Page 21 of Demons & Damnation

Dylan: Going out with my sister? Check. No problem. Pulling some hot dude? Not cool. Having a 3some with 2 hot dudes? I’ll lock you in your house and never let you leave again.

Kyla chuckled to herself. She’d really set off his dominant possessive side. This could escalate into some proper fun.

Kyla: Needing your permission to do anything? Check. No problem. We’re not together so *middle finger emoji*

Dylan: ...and what if I wanted to change that?

Kyla’s heart froze in her chest. What? She stared at that simple sentence for several seconds, her mind completely blank. In a daze, she got out of her car and went to her front door, only to realise she’d left her keys in the car. And the engine was still running.

Switching the car off and grabbing her keys, she wandered inside her house, shut the door, and walked into the living room, finally collapsing onto her plush grey sofa.

Her phone pinged again with another message.

Dylan: I know it would be complicated, Kyla. But I don’t care about any of that.

Kyla knew she couldn’t ignore him. She had to reply with something.

Kyla: We can’t, Dylan. I’m pretty sure Sam knows about us as it is. She all but warned me off you.

Dylan: When? What did she say?

Kyla: At the café this morning. She said she’d do anything to see me happy, even if it meant being with you, but I can’t give you what you want and that’s where her issue would be.

The message turned from delivered to read. The three little dots bounced around at the bottom of the screen for a few seconds then stopped.

Several seconds passed.

Then a minute.

Finally, he replied.

Dylan: Leave this with me. She doesn’t get to decide my life, only me.

Kyla: Dylan, don’t cause problems, please. Just leave it. It’s not worth it.

Dylan: It is to me.

Kyla: I can’t give you what you want, Dylan, leave it be. Please. Trust me. It’s better this way.

Dylan: There are ways around everything, Kyla. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. And where there’s a Dylan, there’s gonna be shit that happens.

Kyla let out a sigh. Just how bad were things about to get? Anxiety and fear mixed around inside her, leaving her desperate to just have things left as they were. What if Dylan said something to Sam today?

Dylan was a doer. That was his thing. People asked him to action things and he did it, no questions asked. Whatever Dylan wanted, Dylan got, regardless of the carnage in the middle. Being a private contractor for the military came with a certain attitude and mindset that didn’t always merge seamlessly with civvy street.

Kyla: Dylan, please. Let me speak to her first. She might take it better coming from me.

Dylan: What are you saying?

Kyla’s heart pounded against her ribcage so hard she could feel the thud of it in her ears.

Kyla: I’m saying if we’re going to admit this to Sam, let me do it.

Dylan: And then what?

Kyla hesitated for a minute. He was pushing her to say she would be his, that she wouldn’t ever be with another man again. That she would commit herself to him and him only. That didn’t sit well with Kyla. She liked her freedom, her lack of answering to anyone. If anyone ever did tempt her to commit, it certainly wouldn’t be over a damn text message either.

Kyla: And then nothing. I’m not doing this over a text message. And you can man the fuck up and ask me to my face.

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