A few people follow her into the restaurant. I stand there for five minutes, and she doesn’t return, so I go back outside to my friends.
“She says she’ll go tell them.”
Everyone groans.
“Did she confirm that it’s his?” Selene asks, and I shake my head.
“A night of debauchery will lead us straight to hell,” Selene mutters.
“Girl, if you don’t shut up with that doomsday shit.” Cori waves her cousin off.
Selene huffs and crosses her arms.
Forty minutes pass, and no one comes out to move the motorcycle.
“How long does it take him to eat?” Selene asks. “I hope he chokes.”
“He’s huge, so he’s probably eating every egg in there,” Cori says. “And if he chokes and dies, we’ll never get this ugly ass bikeaway from my car.” She pulls out her phone and hands it to me. “I’m gonna lean on it. Take my picture.”
“Are you insane?” I whisper.
“I’m bored, and if that jerk is going to hold us hostage here, I’m going to entertain myself. Ain’t nobody scared of him.”
“Speak for yourself,” Selene and I say at once, but Cori’s always been a daredevil.
She leans on that behemoth. I do note how shiny it is. Cori grins, and I snap a few. Then she crouches down and does a peace sign with both hands. While leaning down, she makes an obscene gesture with her tongue at the bike, and I giggle while I snap more pictures.
She stands and sticks her behind on the motorcycle. When she starts to twerk, I take a video while laughing at her antics. After that, she puts her foot on the footpeg like she’s about to climb.
Even Selene lets out a belly laugh at that one.
“You’re gonna make me pee,” Selene says. “I’ll be back. I’m gonna go use the bathroom.” She runs back to the restaurant, laughing the entire time.
Cori puts both feet on the footpeg and both arms in front of her as if she’s about to fly, so I snap a few of her in that pose. Then she raises one leg as if she’s about to sit on it, but I warn her not to.
“Don’t! What if he has an alarm and it goes off?”
The words are barely out of my mouth when the alarm gets triggered. Cori jumps away as if the bike is on fire. We both exhale in relief when the alarm stops.
“You want to take one?” Cori asks when I hand her back her phone.
“Fuck no.” I step as far away from that thing as possible. “I bet he’s doing this on purpose,” I whisper.
“Right,” Cori agrees. “Why are men always on a damn power trip?”
As the words leave her mouth, I hear the door chime, but there’s something different about this one. A strong gust of wind hits, and the sun disappears behind the clouds. It’s like his presence brings darkness. The strength of the wind carries his scent to me, and I inhale like a shameless masochist.
He walks to the beat of my heart. Each step he takes pumps life into me. I couldn’t look away from him now if my life depended on it, and it just might with one like him. His hair floats behind him like a dark cape.
He walks slowly. He walks as a man used to people and the world bending to him. He stops in front of the bike, which also happens to be in my line of vision. He eyes me up and down. I stand straight under his stare, determined not to shrink under those eyes, but I also don’t make eye contact. I look past his shoulder.
At this moment, I’d give anything to have the ground open and swallow me so I can get away from him. I clear my throat and look away. Cori is standing just as still as I am, but I know she’s doing her best to appear brave.
“Unlock the door,” I whisper to her. I take a step back, and Dark Angel takes one closer. Thankfully, the gigantic bike separates us, but if I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was about to jump it and kidnap me.
“Unlock the fucking door, Cori,” I whisper again.
I stare at my friend, who pulls her keys out of her pocket. She presses a button, but the only thing that happens is that her keys fall out of her hands and land on the concrete.
