Page 58 of How Not to Date an Angel

“You sure did,” Julian agreed, and watched Rami eat their treat.

They ate each one like it was their first, humming and smiling and pleased as could be. Their throat worked as they swallowed and Julian wished he was strong enough to look elsewhere, but instead he was staring as Rami licked their lips.

Julian finally tore his gaze away, shifting his attention anywhere but the angel.

He supposed the angel couldn’t win them all. They’d catch onto him before then.

“Hah, told you so. My chocolate,” Julian teased a few minutes later, dangling the gold-wrapped treat in front of the angel before snatching it back after his victory.

He sat his drink down to unwrap it, and studied the logo stamped into the top of it before he unceremoniously popped it between his lips.

It melted on his tongue, the tang of the orange and the bitter sweetness of the chocolate making his jaw tingle. He swallowed, mouth watering at the citrus. After pressing the chocolate to the inside of hischeek so he could talk while it continued melting, he turned to the angel to—

Well, he was going to comment on how delicious it was, but found Rami’s stare caught on Julian’s lips.

He swallowed once more and their gaze tracked it. At the last second their sky-blue eyes darted up, darkening to a deeper gray, a storm of appreciation.

“It’s really nice,” Julian choked out.

“I have good tastes,” Rami muttered. “In chocolate,” they added a moment later.

“Chocolate, right,” Julian agreed, and swallowed the last bit of buttery softness.

Silence wedged its way between them, but their arms were still touching. Julian lifted his drink, taking a sip, and cleared his throat.

“So. You curse. You drink. You indulge. And now you gamble,” Julian pointed out, and turned to glance at Rami. “Not very angel-like, if you ask me.” Selfish motivations for anangel.

Rami’s face flushed, mouth dropping open a bit in response. “Well! I find that rather rude, just so you know,” they huffed.

Julian choked down a laugh, lips twitching.

But then Rami stood up straighter, hands gripping the rail. “Very rude, actually. You can’t just barge into my life—an angel’s—and pass judgment onme. You’re a demon, so you have no room to talk whatsoever.”

Julian’s smile faltered. This wasn’t what he’d intended. “I’m a demon; I can do what I want,” he argued, defensive at the angel’s shift in tone.

Rami’s expression shuttered suddenly, and they leaned further into the railing, away from Julian. “You also lie, because that’s not true at all. Else you wouldn’t have turned up on my step in this state.” Hisgaze flicked over him disapprovingly. “Someone didn’t want you doing whatever it was you were doing.”

Julian shifted away, too, ignoring the chill against that arm. “Is that what you think it was? A punishment?”

“Was it not?”

Julian supposed he should be relieved that the angel was so far off the trail. Instead, it rankled that the angel naturally assumed Julian was a no-good demon who’d done something to deserve getting the shit kicked out of him.

“Guess you don’t think very highly of me, do you?” Julian guessed, tone coming out sharper than he’d intended.

Rami stiffened, stared at him, genuine confusion in their expression.

“Am I supposed to?” they asked.

And Julian knew they were an angel, and Julian a demon. He also knew that he hadn’t exactly given the angel a lot of reason to trust him thus far. But he’d thought…

What, exactly, had he thought?

Annoyed with himself, Julian downed the rest of his drink and sat it gently on the table beside them.

“I suppose not. After all, I’m just a demon,” he answered bitterly.

Rami frowned at that, and Julian glanced over his shoulder at the bar still in full swing.

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