Free Craved: A Chosen Ones Novel by Nia Davenport Page B

doubled over in laughter at her imitation of the scene from a decades old episode of The Cosby Show.  
    “ If you don’t end up sleeping with Mr. Grade-A Fuckable, I will run out every morning before you leave for class and bring you back a venti caramel macchiato and a bacon and cheese gouda sandwich for a month. And if you do, then I want my laundry washed, folded and neatly put away for a month.”
    “Oh, that is too good to pass up. It’s a bet. Waking up to coffee and breakfast every morning, here I come.”
    “Not so fast, Alex. I haven’t finished with the terms of the bet yet. I don’t just mean tomorrow night. Because I know you, and you can be as stubborn as a mule, or your grandmother. I mean if you don’t sleep with him anytime during the next… I don’t know let’s say four weeks.”
    “Psst. Easy peasy. It’s still a bet,” I said confidently. Then I thought about the muscles, and the dimples and the eyes, and yeah Whitney was right, the ass, and I suddenly wasn’t so confident anymore. Psst. I reiterated to myself shrugging off the images and the shivers they induced. Easy peasy.  

CHAPTER TEN
Strike Me Down

    I turned the corner onto 17 th street to see Chase casually posted against the wall of a brick building. I spotted him before he saw me. I took advantage of the moment, stealing an opportunity to look my fill. He must have either showered or taken a nap before coming because his dark brown hair had a slightly tousled, slightly just getting out of bed look that you could only achieve when you’ve either really just gotten out of bed or when you showered then hurriedly ran a towel over damp hair.  
    Either way, it looked good on him. Loose, curls hung in his eyes affording him a sexy, yet boyishly handsome appeal. His head turned and he spotted me among the crowd of people that milled around me. Unlike us, they were actually in Atlanta Station to enjoy Atlanta’s outdoor shopping mall on a warm spring night, wandering between the shops, maybe catching a bite to eat or movie in between.  
    His left booted foot was kicked back against the wall. To the casual passerby he would seem like your average, carefree twenty something year old. Perhaps waiting on his friends to arrive to kick off a night of food and drinks in Atlantic Station then barhopping around midtown. However, our lives never were and never would be that of the average twenty something year old. We were born with a greater burden and weight of knowledge on our shoulders than they would ever bear.  
    I sighed. Sometimes I envy the masses for their ignorance. Not knowing that archangels and daemons and brethren ever existed would make life so much easier. So much simpler.  
    “Hey.” Chase’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. My eyes had been trained on him the entire time, but somewhere along the way they’d stopped focusing on him, turning introspective instead.  
    “Hey. When I’m patrolling down here I usually walk 17 th street from I-85 to Ikea then double back using 18 th street. Is that cool with you?”
    “It’s your world. I’m just the squirrel.”
    I looked at him. Trying very, very hard to keep my cool. I lost the battle, but turned my involuntary laugh into a pseudo-snort to cover it up. “You sound like a bad 90s rap song complete with cheesy pick-up lines.”
    “Cheesy or not, they work.”
    “I bet they do. You could probably walk up to a girl and tell her she smells like roadkill and she’d still fall all over you. I know your type and you probably have a list of girlfriends, or fuck-buddies, or whatever label you give them a mile long.”
    His answering smug half-smile all but confirmed my words.  
    “And just what is my type ?”
    I waved my hand in a gesture that swept the length of his body. “Tall, hot, arrogant and charming.”
    His mouth spread into a full smile causing his dimples to make an appearance.
    “What are you smiling at?” I asked annoyed at myself more so than him. My