Page 20 of Creep
And, predictably, Angel loves it.
“That’s one well-trained chicken!” He doesn’t just smile. He laughs with such glee, sunshine can’t compete with the brightness of his voice. His eyes wrinkling, lips stretched widely, he’s the picture of joy when he claps at Rooster’s efforts, and I swear his gaze darts to the bastard's stomach when Rooster’s top pools down at his armpits.
Just like when I first licked him, I don’t think and act on instinct.
“I trained her with real juicy worms,” Rooster says, voice strained with effort, but by the time he finishes his sentence, I’m already there.
I push him over as Cabbage flops away with a cluck. “The fuck do you think you’re doing?” I ask, physically aware of Angel’s presence. His gaze burns with disapproval, but I can’t stand by and do nothing when Rooster’s trying to coerce him into his grasp.
“What—have you been here this whole time?” Angel chokes out, his wide eyes bluer than the cloud-painted sky above.
Rooster scowls at me, picking himself up from the ground “What the fuck, man?”
I look between them in frustration, unsure whom to answer first, but I’m pissed off with Rooster, so I go with that. “‘Pet the chicken’? Really? Why don’t you just go all out and ask him to stroke your cock, huh?”
Angel’s mouth drops, and the shade of Rooster’s face soon rivals his hair. “I’m not even gay, man. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Oh really? I’ve seen the way he watches guys when he thinks no one sees him, and I don’t trust him one—
“What the hell?” Angel shoves at my chest, his pretty pink mouth twisted into a scowl that shows all of his nice teeth. “You were gone for three days! No hello, no how are you doing? You couldn’t even knock when you left cleaning supplies on my doorstep, andnowyou’re angry I’m talking to someone else?”
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, I sizzle under Angel’s scrutiny when Rooster smirks and pulls out a cigarette. “Yeah, Creep, you’ve not pissed on his leg, so I don’t get—”
I push his chest in frustration. “You, shut up!” I turn toward Angel but still can’t make myself meet his eyes.
“Is this… the shoelace I lost?” he asks, and I hurriedly hide my left hand behind my back. “I was… hmm…”
I watch his feet as he steps closer, the missing shoelace replaced with a basic white one. “You just left me on my own. I don’t know anyone here, and you disappeared. I counted on you, and you weren’t there!” Another push. “I waited. Even got the tea you like from Brigid, so I’d have it on hand when you finally show up. But you never did, until now! How dare you chastise him when he’s just keeping me company?”
He… counted on me? I was pretty sure he preferred to be left alone, so he could make friends with nice people.
Rooster watches me inquisitively and grabs Cabbage as if she’s a chicken-shaped shield. Bastard.
“Just… nothim,” I point to Rooster, painfully aware I’m not making sense.
Rooster frowns. “Why not?”
“Yes, why not?” Angel repeats, getting right into my personal space. “Why not if you weren’t there? I even cleaned under the bed, because I figured you might crawl in there, and now you’re having a jealous fit? And we didn’t even talk about thelicking!”
Rooster whistles. “Oh, wow. Now we’re getting to the good stuff. What ‘licking’?”
I am boiling alive. “None of your business! Fuck off, Rooster, or I promise you, I’m gonna make your life such hell you’ll be begging to end up on a plate next to Cabbage!”
He opens his mouth, as if he’s about to sass me, but then just raises his hand in defeat and walks off. “I’ll see you around, Angel!” he yells without looking back.
Angel grabs the hem of my shirt and tugs me closer. “Nothing to sayto me? Have you decided what you actually want?”
Voice dies in my throat. I’ve learned to deal with guys who piss me off all the way back in juvie. I needed to if I wanted to survive. But Angel? A pretty boy I want to wrap myself around? I’m so out of my depth.
“I didn’t want to bother you after what I did,” I mumble, hypnotized by the blue of his eyes.
Angel sighs and places his hands on his hips as he takes me in. “You abducted me. Yes, you did that! I was scared for my life, but then you just deserted me as if I was a broken toy. Do you know how that felt?” Is he… about to cry? But before I can decide, Angel rubs his face and goes on, “I thought you wanted me, but then you just disappeared, and now you’re acting as if you have the right to me and my time? And you know what? I don’t belong to you. Actually, I don’t want to even look at you right now!”
I step back as if he’s hit me. I would have preferred that, because at least he would have touched me then. “Hm… how about I come over next week?” Is that a decent amount of time to wash away some of this pain between us? Or am I misinterpreting ‘right now’ when he means heneverwants to see me?
“Are you shitting me?” Angel snaps. “Should I prepare lunch and cover the table with my new embroidered cloth, too?”
Fuck. Wrong again. If I danced with the chicken instead, would he have smiled at me? “I’m sorry about the licking,” I say,trying to somehow put a lid on this situation, because I worry that’s what he’s really angry about.
