The Bound Angel (Sacrilege Rising: Book 1)

Chapter Seventeen

Mike said, “They’re the exact same.”

Emma looked at him like he had two heads. “They’re really not.”

“If you think there’s a difference, I don’t know what to tell you.”

She picked up the pair of avocados and squeezed each one separately. “With respect, this one is ripe. This one,” she said, setting the other back in the bin, “is not.”

Her fingers brushed his hand on the exchange, and Emma took a steadying breath. “Moving on.”

She’d really needed food in her apartment, and she’d really needed to talk to Mike, so she invited him to come to the grocery with her. Annoyingly, the cart she picked had a bad wheel. It fought her as they moved through the aisles.

“Snacks?” Mike asked.

“Noshes,” she corrected.

Emma was afraid it was going to be awkward between them. Terrified, if she was honest. He was her best friend, and she was scared of losing the late nights spent talking, the comfortable banter, his dependability. Mike was the first friend she made when she moved to the States. He helped her book classes when she was overwhelmed that first week. He showed her how the bus schedule worked. He even sat with her at the DMV, that godforsaken place.

There had always been a spot of tension, of course. He was nice, and cute, and she knew he fancied her a bit. And, if she was honest, she felt the same way, a bit. But she didn’t want to lose her friend. They had their very own spot at the pub, for heaven’s sake. She could handle losing a boyfriend. They would come and go. She didn’t know if she could handle losing her best friend.

But now they’d seen each other naked. They’d done… things. The memory of those things made her stomach flutter. To make matters worse, she’d been feeling extra randy lately. It came in waves, ever since she got back. After her sketch pen went in the gutter and dragged her mind along with it she’d tried to have a bit of a wank, but didn’t find much success. It was just a bit dull.

She needed to figure out what happened, and Mike could reach the top shelf, so she invited him along. That’s all it was. Just a casual meet-up with her best friend. Only now she couldn’t stop picturing her best friend without a shirt.

Mike picked up a box of Oreos and gestured toward the cart with a question. “Classic American cookie.”

Behind him, a woman turned into their aisle.

Emma made a face. “I think you mean biscuit. And I’m not terribly keen on them. Too sweet.” There was a disgusted look on his face as he returned the box to the shelf, and they kept moving.

“Ooo!” Her eyes lit up. “Jammie Dodgers! I can’t believe they have them! Grab two boxes please.”

The other woman was coming closer. She was young and pretty with a brown ponytail bouncing behind her. Her University of Baltimore sweatshirt was cut short, just below her breasts, and the fabric looked like it had been done by hand with shears. Her sweatpants were rolled over to ride low on her hips. The combination revealed a perfectly toned stomach and a sparkling belly button piercing. It drew the eye to her fit physique and perfect tan. One day she would be freckled and leathery, but for now she was a deep brown of healthy, youthful appeal. The bitch. Even if she was another student, Emma didn’t know how you could feel comfortable walking around in public in pajamas.

When Mike turned to look where Emma was pointing, he bumped into the woman’s cart. “Oops! Sorry,” he said.

The look on her face was pure annoyance. She was clearly hot shit and not used to things getting in her way. But when she laid eyes on Mike, the look shifted. Her head tilted a bit, and something new flashed behind her eyes. “Oh, it’s alright.” She gave him a dazzling smile. “These carts don’t seem to steer right. Do you mind?”

Mike was too busy noticing the belly button piercing to register what she’d said. He asked, “Um, what?” in that way Emma was so familiar with. She had to physically restrain herself from rolling her eyes.

The girl, Emma now thought of her as a ridiculous little girl, pretended not to notice his obvious staring. Instead, she cocked her hips to the side, which flexed her belly and made the dangly bit swing. “My cart’s stuck.”

“Oh. Right.” Mike lifted the front end of her cart to get it back on track.

“I’m Becky, by the way.”

Of course she was.

“Mike.”

“Do you go to UBalt?”

“Yep. You?”

“Mmhmm. What are those?” Becky nodded to the box of Jammie Dodgers in his hands and looked embarrassed on his behalf for his juvenile taste.

“You know, I’m actually not sure.” He turned to Emma. “What exactly is a Jammie Dodger anyway?”

Becky seemed to notice her for the first time. She gave Emma a quick once over, looking her up and down like a hyena finally noticing a lioness in the bushes.

“So nice to meet you, Becky,” Emma said, taking Mike’s hand in her own. “But we should be going.” She led him back in the direction the girl had come from to ensure they wouldn’t be followed.

Becky called from behind, “Mike, if you want to party, come to Alpha Phi this weekend. Tell the girl at the front I invited you.” As she walked away, she rolled her hips so her ass swaggered from side to side. A few steps later, she looked back over her shoulder, and smirked when she saw Mike staring.

“Really?” Emma said and gave him a look as they rounded the corner.

He had the grace to look embarrassed. “What?”

She wasn’t jealous of the little tramp and her perfect belly and perfect tan. London notoriously had lousy weather, which made it impossible for Emma to ever get a decent tan, but she definitely wasn’t jealous. She just rolled her eyes and said, “Nevermind. You’ve really never had a Jammie Dodger?”

Mike shook his head.

“Poor Americans. Should have been focusing on important things like noshes instead of getting your knickers in a bunch over taxes and whatnot. Come over after this and you can try one.”

Mike fell silent. His face relaxed into a carefully neutral expression. Why did he… oh. She’d just invited him back to her apartment.

“I, ah…” he fumbled. “Don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

There it was. And they were doing so well. Talking to him came back so easily, like they hadn’t missed a beat, but it was just a show. Recent events and uncomfortable conversations were lurking just beneath the surface of their familiar banter, waiting for one of them to take a misplaced step. And she’d done it. But there was no use hiding from it now.

“We should talk.” Her voice came out steadier than she felt.

“Yeah,” Mike agreed.

They both hesitated, waiting for the other to begin, then spoke at the same time.

“Listen, I-”

“I don’t know-”

Their shared laugh was nervous and forced, but it was still a laugh, and it broke the tension.

“Let me start,” Mike said. “I’ve, um, had this conversation already.”

“You have?”

“Yeah. Twice.”

It clicked. “Oh. Alright then.”

“You remember how your grandmother’s church burned down?”

“Yes…” Emma said, eyeing him.

“Well, I was there.”

“You were? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because nobody would have believed me. Not then. But now, well, I was painting that night and heard something. It sounded like people having sex. I came across a couple going at it right there in front of the altar. Only, it wasn’t a man and a woman, it was a man and her.”

Emma instantly knew who he meant. The woman in the black dress from her drawings.

“You’ve known about her for that long?”

“Not exactly. I thought she died when the church burned down.”

As some puzzle pieces were sliding into place, new ones without a home kept appearing. “So how did the church really burn down?”

He hesitated. “Apparently, where there are demons, angels aren’t far behind.”

He couldn’t be serious. Angels and demons? That was crazy, no different than if he’d told her the Loch Ness Monster or Big Grey Man were real. If Emma hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, even if her memory was still playing catch up, she would have thought he’d gone mad. But, well…

Mike continued, “She can change her appearance, and I thought she was a friend. Until the other day when you, ah, well, when you asked me over to help with the air conditioner.”

Her cheeks heated at recalling one of the most embarrassing moments of her life. But why should she be embarrassed about that? They’d done much, much more intimate things since that regretful day. “Yes well,” she began, adjusting her shirt and shuffling items around in the cart. “Go on.”

“You didn’t seem like yourself. It reminded me of the same thing going on with other… um… people. I noticed a pattern.”

“Other people…”

“You’ve met. Recently.”

“Oh.” Their names bubbled up from a half-remembered dream. “Meredith. And Allie, right?”

He nodded.

“So you’re saying that woman in the black dress made us, um, at the risk of sounding crass, horny for you?”

Mike had the good sense to blush. “Something like that.”

“I can see why you thought I wouldn’t believe you. Wait. You did say something. At the pub. Something about an angel. That wasn’t a lame pickup line, was it.”

Mike rubbed the back of his neck. “Not exactly.”

It was more than a bit unsettling that this woman could turn her into a drooling hussy and make her black out. Days of her life were just gone, vanished in a haze of mindless, carefree sex. Even though the thought of it gave her a rush, she couldn’t shake a feeling of dread. What if it happened again? She couldn’t miss any more classes. She was having enough trouble catching up this week already. When she thought about how her life would go, she didn’t picture benders and wild orgies. She wanted to start her own business. The odds of opening a successful shop were already slim, but if she was disappearing for days at a time it would be dead before it got started.

“Hey.” Mike’s voice was soft. So was the hand resting on the back of hers. “It’ll be okay.”

“Says you,” she spat, making him pull his hand back. “Sorry, that came out harsher than I wanted.”

“It’s alright. I get it.”

“It’s just, you’re my best friend. I hope you know that.” She felt tears coming but she pushed on. “I love you, Mike, and I love this thing we have between us. I don’t feel as comfortable around anyone else, or have as much fun with anyone else. But now all I can think about is taking you to bed, and that’s not what I want for us.” The tears started to fall. “Being this close to you is overwhelming. I want a life, Mike, and I want you in it, but I don’t want it to revolve around you and I’m sorry if that’s horrible.” Mike’s eyes were wet too. She sniffled and wiped her face. “Don’t just stand there looking sorry for me. Say something.”

He smiled. “I love you too, Emma. I always have. You’re my best friend, too. And I’m so, so sorry this happened.”

He moved closer and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his shirt and let the tears come. He was warm and solid. His arms around her were big and heavy. It felt like she was wrapped in a comforting cocoon.

“Oh look,” she sniffed, “now I’ve gone and ruined your shirt.” She tried brushing the stain away, which was silly. His chest underneath was solid. Wiping her eyes with her other hand, her fingers absently trailed down along his torso, gently tracing the ridges under his shirt. Underneath, she knew he was all corded muscle and callused hands. How had she not noticed before? Now it was all she could think about. How his bare chest felt sliding against her own. How his big hands felt tangled in her hair and pulling on the back of her head. How he tasted when he-

She pushed him away and stumbled back. “I’m sorry, I…” the bulge in his shorts was distracting. “I need to go.”

“Wait,” Mike caught her by the wrist as she turned to leave. “You’re the one who needs groceries. I’ll go.”

He took a step back and Emma’s heart broke. But she knew if she spoke, she would just try to convince him to come back to her apartment. So she watched silently as he disappeared around the corner.