[h2]Esme[/h2]
When Duke carefully kissed her back, Esme’s heart skipped a beat. She still couldn’t believe that she was letting herself get this close to Duke after everything that had happened and knowing that he wasn’t planning on sticking around that long. Then again, somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew it was bound to happen. After everything they went through together in the past, it had always been hard shoving down the feelings she had and not thinking about them after she left, and she had succeeded in doing so. Though, the moment she heard Duke’s voice when he found her and Cason being held captive by the demons, all those feelings came rushing back, along with memories she thought she’d forgotten. 

She smiled more when she saw his cheeks flush as he pulled the pizza closer to him. Even before he said it, she could tell how he felt about the nickname she had given him, and if she was being honest, she missed the nickname he had given her. “I know you don’t, but it fits you. It always has. It always surprised me you'd let me get away with calling you that.” she told him with a small laugh as she took the slice of pizza from him. She never meant for the nickname to appear if she were poking fun at him. She always spoke it with fondness. 

Lifting the slice of pizza to her lips, she took a bite, holding back the sounds of enjoyment as she chewed. She felt like she hadn’t eaten in days and was starving. Duke’s voice pulled her back, a laugh escaping her at his teasing and trying to keep the mood light. She also couldn’t blame him for feeling that way after everything she had dumped on him since meeting back up. As he continued, her inner voice spoke to her. [i]What the hell are you doing, you stupid girl? He’s said he doesn’t plan on staying long. Why are you letting yourself get so close to him?[/i] Esme tried to keep from listening to the voice but it was hard to ignore, but she forced it back as she always did to focus on Duke’s words once more. Her smile grew, and she laughed softly as he went through his rambled introduction and tried to show her he was alright with everything she’d told him. She gave a thoughtful noise in response to his, “Can I stay the night?” question as she went to take another bite of her slice of pizza. At the words, “demon ex boyfriend variety” she stopped mid-bite and her eyebrows shot up. She stayed like that for a moment before she closed her mouth and lowered her slice of pizza. 

She knew he had to be playing around but she still couldn’t hide the surprise from coming to her features, and little did he know just how close he was to speaking some truth. Which caused her to lose her appetite. Movement could soon be heard at the end of the bed before the bed gave a light shake, quickly collecting herself as best as she could and forcing the surprise from her features and replacing it with seriousness, she held up a hand to stop Sarah from coming up further on the bed. Sarah immediately stopped with one hind foot hovering just over the edge of the bed. She watched Esme for a moment before slowly getting off the bed, causing it to shake once again and laid back down with a heavy sigh. Lowering her hand, Esme looked over at Duke, seriousness still written on her face. “Demon ex boyfriend variety, you say?” Esme tried to keep her tone serious and unwavering. She wasn’t ready to answer questions he may have if he noticed how much the words affected her. “You’re not implying what I think you are, are you?” she asked, meeting his gaze. Yes, it was obvious that Cason had a thing for her, but that was because she had helped Anna after they had their encounter with the angel and he felt indebted to her. Was he her boyfriend? No, he wasn’t. Could she admit ‌she was beginning to trust him? Yes, she could because of what he has done for her.