Page 60 of Angel

Teddy Bear.

I scramble for it, swiping at the screen a few times before it connects.

“Hello? Angel?” I call out before the phone is even at my ear.

“Hey.”

The single word is filled with so much emotion that my heart immediately seizes. I jump to my feet.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” If he’s hurt… if someone hurt him… I won’t be held responsible for what I do in retaliation.

“Nothing happened,” Angel says with a tired chuckle. “I just, um, finished work, and um, wondered if you were…”

“Yes! Yes, I’m at home. You want to come over?” I bounce on my toes, excitement skittering over my skin.

“Yeah, if that’s okay?” The shyness in his voice makes me simply ache for him.

“Of course it’s okay! You can come whenever you want!” I slap my hand over my eyes as my mind helpfully provides an image of Angel’s O-face. Not what I meant, but also, applicable.

“Yeah?” He sounds so hopeful and oh god, I want to make him come right now. Hard. Multiple times.

“Yeah.”

“I can pick up dinner along the way, if you haven’t eaten yet?”

I drop my head back and smile up at the ceiling. This is starting to sound an awful lot like a date, and god, I want it to be. So bad. If Hayden were here, he would be so disappointed. But I can’t help it. I just can’t say no.

“That sounds amazing. Pick up whatever you want. Surprise me.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

That simple phrase shouldn’t fill me with so much joy, but it does.

It takes about an hour for Angel to get here and I pace around the apartment the entire time, too amped up to stay still. I buzz him into the building, then wait at my door for him to climb up the stairs.

I’ve never had a construction-worker fetish before, but fuck me, I definitely have one now. Angel’s come straight from work, with his scuffed-up steel-toed boots and tattered jeans. He’s wearing a reflective vest on top of his fall jacket and his hair is flattened against his head from wearing a safety helmet all day. He’s covered in dust, dirt, and splatters of concrete. I’ve never seen anything sexier in my whole life.

His steps are sluggish and slow, like he’s been carrying something heavy for a really long time. Fatigue rolls off him in waves. And yet, when he sees me, he smiles, like I’m the finish line and he’s on the home stretch.

I step back to let him inside and the door swings shut behind him. Then I push him up against it and plaster myself to his front. I don’t care that my clothes will get dirty. I don’t care that he’s sweaty and gross from a whole day at work. All that matters is that he’s here.

Whatever this is between me and Angel, whether he’s just experimenting or he’s bi or gay or whatever. There’s no way I can walk away from him. However he wants me, for however long he wants me, I’ll take whatever I can get. Consequences be damned.

Standing on my tiptoes, I pull him down to meet me halfway. It’s a gentle kiss, a hello kiss, a melt-into-each-other-and-rest kiss.

The takeout bag he was carrying hits the floor and his hands come to my waist, around to the small of my back. He holds me to him, carefully at first, then more tightly. His arms wind around me and he bunches up the back of my shirt in his hands until he’s clinging to me. His knees give out and he slides down the door a couple inches.

“Angel? Babe? Teddy bear?” I brush my fingers across his cheeks, his brow, his lips. I comb them through his hair. “What’s wrong?”

His eyes are closed, thick dark lashes fanning across his rosy cheeks. “I told Mario,” he says softly.

It takes me a second to connect the dots, then the world narrows to this small space between us. There’s only one thing Angel could have told Mario that would have him acting like this now. But if he did… what does that mean? Why would he do that?

“Mario?” I ask, voice tight, heart pounding. “From the old neighborhood?”

Angel nods.

“What did you tell him?” I hold my breath, not sure I want to know the answer to my question.

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