Page 59 of Angel

The thought rings through my mind and my heart hammers against my ribs. There’s a boy—Rhys. These things I feel for him, these confusing feelings that I don’t understand, they’re feelings I should have for a girl. But I’ve never felt them before. Not for my high school girlfriend, Claudia. Not for anyone. Only Rhys.

What does that mean? Does that mean I’m gay? Can I do gay for pay if I’m not straight? Or maybe I’m just bisexual—that’s a thing, right? People who are attracted to both men and women? Am I that? How do I know? How can I tell?

“Aw, Angel, you don’t gotta be embarrassed or nothing.” Mario slings his arm around my shoulders. “It’s about time you hooked up with a chick. Shit. How long has it been? Not since Claudia? I don’t know how you went so long without getting your dick wet.”

My nausea worsens at Mario’s crude description and I forcefully shrug him off of me.

“No!” The word bursts out of me from nowhere as blood rushes in my ears. Rhys isn’t just a hookup. At least, not to me. What we have is so much more than that—I think. I’m just not entirely sure what.

Mario holds up both of his hands in surrender. “Whoa, easy, so it’s a serious thing? You just had to say so. What’s her name? You gonna bring her around to meet everyone in the neighborhood? Where she from, anyway?”

“There’s no she!” My heart is beating so hard, my whole body shakes with the force of it. My fingers are curled into tight fists, but that doesn’t stop the trembling.

Mario pauses, then tilts his head in confusion. “There isn’t?”

“No.” My heart ricochets around, lodging itself in my throat. “There’s a he.”

The words come out so garbled I’m not sure Mario hears them at first.

But then his expression goes slack, his jaw drops, and he takes a step away from me. “You mean… you mean… you fucked a guy?”

I flinch at the f-bomb and clench my jaw to keep myself from hurling.

“But you…” He waves his hand in my direction, as if that’s supposed to mean something.

“I’m what?” I bite out.

He drops his hand, letting it slap against his thigh. “Nothing. You just… don’t… have that… vibe.”

My hackles rise and an unfamiliar anger trickles through me. This is what Rhys goes through whenever he’s in our neighborhood, isn’t it? The look Mario’s giving me, a little confused and a little suspicious. The way he’s stepped away from me, leaning away from me.

“What kind of vibe am I supposed to have?” I practically growl.

“Nothing. No vibe,” he backtracks quickly, then sighs. “I’m just surprised.”

Yeah, well, him and me both. I never expected to feel like this, especially not for someone like Rhys. I never thought I’d tell anyone from the neighborhood, and definitely not like this.

“Does anyone else know?” Mario asks.

I shake my head jerkily right before I’m seized by a new fear. “You gonna tell people?”

He actually looks a little offended. “Nah, man, why would I do that?”

“Because. It’s gossip.” And anyone from the neighborhood knows that the place runs on gossip.

Mario gives me a grim look. “Nah, I won’t tell anybody.”

“Hey! Mario! Angel!” Our foreman calls us over for a quick meeting.

Mario shoots me one last glance before spinning around and walking away. I follow after him, hoping I haven’t just lost a friend, hoping I haven’t just lit the fuse on a bomb.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

RHYS

At four o’clock sharp, my phone rings.

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