Page 66 of Ticket to the Stars: Part Two

Bishop and I walked in behind him, and that’s when we saw what was wrong. Or, rather, the person standing in the kitchen, getting herself something to drink.

“Angel?” Bishop spoke, nearly dropping our lunch to the floor. “But—aren’t you supposed to be home tomorrow?”

Our white-haired beauty turned around, a smile on her face as she sipped from her glass. Just water, by the look of it. She wore a baggy hoodie along with leggings, but still, never had I seen a more gorgeous sight.

“My ticket home was today. I wanted to come home early and surprise you,” she said, setting down her glass. “I—” She was going to say more, but I went straight for her, pulled her into my arms, and planted a hard kiss on those sweet lips.

A full week away from her was absolutely miserable.

It was like she came to life as I kissed her, and she hummed into me. By the time I pulled my mouth off hers, she was smiling at me. She gazed up at me and whispered, “Hey, Deacon. I missed you.”

“I missed you—” I could hardly get the words out, because Priest pushed me aside to sweep her in his arms, twirl her around, and lay his own kiss on her.

“I missed you more,” Priest spoke against her lips, causing her to giggle.

“And I,” Bishop paused as he set our lunch down on the island, “missed you the most.” His kiss to Angel was chaste compared to Priest’s. “I wish you would’ve told us. We would’ve got you lunch.”

Priest was fast to say, “You can have Deacon’s.”

“Hey,” I hissed out. Not that I was against sharing anything of mine with Angel—I wasn’t—it’s more that Priest offered her my food instead of his. The asshole.

But Angel shook her head and said, “No, that’s okay. I bought you guys some stuff.” She gestured for us to go with her, and she took her glass of water as she led the way to her room, where her luggage sat on her bed, open but still full of clothes.

And new bags with the college logo on it.

After setting the glass on her nightstand, she went to pull out the bags one by one. She peeked inside to see what lie within, and then she handed it to the new respective owner. We each got one.

“It’s nothing special, but… I don’t know. I just wanted to get you guys something.” Angel kicked her foot on the floor. “I missed you guys so much, you don’t even understand.”

Oh, I think we had a pretty clear idea.

She’d gotten us each a T-shirt and a hoodie. Black, of course, with the college logo on the front and the words on the back. The fabric was softer than you’d think it would be.

“Well?” Angel climbed onto her bed and spun around, leaning her back against the headboard. “Aren’t you going to try them on and give me a little fashion show?” As she spoke the suggestion, her full lips curled into a smile.

The guys and I looked at each other. I had no problems giving her what she wanted—odds were that fashion show would lead to something else, and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t missed the feel of her body under mine this past week.

But we had fresh tattoos to think about. Right now, they were bandaged up with a thick layer of some kind of jelly on it—in no shape to be seen by Angel just yet.

“How about,” Priest was the one who spoke, “we give you a fashion show tomorrow, hmm? Deacon can cook us dinner and dessert, too.” Once again offering my services. Not that I minded, but come on.

The smile she wore faded, and she glanced between each of us, finally realizing something was up. “Where were you guys? Why are you acting weird?”

Bishop echoed, “Weird? We’re not acting weird. Nobody here is acting weird.”

“He’s right,” Priest said, nodding along. He motioned for us to leave her bedroom, taking a step back as he did so. “And because nobody is acting weird, we’re going to leave and not take our clothes off right now.”

“What?” The look on her face told me she didn’t understand. “What are you guys doing? Why won’t you tell me where you were?”

“It’s a secret” was all I said, and then we ducked out of the room with our newly-gotten college merch.

I guess I was going to cook a fantastic meal tomorrow, where we’d reveal our little surprise to Angel. Hmm. I wondered if, maybe, we should show her more than the tattoos. It’d been long enough, hadn’t it?

Once we were a respectable distance away from Angel’s room, I told Bishop and Priest my idea. Mainly Priest, because she already knew Bishop’s.

We’d show her the tattoos, and then we’d tell her our real names.

Chapter Twenty-Seven – Angel

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