Page 91 of Angel

Bang! Mrs. Russo slams her hand down on the table, making the dishes and cutlery rattle. Angel and I tense, bracing ourselves for what comes next.

She glowers at me, then Angel, then me again, before pushing to her feet so forcefully, her chair almost tumbles backward. Without a word, she stalks out of the kitchen, and a second later, a door shuts with a loud, firm thud.

I blink as the last few minutes fully sink in. I just told off Angel’s mom, basically accused her of not loving her son. If I was trying to impress her, trying to win her over, I have epically and spectacularly failed. Now she hates me and maybe she’ll end up hating Angel, and I think I’ve just ruined their relationship forever.

“I’m sorry.” I slap a hand over my face. “Oh god, what the hell was I thinking?”

Angel stands and comes around the table. He pulls me to my feet so he can take my seat, and I settle back down on his lap.

Burying my face against his shoulder, I groan. “I’m such an idiot. Why did I say those things?”

Angel nudges my chin to get me to look up at him. His lips are curled into a small, shy smile that makes me feel all melty and gooey inside.

“I liked the things you said,” he whispers to me. “Thank you for defending me.”

“Always,” I say, putting a hand on his chest, right above the steady beat of his heart. “I love you.”

His smile widens into a grin and the tips of his ears turn pink. He puts his hand over mine. “I don’t care what Mama thinks. I don’t care what the neighborhood says. I love you and that’s never going to change.”

CHAPTER

THIRTY-TWO

ANGEL

Rhys helps me put the leftovers away and clear up the kitchen before we head back upstairs to my apartment. Mama doesn’t come out of her bedroom, and I don’t bother knocking to see if she’s okay. It’s best to let her calm down on her own when she gets upset.

“I’m sorry about Mama,” I say, shutting the door to my apartment behind me.

I lean back against it as Rhys presses into me. “It’s not your fault.”

“It kinda is. I forgot it was Sunday.” Guilt threads through me, making me feel all twisted up inside.

“Well, we had a lot going on today.” Rhys smiles suggestively at me, hands sliding up my shoulders and fingers playing with the hair at nape of my neck.

It’s hard to believe that we shot our second porn video this morning, and then I had Sunday dinner with Mama. Those two thoughts in the same sentence should have me burning up. But for some reason, it doesn’t.

I’m not ashamed of the porn videos. I mean, I’m not going to tell Mama about it, obviously. But there’s no embarrassment making my ears flush. There’s no regret eating away at me. I’m glad I did gay for pay, because it brought me to Rhys.

Although… now that we’re together, I guess I’m not really straight anymore? And the for-pay thing… well.

“Um, I, uh, think I need to tell you something.” Now my ears heat.

Rhys’s gaze shifts to my left ear, then my right. His eyes twinkle with amusement. “I would be worried, but judging by the color of your ears, it might not be so bad?”

I reach up to scratch my jaw. “Maybe we should sit down?”

Rhys’s eyes dim a fraction, then he takes my hand and leads me into the living room. Like earlier, he pushes me down onto the couch, then sits himself down in my lap.

“Okay, we’re sitting. What do you need to tell me?” He’s still wearing a teasing expression, but there’s a hint of wariness underneath it.

I take a quick steadying breath, then spit it out. “You know how I’m supposed to be gay for pay? Well, I’m not. Gay for pay, I mean.”

The concern in Rhys’s eyes morphs into confusion. “The gay part or the pay part?”

“Either. Both.”

He looks more confused.

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