Page 114 of Till The Sun Dies (Checkmate 2)

“Did you hit him?”

“Nope. I absolutely did not hit him.”

My eyes narrow. Angelo isn’t lying… He’s grossly omitting, though. “Didanyonehit him? Does Skeeter bear any markings from your visit with him?”

He grins. “Mm?”

I roll my eyes and begin picking at my food. I’m all alone in a hotel room with the guy I’m somewhat crushing on.

It feels weird now. Weird, because what Graham did to me should have been enough that I never look at a man again. Weird, because looking at Skeeter gave me the heebie-jeebies, even before he spoke to me, and if we’d gone to that honky-tonk bar, I get the feeling most men in there would creep me out.

Even the good-looking guys.

But Ang is taking his shoes and socks off. He’s still in a shirt that showcases his broad chest and thick biceps, with a wildness in his eyes that tells me hediddo something to Skeeter; something painful and violent.

But he doesn’t creep me out. And he doesn’t scare me.

He makes me nervous, because the thought of rejection terrifies me. But he, himself, the man in front of me, makes me feel safe.

There’s no way in a million years that I could be in this room alone with any other man, but it’s kind of gratifying to be here with him and not freak out.

“You want some gravy?”

He steps closer and looks down into my container. Leather bands stretch around his thick wrists, a chain dangles over his chest as he leans toward me, and his new hair, still foreign to us both, falls forward and curtains half of his face. “You got any food with that gravy?”

“Uh-huh. Fries, and a piece of chicken.”

“And a heart attack.” His grin makes my heart flip.Since when did my heart flip for Angelo?“That’s cute. Your brother will love donating his heart when yours is all clogged up.”

“I don’t want his heart.” I slide a fry into my mouth and lick the gravy from my fingers. “His heart is obsessed with Kari, and I don’t think I wanna be sexually attracted to my best friend.”

He snorts. “No. That would be weird, right?”

“Right.”

He turns to the rickety table and picks up his phone, swiping it several times before he turns to the staticky TV and silences it. He plops his phone down again, winking at me as he passes on his way to the bathroom.

Tori Kelly’s sweet singing voice coming from his phone makes me smile as he closes the door, leaving me in peace.

When the shower goes on, I’m somewhat glad he didn’t warn me he was going to do that. It would have given me time to obsess about being all alone, time to overthink what the hell I’m doing here, but before those thoughts can manifest, the shower stops again and Tori’s song is just coming to an end.

Ang is gone for less than five minutes before he steps back into the room and steam races out behind him.

With my fingers in my mouth, fries stopping halfway down my throat, I choke when my eyes drop to the towel slung around his trim hips.

“I’m sorry.” He dashes across the room and snatches up his backpack. “I wasn’t thinking. I just need…” He lifts his bag, but I see nothing except for the line of hair that leads into his towel, and the water droplets that sit on his chest. He lowers the bag again and clears his throat. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” I’m trying to act cool. I’m trying to pretend I’m totally normal, adjusted, and not freaking out, but when someone in the next room slams against the wall so hard the pictures rattle, then a giggle turns to a moan, my eyes flare and I slap a hand over my mouth. “Oh my God.” My words are a squeak. “They’re doing it.”

He drops his face into his hands and silently laughs. There’s absolutely no sound, just his bouncing back and wrinkles by his eyes. “I can’t even.” He shakes his head. “Do they ever stop?”

Without removing my hand, I shake my head. “No.”

At a second crash, Ang rushes back into the bathroom and slams the door closed, leaving me all alone with the couple next door as Jess’ moans become indecent. Jesus. It’s not like I haven’t heard her before. It’s not like I haven’t heard him, either. He’s not shy about how much he’s… into her. But I’ve never heard it through such thin walls. I’ve never heard it in high definition, and when they do something that creates twin groans, I’m forced to fan my face before I pass out.

That’s my sister.

That’s my sister.

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