Page 71 of Angel

“Wait.”

I stop in my tracks and slowly turn around.

He looks conflicted, with a furrow in his brow. He opens his mouth, then shuts it again. Open. Shut. Then he plants his hands on his hips, dropping his chin with a short, frustrated chuckle.

“Are you okay?”

Hayden shakes his head. “It’s not me I’m worried about. It’s Rhys.”

My stomach drops to my knees. “Rhys?”

Hayden glances up at me, his green eyes wary. He studies me, and I wrap my arms around myself defensively.

“I’m worried about Rhys,” Hayden repeats. “He’s had to put up with a lot of shit in his life—you probably know. His parents aren’t the greatest, and he stands out everywhere he goes. The straights think he’s too gay. The gays think he’s too femme. Despite all that, he’s still himself. No matter how hard it gets. He’s tough, strong, resilient, but…”

My stomach isn’t at my knees anymore. It’s all the way on the floor. I agree with everything Hayden has said. A lot of it is why I like Rhys so much. But I don’t think I’m going to like what comes next.

“Look, if you hurt him, it won’t be the end of the world.”

My hackles rise at the thought of hurting Rhys. I would never. Not on purpose. But Hayden doesn’t let me talk.

“He’ll get over you. He’ll bounce back. But the thing is, he shouldn’t have to. He shouldn’t have to be strong all the time. He deserves to be the soft one for once and have someone else be strong for him.”

I’m stunned. Speechless. Every single one of Hayden’s words is a nail shot directly into my heart. They’re painful to hear, especially because I know they’re true.

This whole time, I’ve been so preoccupied with myself, with all these new feelings sprouting up inside me. I’ve been confused about what it means about who I am. I’ve been afraid of Rhys getting bored with me and kicking me to the curb.

I never stopped to think about Rhys. What does he want? What does he need? He’s done so much for me, and what have I done for him in return? Nothing, dang it. I’ve given him nothing.

“I…” I’m not great with words on a good day, never mind in the middle of the night while wearing nothing but my boxers.

I force myself to meet Hayden’s gaze, to look him right in the eyes so he can see how sincere I am. I swallow around the ball of emotion that’s lodged in my throat. “You’re right. About everything.”

Hayden’s eyebrows lift a fraction, as if to ask what I’m going to do about it. I haven’t a clue. But I want to. I want to be there for Rhys the way he’s been there for me. I want to support him, care for him, protect him.

He’s shown me what it feels like to be the soft one. Now it’s my turn to show him I can be strong too.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FIVE

RHYS

I wake up to the scent of coffee. Dark. Rich. It makes my mouth water before I’m fully conscious.

I roll over. Wait. Something’s wrong. I’m alone in my bed, but I wasn’t earlier. The mattress is still a little warm under my hand.

Angel. My teddy bear. He spent the whole night with me, hugging me to him like I’m his teddy bear.

Where is he now?

I scramble out of bed and take a second to pull on the clothes I was wearing yesterday before bursting out of my room. The fragrant aroma of coffee hits me in the face and I breathe in deep. Following my nose, I end up in the kitchen with my jaw on the floor.

It’s Angel. Wearing his boxers and undershirt, necklace nestled in his chest hair. He’s got two mugs of coffee in front of him, and he’s in the middle of doctoring them. Well, one of them. Two heaping spoons of sugar and enough milk to make the whole thing go white.

That’s the way I take my coffee.

Angel finishes stirring, taps the spoon lightly on the edge of the mug before setting it aside, then holds out the mug to me. I take it with both hands, bringing it to my nose for another deep inhale.

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