Page 25 of Angel

“Here you go!” Hayden holds out a dark brown bottle.

I take it, clutching at the cold, solid glass. The alcohol goes down smooth and settles in my stomach. It douses some of the heat burning inside me and before I know it, I’ve finished half the bottle. Oops.

“Grab a seat!” Hayden directs me over to an armchair. “I’m going to order some pizzas. Any requests?”

I shake my head. “N-no. I’ll eat anything. Thanks.”

I sneak a glance at Rhys who’s taken the end of the couch farthest away from me. He’s all curled up, with his legs folded under him and an elbow resting on the back of the couch. His fingers are threaded through his hair and the strawberry daiquiri is balanced on his knee.

Sebastian sits down closer to me. “So, you and Rhys grew up together?”

It takes me a second to realize Sebastian’s talking to me. “Oh, uh, yeah, well, sort of. I grew up with Nico.”

“My brother,” Rhys adds for clarification.

“What was Rhys like as a kid?” Sebastian asks with a twinkle in his eye.

Rhys’s foot shoots out from under him and his toes dig into Sebastian’s side. Sebastian yelps and squirms away with a laugh.

“What? It’s a legitimate question!” he exclaims.

“No, it’s not. I was born this fabulous!” Rhys flicks his hair over his shoulder and strikes a pose.

“Pizzas ordered!” Hayden scoots around the coffee table and grabs Rhys’s ankle. He lifts it out of the way so he can sit down between Rhys and Sebastian and wriggles around until he’s snuggled in.

They look cozy, all three of them squished onto the couch like that. And I’m in this armchair all by myself. Not that I want to join them or anything. It’s just…

My gaze drifts to Rhys again and he’s watching me. I don’t know how to interpret the look in those deep, dark eyes. There’s a wariness in them, maybe a touch of shyness? Which makes no sense because Rhys is the exact opposite of shy.

“What are we talking about?”

“Angel was just telling us about baby Rhys.”

“No, he wasn’t,” Rhys objects without taking his eyes off me.

Is that what he’s worried about? Me telling his friends about what he was like as a kid? A smile grows on my lips.

“He was cute,” I say, the words leaving my lips before I’ve consciously thought them. Images, memories of Rhys as a teenager rise to the surface, and I have no idea where they’re from. “He never dressed like the rest of us.”

Rhys sighs dramatically and rolls his eyes. “It’s not my fault no one in the old neighborhood has any fashion sense.”

My smile grows wider at his reaction. “His hair was long already.”

He twists a lock between his fingers. “You do not want to see me with short hair.” He shudders, like the idea gives him the creeps.

“You always knew when he walked into a room. Everyone would go quiet.”

Rhys’s expression goes wary again. “They would stare at me,” he says quietly.

“They couldn’t look away.”

Just like I can’t look away now. There’s something about Rhys—even barefoot, in shorts and a crop top, curled up on the couch—that’s irresistible, that demands attention. A star that shines so bright, it can’t be ignored.

Rhys breaks eye contact first, dropping his gaze and taking a large slurp of his daiquiri. I shift in my seat before taking another gulp of my beer.

I don’t understand the effect Rhys has on me. It feels like magic or witchcraft, and the scariest part is, I’m not running for the hills. I don’t want to run away from it. I want to run toward it.

“So…” Sebastian’s voice cuts through the silence. “Rhys says you work in construction? What’s that like?”

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