Page 42 of Lips of an Angel

Ryder bounded after me like a kid in a candy store. While Jack fussed over Angel and wedding plans, I led Ryder to the office and shut the door behind us. I took the desk chair, and my cocky-as-shit best friend threw himself onto the two-seater couch, manspreading wide enough that I was surprised his skin-tight jeans could accommodate it.

“Spit it out,” I demanded, unsure whether I was truly prepared to hear what he was about to say.

“Angel’s engaged,” Ryder stated, as if that hadn’t been the sole focus of the bar for the last two weeks. I leveled him with a glare. Well, tried to. He didn’t quite fall for it. “Don’t give me that look,” he laughed. “I’m not the one taking him away from you.”

“No one’s taking him away from me,” I growled.

“What happened between the two of you?” He made himself right at home. Then again, he spent so much time at the bar that he might as well have been home already. He lounged back on the couch, folding his hands behind his head.

I knew something was wrong with me when I didn’t check him out. Ryder was attractive, I’d give him that. After our quick hookup before, now I understood why everyone threw themselves at him. He was the only person I knew that kept up with my own body count.

He might’ve even surpassed me.

But sitting there now, no part of me was even remotely interested. Sure, he was pretty, but my brain was otherwise occupied. I’d never been one to talk things out before, and I’d never needed to. This time, it was different. This was Angel—myAngel. A jolt of desire shot southward at the simple memory of those words. Christ, of coursethatwas what got my cock to pay attention.

I willed it back to sleep, reminding my traitorous body that Angel wasn’t mine to keep.

“Earth to Raleigh!”

“Huh?”

“Wow, something’s got you all twisted up.”

I bristled, squirming. “I’m not twisted up.”

“Right,” he drawled. “You reserve that face for when you’re happy.”

“Get to the point, Clark.”

“You’re not happy for your best friend.”

“That’s ridiculous. I’m thrilled for him.”

“Tell that to your face.”

I slumped in the desk chair. When it came to Ryder, the quickest way to get him off your back was to indulge him. “I wish Eli had put more thought into the ring, that’s all.”

Ryder raised a brow. “Because you could do better?”

“Pfft,youcould do better.”

Ryder sat forward, gesturing for me to continue before resting his elbows on his knees.

I sighed. “Since you’resoperceptive, have you ever noticed how much Angel likes shiny things? He’s a magpie: if it glitters, it’s in his hands. Every piece of jewelry he’s ever worn has been sparkly. That ring isn’t enough for him. Anyone with a brain could see that.”

I’d been focusing on a picture on the wall—a framed mugshot from a Halloween store whose eyes seemed to move with you. When I was met with silence, I looked at Ryder, who was giving me that stare again.

“What?” I asked.

“There’s something else.”

When I hesitated, I knew Ryder had broken me down. To hell with it. If I couldn’t talk to Angel about it, I had to talk tosomeone. It’d been eating me up inside. Not because of the blatant fact that we’d had sex behind Eli’s back, but because I didn’t knowwhy. Where had it come from? Forgetting how I warred with my own emotions over the situation—how didAngelfeel about it?

“We had sex.”

“When?” Ryder asked, biting back a grin.

“Two weeks ago.”

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