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Larkin forced herself not to tense as Teague leaned back against the balcony rail directly in front of her, his gaze wholly fixed on hers. He did that a lot. Stared at her. She wished she could say she hated it, but there was a little thrill that came with being the center of his hyper-focus.
Her demon liked that he so boldly looked his fill—not a lot of people were bold around the entity. And for good reason.
Plucking at the dark hair she’d tied up in a messy swirl, Khloë let her gaze flit from Larkin to Piper. “What were you two talking about? Are you plotting something? Because if so, I want in on it. I don’t even care what it is.”
“We weren’t plotting,” said Larkin. “We were talking about you, actually.”
The imp grinned. “Best topic ever. Expand.”
It was Piper who elaborated. “I was explaining to Larkin why you’re not helping the others with the matchmaking extravaganza.”
“Matchmaking?” echoed Teague.
Khloë turned to him. “Yeah, the others are intent on pairing our poor harpy up with someone. Moreso the girls than the guys, but they’re all doing their part.”
Teague shrugged at Larkin. “If you want them to stop, just tell them you’ve met someone.”
She felt her eyelid twitch as annoyance surged through her. “What, like you do?”
A line dented his brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Twice now you’ve claimed to women that you and I are dating just to get them off your back.”
He braced his hands on the rail behind him. “Okay, first of all, I can’t believe you’re still holding that against me—it happened months ago. And second of all . . . ” He trailed off, his brows knitting. “I can’t remember what I was going to say.”
She had no way of guessing what it might have been, because his thought patterns baffled her. He didn’t seem to think or reason like normal people. There was one thing she was sure of, though. “You don’t think you did anything wrong, do you?”
“If the situation was reversed, I wouldn’t have been mad. I’d have been happy to help you get people to stop trying to push you into parenting agreements.”
Larkin knew he constantly had female hellhorses pestering him in such a way. Like with hellhounds, the males of Teague’s breed rarely took a mate; they instead tended to father children to different mothers while forever remaining single. It was just their nature.
Hellhorses weren’t designed to be partners and full-time parents; their innate reason for being was simple—to be part of the Dark Host, hell’s army. Their loyalty was intended to primarily be to the realm itself, no one else.
“Look, in my defense, I didn’t think the women would tell anyone,” he added.
“Well, they told a whole lot of people.”
“And you got me back for that, remember? The jar of hell-ice chips in my apartment is evidence of it. They made my face ache and burn like a mother.”
He’d plucked the chips out and kept them as ‘mementos’. See, total weirdo. The fact that her demon found the memento thing cute irritated her even more.
Khloë lifted a hand. “Wait, that’s how the rumors of you two dating started?” Her gray eyes slid to Larkin. “That’s why you blasted him with hell-ice?”
“Yes.” It had been a cathartic moment.
“What about the time you blasted his ass with it?”
Feeling her lips tighten, Larkin crossed one leg over the other. “Oh. Well. Seabiscuit here told one of the women who wouldn’t leave him alone that I was pregnant with his baby.”
He raised his broad shoulders. “It just popped out.”
Larkin gaped. “How can such a lie merely pop out?”
“I don’t know, it just did. But people obviously know now that it isn’t true, considering that was, like, nine or ten months ago and you have no kid.”
“Yeah, I’ve had several people comment on my ‘pregnancy scare’.”
He sighed. “Come on, Lark, I apologized, remember?”
“No, you didn’t.”
His forehead creased. “I didn’t?”
“No.”
“Huh.” He shrugged, his frown smoothing out. “Then I’m sorry.”
“You’re not at all.”
“True,” he admitted with not one trace of sheepishness.
It was an honest to God’s struggle not to throw her soda at him.
“But don’t take it personally,” he continued. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually regretted anything in my life. Not sure it’s an emotion that’s on my spectrum.”
Looking from him to Khloë, Larkin shook her head. “And some people wonder why fate paired up you two . . . ” She didn’t wonder. The imp was as unstable and shameless as he was.
Piper hummed, thoughtful. “Well, Teague, I’d say you owe Larkin.”
His brows dipped. “Owe her?”
The nightmare gave an emphatic nod. “Yep.”
“I agree,” said Larkin with a smile, thinking of the fun she could have with this. “He absolutely does.”
“Also,” began Piper, pointing at him, “what you said before about her putting an end to the matchmaking by telling people she’s met someone? That idea was a good one.”
