Page 48 of Angel I Am Not

“Yes,” Luc and Nick answered together, which made me look over my shoulder and accuse them both of being rude. Gluttony laughed, the sound deep enough to vibrate through me, before saying, “I like her.”

“You’ve known her four minutes,” Luc pointed out.

“Didn’t say I loved her. Said I like her.”

Nick glanced at me. “Give it five.”

“Both of you can fuck off.” The demon in front of me looked increasingly entertained before finally giving me something useful. “Zel.”

I blinked. “What?”

“My name. Call me Zel.”

“That’s significantly better.”

“Glad I passed.” He stepped closer again, slower this time, and his gaze dipped to the lingering shot glass I had somehow carried outside without noticing. “Tequila?”

I looked at my hand and laughed. “Apparently.”

“You like it?”

“I like most things Heaven tells me I shouldn’t.”

His grin returned, warmer this time. “Yeah. We’re gonna get along.”

Something about the certainty in his voice sent another little pulse through my chest, and without thinking, I leaned backward into Luc while my hand found Nick again. Nick immediately curled his fingers around mine. Zel noticed, of course he did, his gaze traveling from our joined hands to Luc’s arm around my waist and then back to me.

“You always do that?” he asked.

“Do what?”

“Reach for them when you look at me.”

I frowned and looked down again. Fuck. “This is super fucking unhelpful,” I repeated, which made Nick laugh loud enough that it echoed off the brick. Luc pressed his mouth briefly against the side of my head and reminded me that he had already warned me about newly bonded mates.

“You also told me we were here to meet Gluttony, not become some weird demon cuddle pile in an alley.”

“We can multitask,” Nick said, throwing my own words back at me.

I glared at him while Zel barked out another laugh. For the first time since we stepped outside, the tension eased enough that all four of us seemed to breathe normally. Then Zel’s gaze dropped to my mouth again, mine dropped to his, and Luc noticed immediately because his arm tightened around my middle.

“So this is happening,” he murmured.

Nick looked between us. “Definitely.”

“What’s happening?” I asked, even though I already knew. Zel took another step forward, and my entire body leaned toward him before Luc’s arm tightened enough to stop me.

“No touching,” Luc said, steering me backward before I could argue.

I twisted enough to stare at him. “Excuse me?”

“Nope. Fuck this shit. Everyone back to the dorm.” Nick was already grinning like an asshole beside us while Zel stared after us, clearly wondering if Luc was serious. Luc did not slow down as he added, “We cannot have a fucking orgy in the goddamn alley.”

Everything went silent for one glorious second before Nick started laughing and Zel’s grin turned absolutely filthy. I slowly looked over my shoulder at Luc. “An orgy?”

His expression fell the second he realized what he had said.

“You said orgy.”