Page 7 of Lips of an Angel

Once I felt collected enough to stand, I went into the bathroom to dispose of the condom before gathering my clothes from their many and varied resting places. I pulled them onto my sweat-drenched body, grimacing. I’d have to shower at home.

“I’d still like for the two of you to officially meet someday,” I said, fastening my belt. Kali and Angel had met briefly at the bar but never exchanged more than hellos to each other. “You know, he called me your sugar baby earlier.”

“What did you say?”

I snorted. “Nothing. I think he gets off on winding me up.”

Kali grabbed a fistful of my shirt and pulled me toward her for a passionate goodbye kiss. “Well, speaking of winding you up…”

Reeling from the kiss, I struggled to focus on anything other than the woman in front of me. Kali gestured behind me and when I turned, I found a black bag sitting on the nightstand with a satin ribbon tied around the handles. I lifted it, the embossed Tom Ford logo coming into view. I bit back an argument and opened the bag, withdrawing the most luxurious belt I’d ever seen. The scent of the authentic leather filled my nostrils, and the gold buckle was heavy in my hand.

“It goes with the pants.” Kali shrugged. “Keep it. Please.”

I returned the belt to the bag and leaned over to kiss her again, working my free hand into her hair.

“Thank you,” I whispered once our lips separated.

She stood from the bed and replaced her robe. “Should I call a car for you?”

“I’ll walk. It’s a nice night and it’s not that far. Until next time?”

“Until next time,” she repeated.

I looped the bag around my wrist, fluffed my hair the best I could, and began my walk home.

Chapter 4

ANGEL

I watchedanother minute tick over on the clock. I’d been staring for nearly an hour. Despite how heavy my eyelids were, I couldn’t bring myself to sleep. Every time I let them fall shut, I heard the sound of crunching metal—and they’d shoot open again.

Thanks to the lights of the Las Vegas Strip, our apartment was in a constant state of twilight, so I wasn’t surprised that I hadn’t noticed the sun had started to rise. Through the walls, I heard the front door open, then gently click shut. Raleigh’s keys jangled, echoing down the hall. Despite his size, he was always gentle when he returned from time with Kali.

I hated when he left. I wasn’t jealous—what would I be jealous of?Kali?—and I didn’t begrudge him his fun, either. It was just… I couldn’t sleep when he wasn’t home.

I heard his keys hit the table, followed by the softthunk-thunkof his heavy combat boots dropping to the floor. Footsteps padded down the hallway, and the bathroom door shut softly. If I hadn’t been attuned to every sound of our place, I’d never have known he was there. The shower turned on, then shut off again five minutes later.

Grabbing a pillow, I turned my back to the door and hugged it close to my chest. My body itched to go to him. I fought to remain in my bed. I relied on him too much, I knew that. But he was my best friend. My rock. It didn’t matter if night terrors had me up for days, he was always supportive.

* * *

I could recallthe exact moment I fell in love with Raleigh Jenkins.

We’d been friends since we were twelve, and sure, I found him attractive—most of our classmates did, if for no more reason than that he looked different from the rest of us. He’d always had that rugged, alternative appearance that most of the country boys earned over decades. Of course, he didn’t have all the metal in his face back then, or the ink on his skin, but he was still my Raleigh.

He always had been.

At first, I thought my crush on him was simply hormones. I’d known from a young age that I was different from the other boys. Everyone talked about feeling their first crush: the pitter-patter of your heart in your chest, the fluttering in your stomach—butterflies, they called it. When I looked at Raleigh? Well, I had a whole kaleidoscope of them in my belly. That was when it started to make sense.

I didn’t realize it was love back then, not at that age. All I knew was that Raleigh was the only boy in our class who didn’t treat me like an outsider. Unlike the others, I’d always been quiet and reserved, keeping to myself instead of chasing girls around the playground or setting ants on fire with magnifying glasses—the typical antics boys got up to. Most of them were content to leave me alone if I kept a low profile.

One day at school, I didn’t fly far enough under the radar. I was in the corner of the library reading a book when I had the audacity to sit too close to a group of kids. The first couple of teases were mild, but when they didn’t provoke a reaction, their jeers and taunts grew bolder. I was doing a terrible job at pretending to ignore them when someone suddenly loomed over me. Raleigh, already towering over the rest of us, silenced them with a single disgusted look before making a point of plopping down. Right next to me.

No one fucked with Raleigh. And from that day on, no one fucked with me, either.

It would be years before I figured out what my feelings for my best friend truly meant.

It was after I’d left the hospital. I’d spent six months there, three of them in the ICU. My days consisted of staring at white walls and getting so used to disinfectant that anything else smelled foreign.

---