Silver

Chapter 42

I landed in an alleyway, stretching out my wings one last time before pulling them back in. They ached. I couldn't tell if it was because they were still recovering or because they needed to stretch out some more. Regardless, I was on the search for some wine. 

I turned the corner, keeping my eyes trained straight ahead as the many civilians passed me by. It was incredible how completely unaware they were that something not quite human was walking by them on their way to work. 

"Jordan?" I heard my name and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. 

Allison and Siena were at home, Suriel was with Michael and the Archangels, and Grey wouldn't have said my name. Who else in this city knows my name?

I peered through the crowd cautiously, narrowing my eyes when they landed on a familiar pair of almond shaped eyes. 

Li. The man I'd met at the bar a while back when Grey had gone over to Siobhan's. My skin began to crawl at the mere thought of her name. I had to remind myself that she was gone, that I'd taken care of that problem. 

He jogged up to me, his bronze eyes twinkling in the dimmed gloomy daylight. He looked happy. Perhaps a little too happy to see me. He'd given me his number in case I'd wanted to model for one of his art pieces, but I'd never texted him. Awkward. 

"Hey Li, how are you?" I smiled politely. 

"I'm well, and you?" He grinned cheekily. 

He was cute. Boyishly cute. The kind of guy you wanted to take home to your parents, that your friends would all gush over. He was tall, not as tall as Grey, but taller than me, and had a lean build like a sprinter. 

"I'm well. Sorry, I totally forgot to text you about the whole modeling thing," I laughed awkwardly, hoping he'd let it slide. 

"No big deal. I know how intimidating that must've seemed. Modeling for a painting isn't exactly a nonchalant way to ask a girl out," Li chuckled, eyeing me a little through his eyelashes. 

Oh wait. 

Shit. 

Was he asking me out?

"Wait, you mean-," I paused. 

"I'm not very good at this, as you can tell. But unless you're still with that boyfriend of yours that was making you drink that night, I would like to take you out for dinner or something if you're interested," he smiled sheepishly. 

Fuck. 

Was I interested?

Not in anything more than friends, no, but I had to learn how to move on from Grey at some point, I suppose. And maybe something would come of this. Li seemed like a genuinely nice guy. And I didn't have anything left to lose. 

"Sure," I replied calmly. 

"What are you doing tomorrow night?" He questioned, sticking his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. 

"I actually have a friend's birthday party I'm going to, but she might let you tag along if you want to?" I shrugged, pulling out my phone to text Allison. 

"Sounds like fun. Text me your address and the time and I'll come grab you," he offered me a crooked grin. 

"Perfect. I'll see you then," I smiled back at him as he walked away, an obvious little skip in his step. 

I texted Allison and asked if I could bring a friend along to her party, to which she responded, 'what kind of friend?' 

I then had to explain how I'd met Li, and how he was a decent guy and I wanted to give him a shot. Allison was beyond thrilled. In her words, 'anyone is better than Grey'.