The Devil (BOOK I + II)

13 | "Popping Jaws Are Hot"

Chapter Thirteen
"Popping Jaws Are Hot"

"laugh at yourself. it tones your
facial muscles and attitude."
— kelly rudolph

┏━━━━━━━┓

Days passed until Friday hit, and I was back to working at the florist shop, like I never left.

After eating with Daemon, we separated ways, and I called Cynthia, who was grateful I called. She expressed that she'd send out my schedule by tomorrow, and to keep myself busy, I went to the gym.

I also managed to get a new phone and plugged in everyone's numbers—including Daemon's. He made sure to have my number too, in case of emergencies.

It was hitting closer to four in the afternoon when I yawned for what felt like the dozenth time in a row. My mouth was already in pain from stretching so often, and I was dehydrated.

There was another hour into my first shift back, and normally I was grateful, keeping myself busy. Since I wouldn't be going to school this semester, I would have been bored, doing nothing for hours upon hours a day. But when I had to stand on my feet with no costumers coming it, time went by the slowest.

I reached under the counter to grab a water bottle. But just as I was about to chug at least half of its contents, my phone rang with a call.

Since it was next to the register, face up, I leaned my head forward and read the caller ID, only to smirk when I saw the ghost emoji.

Setting the bottle down, I stretched my arm out and picked up my phone before pressing it against my ear. "Sup, Shadow? You do that light reading I recommended?"

I was greeted with silence before his voice lowered as he roughly stated, "I'm not going to read that article."

"Why not?" I gasped loudly. "It took me a long time to find something that was well informative. You're being rude."

He wasn't in front of me, but I could just see his teeth grinding. The thought itself was enough to make me smirk.

"A list of nice words to read isn't something I choose to do in my free time, Rose." His voice was stern as he spoke. "And it's unnecessary. I say nice things to you, don't I?"

"Ha!" I coughed. "Name me one, Daemon. Name me one nice thing you've said to me."

I smiled with satisfaction, knowing I got him. But as I shuffled back, so I could press my lower back on the counter pressed against the wall, he spoke up. "You're beautiful."

My lips parted and quickly snapped shut as I focused at the cooler across from me. I felt my grip on the phone tighten before I forced a laugh. "You only said that now."

"But I've thought it before," he declared steadily. "Multiple times."

I felt my cells tingling, but I still made myself tsk playfully in an attempt to act nonchalant. "That doesn't count. You have to say nice words out loud. Otherwise, it's just a thought."

"Thoughts count," he said, but he sounded demanding.

I smirked. "No, they don't."

"Yes, they do. I don't like repeating—"

"Yourself, blah blah blah," I rolled my eyes. "Hush, Shadow. Next time I'll play deaf and make you repeat yourself the entire day. Don't test me."

"Trust me, I know you're true to your words," he drawled, but his voice sounded deeper than before. "You're too stubborn to say things you don't mean."