Jeremy (Broken Angel #4) by L. G. Castillo

up.
    “Ugh! Fine, but don’t run off.”
    “Yay!”
    When Sammy was gone, Leilani turned to Jeremy. “You can leave now.”
    “What makes you think I want to leave?” He dropped his spoon into his empty bowl.
    “Don’t you have some hot chick waiting for you or something?”
    “No.”
    “Look, you’re a nice guy, and Sammy thinks everyone he meets is his friend,” she said as she focused on stirring her ice cream, which by now looked like chocolate soup. “Thanks for being sweet to him, but you don’t have to hang around a couple of kids all day. I’m sure you have better things to do.”
    He leaned back against his seat, placing his hands behind his head, and grinned. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
    “No. I’m just giving you an out.” She looked back at the dancers. He wasn’t ready to leave. He was enjoying himself. And to tell be honest, he was curious about why Leilani couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of the dancer.
    Dropping his hands down, he leaned forward. “So what’s with you and Candy?”
    “Candy?”
    “Yeah. Is she a friend of yours?”
    “Uh-huh. You could say she’s a friend.”
    Jeremy arched an eyebrow.
    “Okay, fine. I’ll tell you.” She flicked her spoon, pointing it in Candy’s direction. Brown liquid flew through the air.
    “ That girl stole my job. I’m the one who should be dancing out there, not her. I heard about the gig first. I only told her about it because she’s a senior and has her driver’s license. She was supposed to be my friend. She was supposed to give me a ride to audition for the job. I’d been practicing for months. I don’t want to work at the shack anymore. So she goes with me and she auditions too. Can you believe it?”
    “And she got the job.”
    “Well, of course she got the job. Look at her. I can’t compete with that!”
    He gazed over at Candy. She was a pretty girl, but there was something missing. It was a special spark, similar to the one Naomi had. He looked back at Leilani, who looked like she’d just taken a shower in chocolate. It was on her cheeks, on the corners of her mouth, and in her hair. Beneath the mess, her brown eyes held that special spark, too.
    “She’s alright,” he said.
    “Seriously, then you need glasses or something.”
    He chuckled. Even in his human form, his vision was far superior to a human’s. From a distance, he could read the fine, detailed expression on anyone’s face, including Candy, who kept looking over at their table. From the expression on her face, Candy was just as jealous of Leilani as Leilani was of her.
    “My vision is perfectly fine.”
    “Yeah, well, you thought I was a dude.”
    He opened his mouth and then closed it. She was right. He had thought she was a boy.
    “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Candy’s all girl with the curves and the boobs. Look at me.” She gestured to her chest. “No boobs. We’re talking flat-o-rama here.”
    Jeremy’s eyes darted in the opposite direction. It would look bad, really bad, to even look in the area where she was pointing.
    “Let’s get real, Golden Boy. Someone like you would never look at me the way they look at Candy. Everybody loves Candy. With her around, it’s as if I don’t exist.”
    The wistful sound of her voice tugged at his chest.
    “That’s not true, Leilani,” he said, gazing into her soulful brown eyes.
    Taking a napkin, he gently wiped the chocolate from her face as he spoke.
    “You’re a very pretty girl, and not everybody likes candy. I’m a salt guy.” Winking, he plucked a flower from the table and tucked it behind her ear. “There. Very pretty.”
    “You’re just saying that to be nice,” she said.
    “Nope. I’m saying it because it’s the truth.”
    “Really?”
    Her eyes grew soft as they gazed up at him. Dark lashes blinked slowly as she leaned closer to him.
    Oh, shit! What did I do?
    “Leilani . . . I, uh . . .”
    What was he going to do? How was he going to get out of this without