and that’s why I ignore how you stare.” I blush but hear his next softly spoken words. “I ignore how I stare right back at you with the same thoughts.”
Crossing my arms, I watch him get off the bed and walk to me. “And why does that make you mad?” I ask.
“Everything makes me mad, angry, jealous, possessive and cruel. Darker emotions are our price as much as not being able to lie is a light angel’s price.”
I suck in a deep breath as the room feels flooded with tension and missing air. “All those emotions are normal for a human.”
“But a human can turn them off with a flip of a switch. I will never be able to do that,” he warns me, and now he is so close that our noses are touching. “You should leave.”
“I should,” I totally agree, but my feet stay firmly placed on the floor.
“Dark angels are seductive, but you already know that, don’t you?”
My lips tilt up, and his eyes track the movement like a hawk tracks its prey. “Is this your way of asking if I like you, Henry-boy?”
“Fuck it,” he growls before he kisses me. His lips press against mine with an urgency I didn’t know I could feel through a kiss, but now I do. He deepens the kiss with his tongue as his hands slide under my ass and lift me up. My legs wrap around his waist on instinct as I dive my hands into his hair, moaning at how good our bodies feel pressed together.
The door slams open, and I pull away from Henry to see Riley standing in the doorframe, his eyes like molten lava and heartbreak all in one. Dammit. Henry lets me slowly slide down his body, but his arm stays around my waist, not letting me go to Riley and calm him down.
“Have you heard of knocking?” Henry’s voice is all male anger and possessiveness wrapped in a neat bow.
“Why him?” Riley asks me, ignoring Henry altogether. “You were never the girl guys like him would use and move on from. You deserve more.”
“Careful,” Henry warns, pushing me behind him in one move as tears prick my eyes. It was almost like Henry knew I wouldn’t want Riley to see me breakdown.
Riley’s overdramatic laugh fills the room. “Or fucking what?”
“Try it. I will even give you one free shot, but then your free game,” Henry taunts, and I stare, frozen in horror, as Riley does just that. He takes one large step forward and smacks his fist into Henry’s face, and Henry just laughs before he punches him back. Riley flies across the room from the hit, smacking against the wall.
“Stop!” I scream, running into the middle of them as Riley struggles to get up. I offer a hand to help him, but he glares at me as he gets himself up. His eyes flicker to Henry, and a sneer I’ve never seen on Riley crosses his face.
“I will kill you for this. One day, when you’re not looking. I will fucking kill you.” Riley storms out of the room, and I shout after him, only he decides to ignore me. Vesnia pops her head around the door, a worried look on her face.
“Seems like it’s the night for fights,” she says. “Want to walk back home with me?”
I look back at Henry as he sits on the bed, wiping the blood pouring from his nose, and he looks so pale again. Not meeting my eye, he whispers, “You should leave. I need to be alone.”
“Oh, okay,” I whisper back, feeling more tears waiting to fall. I take my bestie’s hand and close the door behind me as I step out into the corridor. She doesn’t need me to talk as she wraps me into a hug and tells me everything’s going to be okay.
But it’s not okay.
And if Riley doesn’t let this go, it can’t ever be.
Chapter 23
“Is he still ignoring you?” Vesnia asks as we eat breakfast. I chew my toast before leaving the rest of the meal, not feeling hungry anymore. Any mention of the two guys ignoring me makes me feel bad for not telling Thallon about my kiss with Henry. Thallon is a good guy and always honest with me, but I guess we never actually agreed we are dating. Or exclusive for that matter.
Exclusivity would mean telling Thallon the truth about the vampire ghost who haunts my room or my weird crush on the dark angel who