Sinner Read Free

makes me feel more secure. I like being lost in the crowd, and I'm making it up to Angie since I bailed on her last night.
    "What did you do last night?" Angie says and pops a piece of dragon roll into her mouth.
    Now I have to decide if I'm going to tell her about Adam or not. I choose to keep it a secret until I know more about him. I want to talk about it so badly that my skin is practically crawling, but at least I'm out of the apartment and not dwelling on the issue.
    "Just worked for a while and then went home to sleep I was thinking about making one of those dating profiles, but I don't know," I say and take a bite of my California roll.
    "Oohhh. You have to be careful with those. Lots of creeps. But, I can help you. We'll fix you up with a profile that only attracts the highest quality internet dating site men."
    "I don't know. I'm still not sure if I want to do it or not." I say and push the rest of my food around on my plate with my chopsticks.
    "Oh, Lilly you have to do it. I can see you want to move on from Tom, so go for it." She says and grabs one of my rolls with her chopsticks.
    She's right. I do want to move on. Meeting Adam last night proved to me that I could feel something for another man. Even if it was for a criminal that I could never have. I started to feel butterflies in my stomach when I thought about Adam and I holding hands.
    I hadn't fantasized about something like that with a guy since high school. Come to think of it, I hadn't had butterflies over a guy since high school. I'm being ridiculous, though. Nothing could happen between Adam and me.
    Could it?
    "Earth to Lilith," Angie says and laughs.
    "Sorry, I was just thinking about some work I have to get done."
    "Geeze, Lil. Even when you aren't physically at work, your head is always there. Perhaps you need to find another job. I mean, I know working for Tom pays really well, and there's the prestige, yadda yadda yadda, but your job can't be your entire life." She says and steals another piece of sushi from my platter.
    "Your job is your entire life," I say and instantly regret it.
    "Yeah, but at least I'm not there nights and weekends except when I'm on call once a month."
    "You're right. I'll consider finding something else if I can't get Tom to back off and give me more free time."
    "He's taking advantage of you because he knows you like him," Angie mutters.
    "I know, and you mean liked him. I'm moving past being fixated on him. Even if he did come around, he doesn't deserve me." I actually mean this, and I'm a little bit proud of myself.
    "That's my girl." She says and high-fives me.
    We spend the afternoon shopping. At first, I think I want to go look at shoes and purses, but then I change my mind. Instead, Angie and I spend the afternoon buying socks, underwear, t-shirts, pajamas, and books for one of the group homes she works with.
    After we drop off our haul at the home and Angie hugs every single one of the kids, we go back to her apartment and put together care packages for the homeless. She doesn't go to church, but Angie spends every Sunday afternoon handing out the bags filled with socks, toiletry items, and snacks to homeless people downtown.
    She's excited because this week she has twice as many since I chipped in and bought more stuff for the bags. Seeing her eyes light up when we're done touches my heart, and I vow to chip in every week from now on.
    "I'd offer to let you buy me dinner, but I'm supposed to go over and cook for my dad tonight," Angie says when we're all done loading the bags into boxes.
    "How's he doing?" I ask and hope the answer is better than last week.
    "He's still in a lot of pain. Better than last week, but not 100% yet. I'd invite you for dinner, but I don't think he's up for it yet. I know he misses you."
    "Maybe next week then? I'll help you make a lasagna if he's up for it." I say and start carrying the boxes to her entry way. A few guys from her neighborhood will meet her tomorrow and help pass them