Squished in the back seat with Garret, an impenetrable cloud of pine, leather, and oranges warred for dominance of my olfactory receptors. Both boys had been a little too generous with their cologne.

After awkward hellos, silence had descended upon the inside of the lime-green four-door Volkswagen. Lucas drove, white-knuckling the steering wheel as if afraid any loss of concentration would be the death of us all.

He'd been tense the moment I entered the car.

"Lex?" Garret touched my shoulder, drawing my attention away from the stressed nephilim.

I tried to give him a reassuring smile. It wasn't his fault I'd rather be anywhere but here.

"What's up?" I asked. Even small talk would be preferable to the silence.

His gaze drifted down, unable to look me in the eye. He swallowed and looked lost for words.

At school, he was usually the center of attention and spinning tales. Not awkward and shy. Right now, he was acting like I usually did.

"I saw the game last week," I lied, mustering some enthusiasm. I'd been in bed, healing a broken arm, three broken ribs, and a bruised tushy. But I had heard about the game. The school had been abuzz all morning with the victory our team had pulled from the jaws of defeat.

Hockey was a big deal here. Kind of like football in the South.

"You were amazing." My voice came out two octaves higher than usual, shrill and fake to my ears.

His lips broke out into a huge grin, pride lighting up his face and adding a sparkle to his eyes. The effect turned him from someone you'd only notice because of his size to someone it'd be hard not to notice.

His smile was infectious. This time it was me who looked away, my cheeks heated. I wasn't used to male attention, and I kind of enjoyed the butterflies in my stomach.

Immediate guilt dragged the good sensations down into a pit of cold reality. It didn't matter that he was growing on me. Nothing could happen. Relationships based on lies seldom worked out, Elena being the exception. So far, at least.

I wiped the smile from my face and turned to look out the window, giving him a literal cold shoulder.

Better not to lead him on.

Lucas cleared his throat. "Did you get your paper done, Lex?"

"You sound like my brother." I didn't hide the irritation in my voice. Garret's feelings I could protect by being a bitch. I was the one who needed protection from Lucas.

"Lanie told me your brother raised you. What happened to your parents?" Lucas flinched as soon as the words were out of his mouth. At least he recognized what a douchebag thing he asked.

Garret rescued me from having to answer. "I'm adopted. I get that question all the time," Garret said dryly. "People don't think before blurting out crap."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean--"

"You passed it." I watched us drive past Olive Garden. I could already imagine the heaps of pasta smothered in creamy white sauce and the warm breadsticks to mop up remnants of calorie-dense goodness.

"Sorry, Lexi," Elena said, not sounding the least bit sorry. "Lucas is gluten-free, so we're going to St. Rodizio's."

Steak? I couldn't afford steak. Looked like it was a side salad and water for dinner.

"Nice bait and switch there, Lanie," I said, refraining from letting the rest of the car hear my annoyance.

"Why don't you eat gluten?" Garret asked.

"Celiac."

Lie. Nephilim were immune to human diseases, just like I was. I wondered what his beef with bread was.

He was probably worried about his figure.

As soon as Lucas put the car in park, I was out the door. Outside, I could breathe again, no longer suffocated by Lucas' overpowering aura. I would never get through dinner and a movie until I got a hold of myself.

You would think having lived with Damian for eighteen years I would be used to it, but there were subtle differences between them. Damian's presence soothed, while Lucas made me feel like an agitated cat. I couldn't explain why.

I rushed to the front door of the restaurant, ignoring Elena's call behind me. The more distance I had, the better I could regain my focus.

"Excuse me," I mumbled as I brushed past hungry patrons still waiting to be seated.

I halted when I realized I was heading the direction the bathroom would have been if we were at Olive Garden as promised.

Where the hell was the bathroom?

Looking around, I felt like I was in one of those horror movies where the indestructible serial butcher was hunting the heroine, and she had no idea where to go. But you already knew she would bite it in five minutes, so whatever she did was pointless.

Garret hurried through the door, taller than anyone else in the room. He waved so I would know he was there. I pointed to my left and my right, mouthing the word bathroom.

He shrugged and mouthed back sorry.

Apparently, he wasn't a steak guy, either. I bet he loved pasta.

Elena and Lucas entered holding hands. I tried not to gag.

Maybe Garret and I could ditch the lovebirds and walk over to Olive Garden down the street.

And maybe I should suck it up and not lead on the human.

I turned around, went right, and stumbled my way past servers and busboys. One harried woman, arms stacked with heaps of food I couldn't afford but my belly wanted to eat, pointed me in the right direction.

I burst into the bathroom and rushed over to the sink. Gripping the porcelain, I bent my head down, closed my eyes, and tried to steady my breathing. In. Out. One, two, three in. One, two, three out.

I turned on the cold water and splashed two heaping handfuls of water on my face, cooling my fevered cheeks. Even halfway across the restaurant, I could feel Lucas. A siren call. Tempting me to paradise. Promising me a life of no worry and no regret. A place to belong.

I wasn't stupid. I knew how that ended. I'd read The Odyssey.

Looking in the mirror, I cringed. My pseudo bath had smeared my makeup, droplets of foundation and black mascara running down my cheeks.

I looked like a sad clown.

I grabbed a handful of towels and scrubbed the makeup off my face.

My blotchy red face made me look like a train-wreck addict, but who cared? I wasn't trying to impress anyone.

My chest tightened. Maybe I shouldn't lie to myself. I knew whom I had dressed up for. It wasn't my date.

I was such a shitty friend.

I splashed more cold water on my face, practiced a few deep breaths, and went back out into the lion's den.

Ripe oranges and lemons hit my nose before the door even shut behind me. Lucas leaned against the wall, eyes focused on the girl's bathroom, waiting for me.

He crossed his arms, a bewildered expression on his face like he did not understand why he was stalking me, and it was somehow my fault.

"What do you want?" I asked, intending for the words to come out cutting. Instead, I sounded more wistful, dreamy even.

I disgusted myself.

He pushed himself off the wall and came inches from my body, close enough I could feel the heat radiating off his body.

He was part angel. I was part demon. We should have repelled each other like two opposing magnets. Why was there this pull between us, then?

He brushed the back of his hand against the sleeve of my blouse. I held my breath, waiting for what he'd do next.

He still pressed his hand against the fabric. I couldn't raise my eyes to meet his because didn't know what I'd see in their depths.

The moment stretched as if we were stuck in an infinite loop of awkwardness.

One of us had to break the spell before someone noticed. I chanced a glance up. His eyes narrowed, lips set in a hard line.

He saw me as an enemy. A threat.

My flight instincts kicked in, and I pulled away, not wanting to start a fist fight in the middle of the steakhouse.

He grabbed my arm. "I know what you are."

"Yeah, pissed off. Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape."

He tilted his head to the side, a dumbfounded look crossing his face. "Did you just quote Planet of the Apes?"

I sighed. Demons and angels. Eternal enemies. Why couldn't we all just get along?

I tried to pull my arm from his grasp, but he only tightened the hold. Damian had trained me how to defend myself against demons, sentinels, and whatever else was stupid enough to pick a fight, but my fist refused to flatten his face.

"Let go," I said, making the threat of what I would do if he didn't unspoken but unmistakable.

"Stop trying to run away and I will."

"You're hurting me, asshole."

He released my arm. At least he had the decency to look ashamed.

"Sorry." His fingers ran through his hair. "It's important we talk."

I gestured around the busy restaurant. "Here?"

"Not here. Somewhere no one will overhear us."

I snorted. Like hell was I stupid enough to go anywhere alone with him. Curious eyes kept him from trying to kill me.

"No reason for us to talk. Elena is the only connection we have."

"This isn't about Elena."

No shit. I narrowed my eyes, hoping my blotchy face didn't cancel out the menace I was trying to project. "You don't want me as an enemy, Lucas."

He looked taken aback. "Huh? I thought--"

"Thought what? I wouldn't put up a fight? I ain't going to lie down and show my belly, but I'd prefer not to hurt Elena by breaking every bone in her boyfriend's body."

A look of wry puzzlement came over his features. "I think you've got the wrong idea, Lex. I don't want to fight you."

My heart leaped into my throat. Nausea gleefully rolled in my stomach. I'd rather face down a dozen frog demons than this one confusing boy.

"What do you want?"

"To know you," he said, his voice a sultry purr.

A chill swept across me. They needed to turn up the heat in this place. "What does that even mean?"

He licked his lips, insatiable hunger in his blue eyes. "I've never known anyone like me before."

I scoffed. "I'm not like you."

"I can feel your essence as intimately as I can my own."

"That's creepy." I raised my voice. "Leave me and my essence alone."

He rolled his eyes. "Keep your voice down. We don't need any attention."

"Do you think before you quote from the creep handbook?"

"Why are you so difficult? I'm just trying to connect with someone who should get where I'm coming from."

"Angels and demons don't mix."

He cocked his head to the side. "I'm not an angel."

"You may as well be. My half-otherness repels your half-otherness. We're like an acid and a base."

He smirked. "So, we neutralize each other?"

"Okay, it was a bad analogy, but my point stands."

"I'm not repelled by you."

He needed to stop with the suggestive tone in his voice. It would give a girl the wrong idea.

"Then your nephilim sense is broken."

"I thought maybe we could be friends."

The way he said friend sounded like being pals was the furthest thing from his mind.

"I don't want to be your token cambion friend."

"You won't even give me a chance?"

I swear he pouted. He must not have been used to rejection. Looking at him, I wasn't surprised. A girl would have to be blind to be uninterested. Even then, his scent was as intoxicating as his smile.

Looking away from him, I bit my lip. I didn't hate nephilim. How could I? Damian was a nephilim, and he was the best person in the world.

Lucas didn't seem like a threat anymore. It would be nice to have someone, anyone, who understood what it was like hiding who they were every day. The appeal of having someone I didn't have to pretend with was strong.

My loyalty to Elena was stronger.

"I'm not interested."

He was still standing too close like he didn't realize what a personal bubble was. "I'm not giving up, Lex. You'll find I can be very persistent."

"There are laws against that."

He smirked. It was dangerously sexy on him.

"What's going on?" Elena's words cut through us like a samurai sword.

Shame set my cheeks ablaze. "Nothing."

I inched away from him. I didn't know what Elena had seen, but it was clear by the harshness of her voice she was displeased.

Lucas turned his smile to her. "Lex and I were just arguing over what would have happened if Rome had remained a republic."

He really was obsessed with the ancient world. I wondered if he knew Cleopatra had been a succubus and Marc Antony a nephilim, the first forbidden love story. I ignored the obvious parallels to our current situation. Especially considering how that story had ended.

Elena's body relaxed once his attention was back on her.

I tried not to be too green.

He strode over to her and whispered something in her ear that had her giggling like a two-year-old. He kissed her on the temple and left the two of us staring at his back as he walked away. An uneven mixture of anger, hurt, and longing twisted in my gut.

Once he was out of sight, Elena turned. "I like him, Lexi."

The guilt was strong with this one. "I know."

"Tell me what's going on. I feel like I walked into a lover's quarrel."

"Nothing is going on. He took offense when I told him what I'd do if he hurt you."

She looked unconvinced. "Don't lie."

"I have no interest in Lucas. And I promise he has no interest in me."

Never in the history of the universe had a guy liked me over Elena. Lucas was no different. If I had been human, I wouldn't have even been on his radar.

She closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. "Are you sure? He hasn't shut up about you since yesterday."

I cursed the thrill those words sent throughout my body.

"You're my best friend. I would never do anything to hurt you."

She gave me a weak smile. "I know. He makes me a little crazy."

I walked over and hugged her. "Besties for life?"

She half-heartedly hugged me back but said nothing. Despite our physical closeness, the chasm between us stretched for miles.

All over a stupid boy.