Page 34 of Lips of an Angel

I’d just pulled his bedroom door shut when Eli called my name from the couch. “Angel, right?”

I nodded, and he motioned to the pasta dish in front of him. I couldn’t really tell what it was, but it smelled incredible: garlic and herbs made my mouth water.

“I made too much. You hungry?”

Back then, Eli kept his hair a bit longer. The wild chestnut curls and green eyes gave him a boyish charm that stirred up butterflies in my stomach. My heart may have belonged to Raleigh, but I was still an eighteen-year-old guy.

Sue me.

I nodded again, smiling shyly.

Eli practically leapt out of his seat to make me a plate. “Sit. Drink?”

“Whatever you’ve got.”

To my surprise, Eli didn’t react to my use of ASL. He held up a bottle of red wine, and I agreed. We weren’t legally old enough to drink, but it was college—and a glass or two wouldn’t affect me anyway. Eli rejoined me on the couch, setting two plates of food and glasses of wine on the table. As we ate, something occurred to me, and I tapped his knee to get his attention. I grabbed my phone and started typing out a message, only for him to gently take the device from my hands.

“I can read sign,” he explained, setting my phone on the table.

For the first time in my life, my heart stuttered for someone other than Raleigh.

“You spoke to me,” I signed.

“I did,” Eli responded cautiously. “Is that not the polite thing to do when someone’s in the room?”

“Most people assume I can’t hear either.”

Eli took another bite of his food, smiling around the fork. “Well, we all know what they say about making assumptions. Besides, with how much Raleigh talks about you, I feel like I already know you.”

“How do you know sign language?”

With a bashful shrug, Eli ducked his gaze into his plate. Then, seeming to think better of it, he returned his eyes to mine. “I thought learning more languages would help me better connect with my patients in the long run.”

Oh, be still my heart. I thoughtIwas the angel. “How many languages do you know?”

“Other than English? Four. Spanish, ASL, Mandarin, and Vietnamese—most of the top languages spoken in the U.S.”

My brows hit my hairline, and a flush crept up Eli’s cheeks. It was fucking adorable. I was impressed. Was this what it was like to have a crush on someone? Well, someone who wasn’t your best friend?

Between bites of food, I grilled Eli on his past, learning more about him. By the time our plates were empty, I was head-over-heels. Eli poured himself another glass of wine after I assured him that it didn’t bother me if he drank. The alcohol gave his cheeks a glow that was almost as rosy as the liquid in his glass. The flush suited him, and the sparkle in his eyes intrigued me.

After clearing the dishes away, Eli sat back down, this time a hair closer to me. I don’t know what came over me—maybe I picked up on his nervousness—but I was the one to make the next move. I stretched my arm out across the back of the couch and slid in even closer. I didn’t miss the way his eyes widened slightly.

“Is this okay?” I asked, gesturing between the two of us.

“More than okay.”

When his hand found my thigh, I squirmed. The motion only inched his hand higher. I should’ve been nervous. Except for Raleigh, I’d never been so close to another man before. Something in me wanted to flee, to thank Eli for dinner and leave, but I shoved the thoughts away as quickly as they came.

Instead, I twisted one of Eli’s brown curls around my finger. He shuddered, and I thought I could be the type of guy who went for what he wanted, the type who didn’t wait around for his best friend to notice him.

Eli looked at me, hopeful, and when he leaned forward to set his glass down, I worked up the nerve to lean in and meet him halfway. Our lips brushed, tentatively at first, then Eli melted into me.

He didn’t kiss like Raleigh, and I tried not to compare the two of them. As much as I wished it were otherwise, I didn’t think Raleigh would ever truly be mine. Not in the way I wanted him to be.

But Eli could be. His hand squeezed my thigh, fingers tickling higher and higher, and my cock took interest. I moaned into his mouth, and the kisses turned feverish, frantic.

Before things progressed too far, Eli pulled back. “Do you think Raleigh will be okay with this?”

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