me you'd marry me if I asked. After that, you started to-""Enough," I groaned, wanting to crawl under the blankets.”

“You are a terrible liar. You do want this. Just as badly as I do.”My mouth opened, but no words came out. “You want this as badly as you want to go to ALA this winter.”Now my jaw was on the floor. “You don’t even know what ALA is!”“American Library Association midwinter event,” he said, grinning proudly. “Saw you obsessing over it on your blog before you got sick. I’m pretty sure you said you’d give up your firstborn child to go.”Yeah, I kind of did say that.Daemon eyes flashed. “Anyway, back to the whole you wanting me part.”I shook my head, dumbfounded.“You do want me.”Taking a deep breath, I struggled with my temper… and my amusement. “You are way too confident.”“I’m confident enough to wager a bet.”“You can’t be serious.”He grinned. “I bet that by New Year’s Day, you will have admitted that you’re madly, deeply, and irrevocably—”“Wow. Want to throw another adverb out there?” My cheeks were burning.“How about irresistibly?”I rolled my eyes and muttered, “I’m surprised you know what an adverb is.”“Stop distracting me, Kitten. Back to my bet—by New Year’s Day, you’ll have admitted that you’re madly, deeply, irrevocably, and irresistibly in love with me.”Stunned, I choked on my laugh.“And that you dream about me.” He released my arm and folded his, cocking an eyebrow. “I bet you’ll even admit that. Probably even show me your notebook with my name circled in hearts—”“Oh, for the love of God…”Daemon winked. “It’s on.”