Page 55 of Angel

“What? Are you into stuffed animals? I never would have thought,” I joke. But his hauntingly pained stare makes my heart ache. “Venom…”

He’s thrown out of whatever trance he was in and looks at me with his beautiful eyes. Eyes that were once so empty, but right now have so much life. Even if it is sadness, pain, and hurt, they are still alive in this very moment. And it warms my heart, though it pains me at the same time to see him this way.

“Get me a honey bun, will ya?” He smirks, masking his distress.

“Right… okay.” I watch him as he bangs the restroom door open.

My eyes travel to the stuffed snake wrapped around the endcap, and I wonder what story lies behind it. I stand at the checkout counter and set my protein bar down with his stupid honey bun. Footsteps and snickers sound behind me and then a whistle.

“Damn… that your bike out there, sweetheart?”

I roll my eyes, but turn only slightly. “You bet it is.”

“I wonder if she knows how to ride something else. I got a nice juicy cock waiting for her right here.” They laugh, but now I’m heated.

Twisting around, I tilt my head. “I don’t ride little boys, only men, and you two look like anything but.”

They’re laughter dies down, and the smiles on their faces are instantly gone. “What the fuck did you say to us?” One goes to step forward, but I figure as much.

Throwing up a knee, I jam him right in his precious jewels. And he goes down, gasping for air. I always imagined getting hit in the balls to be a very painful thing, and I would hate to be him right now. His friend stares in shock, like he didn’t think I would actually do something like that. I slap a hundred-dollar bill down, telling the clerk to keep the change, and step over the hunched asshat before brushing past his buddy.

“Next time, learn some respect,” I tell the guy rolling on the floor in pain. Venom walks out of the bathroom at the same time. I grab his palm, and the gesture sends sparks through my body. I toss him his honey bun with my free hand, and he catches it with ease. “We, uh, kind of need to go.”

The guy’s friend yells out behind me as we exit the storefront. “Hey, you bitch!” I’m being called that a lot lately, and I’m starting to wonder if it’s true.

I continue to drag Venom until we reach our rides. He starts his up and surveys the angry dudes standing by the entrance door. “You always cause trouble everywhere you go?”

I shrug. “It’s in my nature. What can I say?” I really do cause trouble everywhere. Venom shakes his head, and we speed out of there like we’re on a mission.

I don’t take shit from anyone. That is who I am.

Venom

I ponder Angel’s face positioned in front of me at the booth were seated at. She’s anything but calm or relaxed. The way her shoulders are tense and how she flinches with every person who passes by…. Not that I can say she is ever really chill, but she looks worried. Nervous. Like she’s waiting for something bad to happen. She swallows every thirty seconds or so and keeps darting her eyes back and forth from the diner entrance, then down to the table.

Whatever is going on with her, I know it’s the reason she decided to follow me out here, and I don’t know why, but I have this urge to find out what it is. I only let her tag along to get her away from her secret life. If I can’t be there, I want her here with me. She hasn’t been able to leave my thoughts. She’s the only person I think of. And I hate it. I hate that she consumes my thoughts and fucking feelings. I’m not that guy, but this woman makes me want to be him.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” she asks, glancing at the door over her glass.

I sit back against the booth and fold my arms over my chest. “Just trying to figure you out. You are one tough woman to learn.”

She sets her glass down a little harder than average. “I don’t want to be figured out or studied—thank you very much.”

Her body language makes me itch. “Right… So, you gonna tell me about the other night, and why you’re so tightly wound right now?”

She tenses at my question. “And why would I tell you anything about that? I told you it’s none of your business. We aren’t friends.”

“I wouldn’t say friends, but you can’t hate me as much as you say you do, or you wouldn’t have followed me eleven hundred miles, now, would you?”

“If I were desperate enough, sure.” Huh, interesting. Getting somewhere. She plays with the straw wrapper sitting on the table.

“Why do you do it?” I ask out of curiosity. Because fuck, I am curious. Her eyes tell a story, a sad one. I’ve seen those same eyes looking back at me more than I would like to remember.

The waitress comes over, setting our burgers and fries down. “Is there anything else I can get you?” she asks us, but only looks at me, smiling and tucking her hair behind her ear. She’s too young to be flirting with a man like me.

“Nah, I think we’re good. Thanks, darlin’.”

Angel snorts as she chucks a fry into her sexy mouth, and her tongue slowly licks away the leftover ketchup. Jesus Christ.

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