“So she can come pick me up.”

He hurried to her, and Alex walked out of the apartment behind him. Sarah put her phone down before dialing Valerie, waiting for him but not sure what to expect. Angel’s rigid expression softened the moment he got close enough to see her better in the dark. “Why are you crying?”

“Why do you think?” she said, trying not to sound too angry, but she was only it was mostly at herself.

He took a step forward. “Why’d you come here?”

“Because I wanted to talk to you, but—”

“About what? About him?” he asked, but he didn’t sound nearly as angry as he had earlier on the phone or when he said he didn’t want her there. He sounded scared now.

“No, about us.” She gulped back the emotion, glad that Alex had stayed behind with Romero and had given them a moment.

“What about us?” Angel asked, his eyes going a little wild. “What are you saying?”

“Nothing bad,” she said, reaching out to touch his face, and he immediately pulled her to him, hugging her hard and kissing the side of her head.

“You love me?” he asked frantically.

“Yes!” she said. “Of course I do.”

“Do you have feelings for him?”

“No!” She pulled away so she could look him in the eyes when she assured of him of that. “No, I don’t, not at all.”

She wanted to ask him how he could possibly think that, but she knew why, and she didn’t want to bring up the pictures. This would be the worst time ever to bring that up.

He stared at her for a moment then hugged her again tightly. “Don’t call Valerie,” he whispered against her ear. “Come back to Alex’s place with me. Spend the night.”

“Okay,” Alex said loudly behind them. “All better. Let’s go. I don’t have all night. Sarah, sweetheart, you need a ride back to the restaurant to get your car or—”

“Nah,” Angel said, turning back to look at him. “She’s coming with me back to your place.” He turned back to Sarah. “Right?”

Alex chuckled as he opened his truck door. “Really? Because in there you said—”

“Shut up,” Angel said but kept his eyes on Sarah.

This was the Angel she knew and loved, and she couldn’t help but smile, a bit relieved, and then nod. Seeing the big smile on his face and feeling his big arms around her again made her feel even better, but she knew they still had a lot to talk about. The alcohol had obviously effected his impulsive reaction to both seeing her and then not wanting her to leave his side. Tomorrow morning, when he was thinking clearer, would be when his real feelings and everything she knew the alcohol was numbing now would come out.

~~~

Sarah had been right about them not getting any productive talking done last night. For starters, he passed out halfway back to Alex’s place. Then when they woke him to get him from the truck and into Alex’s place, he’d gone from peering at her suspiciously as if he knew he was mad at her but couldn’t remember why, to telling her how much he loved her then repeating, “I’ll kill him,” again and again, but she didn’t dare comment. He kept this up until he finally passed out for the night.

She’d spent a better part of the night tossing and turning next to him on the futon they’d shared in Alex’s front room until exhaustion finally did her in.

They both had only one class on Fridays, and she was pretty sure they weren’t going to make it today. She’d woken early and slipped out of bed, leaving Angel a note that she was tagging along with Alex to the restaurant so she could pick up her car and come back for him. She stopped on the way back to pick up breakfast sandwiches and coffee since Alex had warned her he still didn’t have a coffee machine yet.

When she got back to Alex’s place, the futon was upright and the blankets they’d used were folded neatly. Angel was in the shower. Immediately, her stomach was in knots again. As drunk as he’d been last night, she sort of expected him to be out a lot longer this morning.

Picking at the breakfast sandwich as she stood in the kitchen, thinking about her impending conversation with Angel, Sarah wondered why she’d bothered buying food. She had zero appetite, and she had a feeling Angel’s stomach wouldn’t be feeling the greatest.

The water in the shower had been off for a few minutes, and she heard the door open. Within moments, Angel was in the kitchen behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning into her neck, but said nothing. Sarah took a deep breath and waited.

“I’m sorry if I was an idiot or anything last night. I don’t remember much, but Alex did text me saying I should apologize.”

She shook her head. “No need to. Alex had warned me it probably wasn’t a good idea for me to come with him, knowing how much you’d been drinking.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been that drunk,” he said, cringing. “My head is killing me.”

“You should’ve stayed in bed.” She turned around to face him, touching his temple lightly. “I might have aspirin in my purse.”

Angel shook his head. “I already took two.” He reached for the coffee mug on the counter, taking a step away from her. “Listen, we gotta talk.”

“I know,” she said, surprised at how fast he was getting to it. “I need to explain—”

“I went to have a drink with Bruxa yesterday after I got off the phone with you.”