Chapter twenty-two
Sleepover
Istrolled past shop windows after my shift, eyeing the jewelry displays that proclaimed a sparkling gift would ‘show my love’ for Valentine’s Day.
Angel would look dashing with a gold chain. But we couldn’t wear jewelry in surgery. Or near MRI machines. Too risky. Not that his gift had to be work-related. A custom badge holder and compression socks didn’t exactly scream romance.
The pink Closette bag security hadn’t really wanted to check for me brushed against my leg as I kept window shopping. Sure, I could say I bought this lingerie for my boyfriend. But I wanted to give him a present more meaningful than tantalizing.
What kind of gesture would really show how much he meant to me? I’d already gotten on my knees, and I wasn’t going to ‘give’ him my virginity. That part of our relationship would happen naturally.
After all, I loved him, and he’d expressed some pretty big feelings for me.
But maybe the words ‘I love you’ weren’t a big deal to him, just a phrase people said after an orgasm.
I’d have to ask him.
Be brave, Tori.
If I could blow him during a shift, surely, I could confess my feelings.
As I entered the restaurant, I texted Angel to let him know I was there, then hesitantly checked my muted text thread with Mom. She’d asked me to call her when I was ready, and swore she’d explain everything. ‘Love you, Tori.’
It slashed my insides like an empty promise.
Those words meant something. To me. So did actions. Mine needed to be right—especially in a new relationship.
My stomach twisted in knots as I walked into the Cake Warehouse, mentally rehearsing a beautiful moment between us. Maybe I could give him another one of Sal’s plushies and say, ‘Love is in the air. And I love you, Angel.’
Or was that piggybacking off his courting gesture when he got me a scented bear?
I wandered by the front desk in search of my man.
The hostess side-eyed me. “Do you have a reservation?” she asked.
I stopped myself mid-step. “I’m looking for my boyfriend, Angel. Do you know him?”
She chuckled, haughty. “Oh yeah, I know him.”
Not the way I did.
Well, hopefully not.
Bristling, I crossed my arms, and her smile dropped pretty quickly.
“He’s got the section by the windows,” she said.
“Thanks,” I said, clutching my bag tighter as I walked off.
Angel had a past. Everyone did, to some extent. I just hated the idea that someone else might’ve held his attention. Or heart. Or hand. Or anything else, for that matter.
I’d taken his interest for granted in school. I wasn’t about to let that happen again.
Angel stopped in the aisle, his expression brightening at the sight of me. “Pigeon.”
My heart fluttered. He didn’t light up like that for anyone else.
I waved and the Closette bag flapped around my arm.
