Page 32 of How Not to Date an Angel

With a sigh, they carried the glass up the stairs, and knocked on the wall before rounding the corner.

Rami blinked. Their steps faltered, and they tried to cover it.

Not very successfully, if the twitch to the demon’s lips meant anything.

There he was, all splayed across the bed, shirtless. His horns were free once more in his clean hair, and Rami wondered if that was part of the healing process.

In the tub, even though the demon was nude, at least Rami had only a view of his back.

And what a nice back it was,a littletraitorous voice said.

Yet somehow, seeing him here, in Rami’s bed, bare from the waist up, felt different. Forbidden.

“Feeling better?” Rami choked out, and completed the walk to the demon’s side of the bed. The glass met the side table top with a soft click.

“Thanks, Feathers,” Julian said, taking the glass before Rami had even finished relinquishing it. Their fingers brushed, and Rami took a healthy step back.

It didn’t stop them from staring as the demon drank, though, throat working with every swallow.

Was it warm in here?

“Alright, then,” they managed. “Enjoy your sleep. I suppose I’ll…” They motioned vaguely to the stairs behind them,almosttripping over their feet in their hurry to get away without tearing their gaze from the demon.

Julian sighed and sat the glass back down before wiggling back into a comfy position against all the pillows.

Rami only felt a small pang of annoyance, knowing the couch was waiting for them.

You know, if youreallywanted your bed back…

Yes, yes. Rami knew they could tell the demon to go back downstairs, put him on the couch since he was capable of walking without help again.

But then Julian grimaced as he shifted into the pillows before smoothing his face into a neutral expression. His horns glinted in the light, the broken one a physical reminder to Rami of what he had gone through.

And Rami just couldn’t do it, they couldn’t kick him out, so they fortified themself. It wouldn’t be much longer—

“I could sleep on the couch if you wanted,” Julian said.

Rami blinked. The offer shocked them.

And, well. Now Rami would just feel guilty if they agreed to let the demon sleep on the couch. He was clearly still in pain, and what kind of angel were they to consider making someone suffer just for their own comfort? That was entirely selfish.

“No. No, you sleep here. I’ll stay on the couch again.”

The ache in their neck intensified as if in warning, and they dreaded the morning to come.

“There is… one last option,” Julian said, and scooted more toward the edge of the bed.

Rami stared at him for a long moment.

Julian patted the bed, grinning like he’d just invented electricity. “You get it, right? We can share. Look how big this thing is,” he said, patting the bed again to emphasize exactly whichthinghe was referring to.

Not that Rami assumed he’d be referring to anything else!

Rami was rather partial to their king-sized bed. It was an indulgence, but the loft bedroom was so large; they needed some way to fill it.

At least, that’s what they’d told themself when they justified it.

“I bet we could lay on either side and not even know the other is there. What do you say?”

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