Page 20

It had been a week since that morning with Angel, and shit was moving fast. Surprisingly, things were good—too good, maybe. Tonight, we were having dinner with Naomi and Jonas at some bougie-ass restaurant. The kind of place where you had to make reservations weeks in advance and the waiters wore tuxedos. I was on my best behavior, trying to show Angel I was serious about us.

“Here, try this,” I said, holding a forkful of seared salmon to her lips. Angel leaned in, taking it from the fork, her eyes lighting up as she chewed. Seeing her happy did something to me. She smiled, and my dick got hard. How the fuck was that supposed to be normal?

Across the table, Naomi sat there looking like she’d rather be anywhere else. I caught her watching us out the corner of my eye, her expression twisting when I fed Angel another bite.

"Seriously?" she muttered, loud enough for me to hear.

My jaw clenched instantly. Here we go.

"What?" I snapped, trying to keep my cool.

Jonas tried to step in, placing a hand on Naomi's arm. "Babe, mind your own business."

She shrugged him off, and I waved Jonas off.

“Nah, bruh. Let her talk,” I said, leaning back in my chair and smirking in Naomi’s direction. “Her emotions gon’ drive her crazy if she don’t say what she gotta say. Go ahead, kick yo dirt at me.” I lifted my glass to my lips, the gin burning its way down my throat, but it didn’t do much for my irritation.

Jonas shook his head. “Don’t even say nothing, Naomi. Y’all doing too much.”

Naomi wasn’t having it. She squinted her eyes at me and snapped, "Kicking dirt? That’s what you call trying to save you and Angel from yourself? Fine, but let it be known that I don't approve of this," she said, gesturing with her hands like she was giving some grand speech.

I bit back a sharp comment, gripping my drink tighter. Who the fuck asked for her opinion or approval? That was Naomi’s problem she didn’t know how to shut up.

Then Naomi turned to Angel, her expression softening like she wasn’t just throwing jabs a second ago. "Are you happy, Angel?"

Angel nodded, her eyes meeting mine briefly. "Yes, I am."

Naomi sighed, a dramatic exhale that made my blood pressure spike. She was doing too much.

"Then I'm going to shut up. I hope this thing lasts, or at the very least, y'all break up on good terms. I don't want to have to pick sides." She shot me a glare before smiling at Angel.

I leaned back in my chair, clenching my jaw as I forced myself to stay calm. “Naomi, I get that you're protective of Angel. But this is between us. We’ll figure it out.”

"Figure it out?" Naomi scoffed, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Okay, figure it out..."

Jonas grabbed her hand, giving it a firm squeeze. “Let it go. Eat,” he said, giving her that look men give their girl when they’ve had enough of the bullshit. Naomi sucked her teeth, took a long swallow of her drink, and tucked her lips like she wanted to say more but thought better of it.

She’s lucky Jonas is here, I thought, my fists tightening in my lap. The things I wanted to say to her right now? Angel wouldn’t like it.

The rest of the meal was tense. Naomi kept shooting daggers at me with her eyes, but I couldn’t muster the emotion to give a fuck. She wasn’t worth my energy. I stayed focused on Angel instead, stealing little touches and brushing my hand against hers. She was all that mattered tonight.

As we finished dessert, I leaned into Angel, my lips brushing her ear. "You ready to get out of here?"

She nodded, and I could see the relief in her eyes.

We said our goodbyes, Naomi giving Angel a tight hug and whispering something in her ear. She didn’t even look at me after that. Jonas and I exchanged a few words, and then we headed toward the door.

As we waited for valet, Naomi and Jonas walked past us. Naomi glanced back, her face full of attitude, and I couldn’t help myself. I flipped her the bird, quick and low enough so Angel wouldn’t see while she fixed her dress. Naomi smirked and walked off. Fuck outta here, I thought, watching her smirk before walking off.

My car pulled up, and I opened the door for Angel. As I walked around the back to get to the driver’s side, my phone rang. Keisha had been calling me all day.

Of course, now she’s sorry.

She was full of apologies now. I won’t lie and say I didn’t contemplate calling her back. The pictures she sent me? They had me dick hard. Old habits were hard to break.

As I slid into the driver’s seat, I looked over at Angel. She smiled at me, soft and real, like I was the only thing that mattered to her.

And just like that, my decision was easy.

Before putting my phone down, I scrolled to Keisha’s contact and hit block.

Guess old habits weren’t so hard to break after all.