He gave me his phone. “Here. Put in your address and your phone number, then get dressed. You got plans tomorrow?”
“Just a closing shift,” I said.
“Want to meet up after?”
“Yes.” My mind snagged on the semantics. “Oh, wait. It’ll be late. I don’t even know what time I’ll get off, and I’m not sure I’ll be the best company if I’m tired. Plus, I can’t drive myself, then, so—”
“I can drive. I’ll bring cake. And coffee.” He slid into his shirt and flashed me a boyish grin.
“That’d be lovely,” I said.
This was the start of a new and wonderful adventure. I went to text myself on his phone per his instructions, only to be bombarded by unread notifications from various feminine-sounding contacts. According to the message previews, these ladies wanted to schedule something with him ‘again.’ They missed him. Wanted him. I quickly finished adding my contact details and texted myself a simple heart emoji. Would he ghost me too if we slept together?
He said he didn’t want to hurt me—and he knew my sister and her boyfriend might make him pay if he did. So his interest had to be genuine. But he wasn’t into relationships. I didn’t feel like a conquest either. So, what were we doing? Having fun?
I propped the phone up with GPS directions on his console and adjusted my bra strap in agitation.
“Um, Angel, just so I know, what should my expectations be?” I asked, watching for any flashing sirens along the beach.
“What do you mean?” He popped his collar only to smooth it out again.
“Will we be dating? Or is this a…fling?” My chest tightened with anxiety. No wonder people hated defining their relationships.
He tensed, his nostrils flaring, before he sighed and flexed his hand atop the steering wheel, the other arm stretching behind my seat. “You tell me, pidge. What do you want it to be?”
Everything.
But I wasn’t ready for that and wasn’t sure how patient he’d be.
“I-I don’t know,” I said, lowering my gaze to my lap. “I was hoping we could explore things beyond our bodies. Get to know each other, maybe.”
He chuckled, and I shrunk into my seat. Was that too naïve?
He squeezed my shoulder. “Sounds good to me.”
“Really?” I chanced a glance at his pretty face. “But, um, you’ll have to teach me how to do this relationship thing. And sex, probably.”
Angel brushed the curtain of my hair back. “It’d be my honor, Tori. Who knows? You might teach me a few things.”
Yeah, like how sweet life with me could be.
Chapter eleven
Healing
I texted Kat to reassure her I’d gotten home safely.
She reacted with a heart on flames emoji.
Eventually, I’d tell her more about my adventure on the beach. For now, all I wanted to do was warm up in the shower, then go to sleep.
As I shed my clothes for the second time tonight, I realized I’d left my tights in Angel’s car. It’d been too hard to squeeze into them with my seatbelt on and my legs all wet.
Oh well.
