“Injun Joe studied the body for a moment, his eyes sad. Then he said, "I'd rather go in my sleep, I think." He glanced back at me. "What about you?""I want to be stepped on by an elephant while having sex with identical triplet cheerleaders," I said.”

“When I said I wanted to die in my sleep, I meant I wanted to be stepped on by an elephant while making love.”

“He stares at me steadily, for a long moment before looking away, but I read his eyes clearly. He wants me tonight. And from what my eyes were saying back to him, I think I just said yes.”

“Before we go on from here, I just want to say," he paused and took a step closer to me and reached his hand out to my heart. "What I should have said back on the plane is I know you're real." His eyes narrowed, "I'll always fight for you, Lexi, in my own way.”

“No, let’s make this interesting. If I win, we have sex backstage tonight. If you win, we have sex backstage tonight.”I wanted to laugh again, but the way he said sex froze my brain for a second. “Um…I don’t think you understand how betting works.”Moving in close to me, he breathed his response into my ear while he rested his hand on my stomach. “Don’t I?”

“My eyes bulged out of my head as I saw what rested between his hips. “Good Lord!” I said without thinking. A forked penis will do that to a girl. He glanced down at the appendage and smiled knowingly. “Once you go demon you never go back.”