Page 87 of Angel

“Your online fans love you. They’re always copying your fashion style, asking you for makeup tips. People go to The Bronzed Rail every week just to watch you dance. You’re the star of the show.”

Rhys shakes his head with a self-deprecating smile.

“You know that day? Your dad’s birthday party? When I found you upstairs?”

He gives me a small nod.

“I kinda felt like a creep for following you up there.”

“You followed me?”

“Yeah,” I admit sheepishly. “I was out front with the guys when you arrived. That was the first time I’d seen you in years and you… you took my breath away. I went inside to look for you and saw you go upstairs. I couldn’t stop myself from following you.”

That same feeling wells up inside me again. The fascination, the draw. The sense that my destiny lies in this direction, with this man. The need to be near him, to be in his presence, to see him and be seen by him. I couldn’t deny it back then, and I can’t deny it now.

“I love you, Rhys.”

He gasps, fingers tightening on my shirt, eyes going wide with shock.

“I know I’m a nobody and I don’t have anything to offer you. I’m not cool or sexy or charming. I’m just…” I shrug. “A simple guy with a simple life. I’m not glamorous or fashionable or…”

I try to keep breathing as my heart tries to beat its way out of my chest. “You don’t have to return the feelings or anything. I’d never expect you to love me back the same way. I just… I just wanted you to know. You’ve changed me. You’ve made me a better man. I was just going through life before, but not really living. I didn’t know how much I was missing out on until you showed me. I?—”

Rhys stops me with his fingers on my lips and my stomach twists into knots. Ugh, shoot, I’ve been rambling like an idiot. He’s probably stopping me so I don’t dig myself even deeper into a hole. I’ve embarrassed myself enough.

“Teddy bear.” Rhys’s voice cracks, it’s so thick with emotion. Tears trickle steadily down his cheeks. “I love you too.”

I blink for a second, my brain not at all trusting my ears. He couldn’t have said what I think he said. Why in the world would he? There’s no reason for him to love me, of all people. He could have anyone he wanted—someone smarter, hotter, funnier, more interesting, more exciting, more full of life. I’d only weigh him down and drag him back to a world he wants nothing to do with.

“I love you,” Rhys says again. Slower this time so there’s no way for me to mistake it. “Because you are braver and more courageous than you give yourself credit for. Because you don’t try to be someone you’re not. You are unapologetically yourself, even if you’re just discovering who that person is. You’re thoughtful and caring and you give so much of yourself to people who don’t always deserve it. You’re good, Angel. And I want to be someone who deserves you.”

“You are!” I insist, speaking through the fingers still on my lips. “You deserve more than me!”

“No, teddy bear, you deserve more than me. You deserve everything.”

“I don’t want everything. I just want you.”

A choked sob escapes Rhys’s throat right before he smashes his lips against mine. It’s not really a kiss. More just us breathing each other in. He clings to me and I hold him tight, both of us trying to get closer, trying to squeeze out every offending molecule of air between us.

I want to be inside him. I want to be one with him. I want to bury myself so deep inside Rhys that I will never be able to leave.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

We jump at the loud knocking on my door.

“Angel! Why is the door locked? I know you’re in there! It’s time to make dinner! Do you have that girl in there?”

Rhys and I stare at each other in horror. He doesn’t need me to tell him who it is, but I do anyway.

“Mama.”

CHAPTER

THIRTY-ONE

RHYS

Shit. Shit. Shit. Angel’s mom is knocking on his door while I’m sitting in his lap—correction, grinding my ass onto his hard dick.

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