Page 61 of Origins
“What?” This put me on edge, and I lowered my hand slightly—taken aback. “That’s why it’s called Seven Minutes in Heaven. Because of the massage—it’s seven minutes. It even has its own name—a happy ending.”
Titus choked. At the same time, Julian opened his mouth to say something, but Miles, who rose to his feet, smacked him on the back of the head.
I was so confused…
Damen pinched the bridge of his nose. “Where did you hear this?”
Was it possible that I was wrong? Surely not.
But the thought didn’t comfort me. I nervously picked at my shirt while answering. “Finn told me… We used to have slumber parties, and I was trying to find games for us to play. He told me the details. But then when I researched how to give massages, I found out about happy endings. I had questions. He explained it all…”
“You’ve played this version of Seven Minutes in Heaven with Finn?” Damen asked, his eyes still closed.
“…No. He said it was stupid.”
The four of them exchanged wary looks, and I was even more lost. What did he mean—I had no idea there was another version of the game.
“Never mind.” Damen sighed. “This is fine. We can play Seven Minutes in Heaven, baby girl. It sounds…interesting.”
Julian’s face was disapproving as he rubbed his head, glaring at Miles. Miles—on the other hand—seemed to be entirely too happy about something. Julian sighed, not getting any reaction from the other man, and glanced away—defeated.
“I’m sure there is a rational explanation for this. But at least he didn’t take advantage of the situation,” Damen muttered darkly.
What in the world was he talking about?
This was not acceptable. Their attention snapped to me as I pulled out my bejeweled phone and unlocked the screen.
Titus frowned, and a spark of caution entered his gaze. “What are you doing?”
“Researching,” I replied, pulling up the browser and opening a new search. “Something about this isn’t adding up here.”
“No!” Julian snatched the phone out of my hand. I could only stare at him—my hand still outstretched—in complete shock. “Don’t search for it,” his voice was strained as he held the phone out of my reach. “We’ll play your version of the game. It sounds like innocent fun.”
Damen had returned to his seat and was watching me, amused. “How often do you look up things on your phone? Do you have a computer?”
Why did that matter? “I don’t have a computer. If I needed one, I used Finn’s. And I research things all the time. I like to be informed.”
His gaze turned contemplative. “And you’ve never searched for these games for yourself? Instead, you asked Finn. You seem like a curious person, I find that hard to believe.”
Why were they asking me all of these weird questions? Why were they acting so weird?
“Of course I have! The Internet says they don’t exist. So I figured that it must be only a local thing or something.” I stared at him pointedly. “Are you saying that you know more than the World Wide Web?”
Damen held his hands up in an unassuming gesture—but his expression was much more severe than it had been a second before. “Absolutely not,” he stated, shooting a look at Titus.
Titus appeared more thoughtful than amused now. “Hey, beautiful,” he held out his hand toward me. “Do you mind if I borrowed your old phone for a while?”
My eyes followed the line of his outstretched arm before I met his eyes. He looked too serious. Miles wasn’t laughing anymore, and Julian’s embarrassment had fled. The light atmosphere in the room had turned into something darker—something no evil spirit had caused.
Alarm bells rang in my head. No, something wasseriouslynot adding up here. Suddenly, I wanted nothing to do with the device.
Without question, I dug the phone out of my pajama pocket and dropped it into Titus’ hand. “Keep it.” I glanced away. I didn’t ever want to see it again—even holding it made me feel dirty.
Chapter Twenty-One
Dark
The party had been cancelled, and my mood did not improve the rest of the evening.
