Page 55 of How Not to Date an Angel

Rami rolled their eyes in full view of the demon, who’d at some point conjured his own sweater and melted his horns away, before reaching past Julian and pulling the door open.Goodbye, forearms,Rami thought forlornly.

They grabbed their keys off the hook and locked the door behind them, aware of the demon’s looming presence the entire time.

When they spun to meet him, Julian was much closer than they’d thought, his warmth chasing away the chill of the evening. Rami was almost disappointed when he swayed away and stepped back onto the path with a rustle of the bag of chocolates at his side.

“Lead the way,” Rami said.

They hoped they wouldn’t regret giving into the demon’s whims.

Julian

Despite the foliage surrounding Rami’s home, there was no disguising just how close to the main road they lived. So it was only a matter of steps before Julian was walking side by side with Rami toward the string lights of the main strip in the little town the angel had chosen to reside in.

“Well, it used to be a little town,” the angel rambled. “Now more and more businesses keep opening, and it feels a little more crowded every time I leave the house.”

Julian’s attention wavered between Rami and the town. It was like something out of a movie. Even the people, all dressed up in their peacoats and whatnot to brace against the cool evening.

But despite how aesthetically pleasing everything seemed on the surface, humans, by nature, were selfish creatures, just likedemons. So Julian didn’t worry one bit. He’d be trying Rami’s precious little chocolates soon enough.

And their first opportunity presented itself on a platter.

“Look,” Rami said softly, brushing Julian’s arm with their hand and motioning discreetly to a group of young students. Well, everyone was young to him, but these kids must’ve been in their college years at least.

They were a group of four, and they were walking quickly, laughing and rubbing elbows, oblivious to the woman they were about to encounter. Rami leaned closer to Julian, making sure his attention was on them.

She was walking slowly, and Julian imagined these kids didn’t have the patience for it. They’d probably cross the street, breaking the law in their self-centered hurry to continue on their way.

“They’re young; they’re selfish,” Julian muttered, and Rami frowned before he waited patiently.

Their brow furrowed, lips parting before Julian interrupted. “No interfering,” Julian warned.

“Obviously!” Rami chastised, and as if in sync, the two of them slowed as they watched the humans.

The group of young men finally realized they were approaching the woman—a witch, who was walking alone—and nudged each other to point her out. Worry filled Rami’s expression for only a moment.

The woman stiffened as she heard them grow closer.

The group slowed, and two of them broke away from the pack, tugging at the others. They approached the end of the sidewalk, looking both ways, and crossed to the other side of the road.

The woman glanced over at them, shoulders relaxing as she went on with her way. Rami offered her a kind smile as she passed.

“Hah! I win,” Julian said.

Rami startled. “Excuse me? You did not.”

Julian frowned. “But they jaywalked to hurry around the witch,” Julian pointed out, crinkling the bag of chocolates. “That’s breaking the law.Andselfish, because they could’ve just walked a bit slower.”

Rami snagged the bag from him. “They moved to the other side of the road so they wouldn’t intimidate the lone woman,” they snapped. “That says much more about their character than whether they crossed anemptyroador not.”

Julian pursed his lips at that. He supposed it would be pretty selfless of them to go out of their way to avoid intimidating the woman. “Alright, fine, Feathers. You win this round. Go ahead,” he said, and waved a hand at the bag.

It gave Rami pause, who clearly hadn’t expected Julian to give in so easily.

Julian supposed he hadn’t expected it either, but…

He watched, not even discreetly, as Rami gently opened the bag and removed a single piece of chocolate wrapped in gold foil.

They handed the bag back, and the plastic scrunched under Julian’s grip as the angel peeled the foil away, revealing the chocolate beneath.

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