"Are you insane?!"

Angela held the phone away from her ear when Nina yelled after she told her what happened to her bathroom and where she would be staying in the meantime. She thought about keeping it from her best friend, but she had no choice when Nina called her earlier, saying that she was dropping off some food for her, but her apartment was empty.

It was nearly nine in the evening, and she was in Gael's bedroom, sitting on the bed with Honey next to her. He was in the cottage outside talking to his people, so she had some time to herself.

Getting yelled at by Nina only made her feel bad that she chose to stay here. Was it really stupid for her to do so? Maybe. She kicked herself for not knowing the right answer.

"What do you want me to do, Nins? I obviously can't stay with you when you have your cousin already freeloading and giving you a headache. I won't be able to write there," Angela explained when she had the chance.

"And you can write there in his place with all his goons?!"

"I...haven't tried writing here yet, but at least there are lots of spaces where I can be alone. His…people aren't really in this house. They're staying at a cottage next to the house."

Nina snorted. "So you're ALONE with him in his big house with only one livable bedroom where he also sleeps?"

Angela rolled her eyes. She already knew what was on her friend's mind, and she couldn't argue with her. Sighing, she decided to tell her the other thing. "Evan found me."

"What did you say?"

"Evan found me, Nin. He knows where I'm living. He sent flowers."

The line was quiet for a few seconds. Angela could only guess that her best friend must have been shocked at the news. Then Nina found her voice again. "On second thought… I guess staying with Gael isn't such a bad idea. He's scary, but unlike Evan, I don't think he'll…hurt you."

Angela didn't know how to respond to that. She tipped her torso backward until her back hit the mattress, and she let out a long sigh. "I really need to move now, huh?"

"Y-Yeah… Anj? I forgot to tell you something," Nina hesitated. There was an audible gulp from the other line that made Angela's brows drew together.

"What?"

"Remember a few months ago when I told you that I saw Evan in the parking lot in front of the office?"

"Yeah?"

"I...sort of...may have...ummm… I kinda told him you were getting married."

"You told him what?! Are you insane?" Angela's eyes widened and she shot up to a sitting position. Honey, who was napping beside her, got startled that it looked up at her and whimpered. But she was too shocked to comfort the poor dog.

Lowering her voice a tad, Angela continued to question, "Why in the world would you tell Evan I am getting married?! Who am I getting married to? A ghost?! Why am I not informed?"

"I know! I'm so sorry, Anj! I have no idea what came over me at that time. I didn't think. It just came out!" Nina panicked.

Running her fingers through her hair, Angela was dumbfounded. So these past few months, Evan had been thinking that she was getting married? She began to feel queasy. Evan being mad was one thing, but Evan getting jealous? That's a whole different disaster waiting to happen. If he hadn't found out where she was, it would have been easier to avoid and forget about his existence. But now that he knew where she lived and he was still obsessing with her, it made her feel anxious.

When she didn't respond, Nina added, "I guess I thought that if he knew you were already with someone, he'd stop, you know?"

'I doubt that,' Angela thought.

"Nin… I gotta go. I need to cool off," she told her best friend, and after their goodbyes, she padded towards the bathroom to take a shower.

…

Unbeknownst to Angela, Gael came back to the house and was by the doorway of his bedroom just in time to hear her getting worked up at something about her getting married and all that. What he heard was definitely surprising, but somehow, he caught the gist of what it was all about.

He remained leaning against the wall with his arms and legs crossed until he heard the faint sound of water coming from the bathroom. As he made his way to his bed and cuddled with Honey, he couldn't stop thinking about Angela getting married to someone else. Just the thought of it squeezed his heart.

Honey hopped off from his arms and crawled towards the edge of the bed, and closed its eyes.

Several times, Gael would find himself staring at the bathroom door and then looking away, only to stare at it again a few seconds later. Angela was surely taking her time in there. Subconsciously, he scanned the room and did not find the paper bag anywhere. 'No way…'

His dick twitched at the split second that he thought about Angela trying to get off in the bathroom all by herself. "Fûck." What was wrong with him? He'd been thinking dirty about her A LOT in the past hours.

He looked down at his crotch and glared at it. "I'm not touching you. Stand down."

Right. As if that would make him stop growing hard. The sound of the running water and the thought of Angela naked just wouldn't leave his mind.

"You're sick," he scolded himself and slumped on the bed, closing his eyes.

A buzzing sound from the nearby table caught his attention. Gael glanced up and saw Angela's phone on the nightstand. It was flashing like someone was calling her.

"Angel. You have a…" His voice trailed off when he saw the caller I.D.

[Vincent Stone]

...

Twenty minutes later, Angela came out of the bathroom in a loungewear—a pair of pants and hoodie. She saw Gael sitting on the bed, looking back at her. Her hair was damp instead of wet, so he thought she must have dried it while she was inside. She revealed a faint smile before bending down to her suitcase on the floor.

Since last night, she had been wearing clothes that didn't reveal too much when she was around him. It was as if she was making sure that he wouldn't find her attractive or something.

Little did she know, Gael didn't need to see her in revealing clothes to know what was hidden underneath the fabric that's covering her. His imagination of her in tiny shorts and wet see-through shirt from last night was enough to make him go crazy. 'What the fûck! There you go again! You're hornier than a teenager,' he scolded himself and blew out some air, fanning his shirt to cool down.

"You settling down okay?" he asked, in an attempt to divert his attention.

She got up and came to sit on the bed with him, looking calm as ever. She nodded and offered a smile as she said, "Thanks for letting me stay."

Gael caught a whiff of her scent. She smelled like strawberries and mint—a combination he didn't think he'd actually come to like. But then again, it didn't matter what kind of scent she'd wear, he'd always think she'd smell fantastic.

"You're welcome." He looked down on the floor for a minute before turning to her. "Would you like something to drink?" When she arched a brow, he quickly clarified, "We'll keep it...decent. No alcohol—unless you want to—but I'm thinking…tea or hot chocolate? Milk?"

Angela laughed. She never imagined Gael would one day ask her if she wanted tea or milk. However, she actually liked that he did. "You know what? Sure. I'd love some milk."

"Good." He got up and nodded his head in the direction of the backyard. "Come help me out back. The cows are waiting at the shed. I hope you don't mind working out those arms."

Her jaw dropped, and it was his turn to chuckle. With how serious his voice was just now, she really believed him. "Oh, you're the worst." She rolled her eyes and then laughed with him as she followed him out of the bedroom, and they descended down the stairs.

Imagine milking cows at this time of the night just to get some fresh milk. Ridiculous.

Once they got to the kitchen, Angela couldn't help but return the tease. This time, she thought of getting back at him for his teasing about her research notes earlier. She spoke while his back was on her. "Just so you know… I'm pretty good at milking. I make sure I get my arm workout whenever I can."

Gael froze for a second. And then he shook his head. Naughty Angela just really had to make him suffer.

Sighing inwardly, he thought, 'I guess this is gonna be a 'hard' night tonight.'