Page 44 of The Devil’s Feather

Oh. I sat with her words. When the important women in your life told you something was off about a man, only a fool ignored them. But Rafael might as well have had my soul in his back pocket for all the power I had to resist him.

“He wrote a theme song for Dragonsoul,” I said in a small voice.

“Laney.” Her glare pinned me to the sofa cushion.

I wriggled, buglike, out from beneath it. “Would it help if you got to know Rafael a little better? Maybe just the three of us. Annie really put his back up.”

“Oh, Annie. That girl cannot get out of her own way.”

“Bless her heart.”

Dee swished her drink in the can. “Yeah, I’ll consider it.”

That reminded me. “Whatever happened with Dominique? Are you still seeing her?” All I’d heard for the last four months was how amazing Dominique was in bed, then suddenly nothing.

A groan worked its way out of Dee’s throat. “They go by Bolt now, and no. Got with some married chick who was supposedly monogamous. Husband got jealous and tried to sleep with everyone Bolt was fucking, including me. I turned him down flat and told his wife to check her man. She flipped out. All three of them have been blowing up my phone for the last few days for no damn reason. How did three other people’s bad decisions turn into my fault?”

I scooted over to hug her at the first sign of a tear. We rested our heads together, and mascara streaked down her cheeks. Dee had never been much of a crier compared to my frequent, tearful meltdowns. I’d never been much of a hugger compared to her touchy-feely tendencies. Somehow, we balanced each other.

She dabbed at the corners of her eyes. “I thought we had something, you know? Even if it’s really not Bolt’s fault, it’s just too damn messy. I’m too old for that kind of drama; especially so early in a relationship.”

“Damn, sorry I missed all of this. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Deandra pushed me gently. “You’ve got that ‘New Relationship Energy’. It’s hard to talk about a breakup around someone who’s completely infatuated.”

“God, that’s so true. I’m sorry I pulled an Annie. I’ll never forget how she just physically could not shut up about Frank when I was crying my eyes out over David.”

“Fucking Frank.” Dee knocked back her drink.

“Fucking Frank,” I agreed. “I’m sorry, but that guy looks like he’s been preaching for forty years about how eating pussy is against his religion.”

Dee snorted seltzer out of her nose. “Welp, breakup sads are over for now. Thank you for that.”

1 “Hurt (feat. The Warning)” by Dead Poet Society & The Warning

12

INEFFABLY BAD DECISIONS

The blinking cursor mocked me. I sighed and closed my laptop; I’d been staring at it for almost an hour, willing the stubborn words to flow from my brain onto the page. Only my second night away from Rafael, and the sex DTs threatened to strike at any moment.

An incoming call brightened my phone. I’d changed his name to “Trickster God” in my contacts, and here he was living up to it.

With a deep breath to calm my giddy schoolgirl energy, I answered. “I was just thinking about you. Do I need to add ‘mind reader’ to the list of things you’re good at?”

“Thinking about me, how?” Rafael purred.

The phone did nothing to dilute the power of his voice. Damn, where were my earbuds?

I put the phone on speaker so I could clean my room. “I wish I could say it was something sexier and less pathetic than just lying on my bed yearning to see you.”

“Fuck this meeting. I will fly back tonight.”

“No, don’t do that. It’s just two more days. I’m being a baby because you’ve shown me how vastly underwhelming my life is.” Surely I had something sexier than a t-shirt that was still comfortable.

“Hmm, fine. This gives me more time to arrange your gift.”

I dropped the wad of clean underwear I’d found in the fresh laundry pile at the foot of my bed. “What do you mean, gift?”