and the bowl she hurried to answer it. "Leigh," she said, feeling her heart sink as soon as she took in the sorry sight of her best friend. "Come in, are you okay?" Looking slightly forl

she would have found it more reassuring if he had seen other people and then chosen to come back to her. She was so torn up by the idea of him being with anyone else that she had grabbed the chance when he returned to her. But it didn't stop the fear he'd one day decide getting back together with her was the larger mistake. Pouring the melted caramel layer on top of packed down dough, Angel sprinkled a little bit of champagne sea salt she'd gotten from a specialty store over the caramel before crumbling the remaining dough to make the top layer of the bars. Glancing at her friend she could see the worry still on Leigh's face and her stomach clenched. Leigh's instincts might be all messed up since last year when it came to Michael, but she usually saw reason once Angel reassured her. The fact that she was obviously still anxious made Angel even more anxious. "He hasn't wanted to have sex this week." "That happens sometimes," said Angel soothingly, although she knew the truth was it rarely happened with Michael. Leigh didn't believe in TMI, not when it came to her best friend, and so Angel was well aware Michael and Leigh's sex life was pretty regular. As in once a day regular, or at least every other day; sometimes more if Michael was stressed or under pressure and needed an outlet. Privately she'd sometimes wondered if that was the real reason Michael had come crawling back to Leigh after a mere three weeks, because he'd realized he couldn't get steady, reliable, safe sex as a single man. Especially a single man just out of a six year relationship who didn't have the time to build a new one due to work and yet also didn't believe in one night stands. "Not with us," Leigh said, shooting her a look which said she knew Angel knew better. Angel pursed her lips. There really wasn't much she could say on the topic she hadn't already said before and she didn't think Leigh needed to hear more on Angel's theory that Michael used her for sex. Well, and because Angel believed he truly did care about Leigh, although she didn't believe for a second he cared more about Leigh than he cared about himself. But the remnant of love he carried was just enough for Leigh to survive on. Of course, that was just Angel's opinion and she also knew she couldn't see what happened when it was just Leigh and Michael alone. She could see he treated her well for the most part. Angel just couldn't get over the callous way he'd treated their short separation and the reasons he claimed he'd come back after his failure at dating someone new. Angel felt protective over her friend, even though she knew her opinion on their relationship didn't actually matter in the long run. Leigh sighed and rubbed her hands over her face as Angel popped the pan into the oven. "Let's watch The Tudors and have some wine, we still haven't finished watching the fourth season." Probably because it wasn't nearly as interesting as the previous seasons, but both of them loved that point in history and were determined to finish it. Sure it wasn't completely historically accurate, but overall the series had done a pretty decent job. It was their standard downtime activity. They'd lived together for a while during college, before Michael and Leigh moved in together, and had often indulged in days of sitting around marathoning various television shows while eating junk food. Pretty standard girl stuff actually. Leigh brightened a little. "Got any tater tots?" "Better, smiley fries." Angel grinned as she pulled them out of the freezer. They'd take a little longer because the caramel bars needed a lower temperature than the smiley fries, but that didn't matter. They could wait. "They're just so happy to be eaten!" The girls giggled as Angel dumped the fries onto a tray and Leigh got out the wine and wine glasses, already looking a little better just at the thought of having some Angel and Leigh time. About an hour later they were ignoring the smiley fries and gorging on the salted caramel butter bars, which had to be the best freaking thing Angel had ever tasted in her life. "We can't eat all of these," she said for about the tenth time as she picked up her fourth one. "There's a pound of butter in them. Don't let me forget that." She was pretty sure she could actually feel her arteries clogging with every bite, and yet she couldn't stop. "That's only half a pound each if we share the whole thing," said Leigh rubbing her stomach. She was on her fifth one. They'd eaten about a third of the pan already. They were warm, crumbly, caramel perfection, with a little bit of salt to balance out the sweet and tingle their taste buds, and wonderfully gooey, melted yummies. "What else are you going to do with them?" "What I do with all my leftovers, leave them out for when the guys come home." Angel smiled smugly. During the past year she'd picked up on the perfect way to try out her recipes without gaining a hundred pounds: bake when the guys weren't home, eat what she wanted while it was still warm from the oven, and feed the rest to the human garbage disposals she lived with. "This is the perfect pick-me-up food. Mmmmmm. Oooooo that's good." Leigh let out a moan better suited to sex than food. They'd both been doing that all morning. Fortunately, the weather was way too cold in January for the windows to be open so the neighbors couldn't hear them or they'd probably think there was an orgy going on. Of course, that just made Angel think of all the incredibly sexy, authoritative men she'd met last night. Mmm... Dom orgy. Maybe one in particular. Just thinking about the way Adam's eyes had seemed to burrow into her, demanding all of her secrets, made her insides clench. "What's that look for?" Leigh asked, her own eyes looking rather demanding. They'd known each other for long enough she could read Angel like a book. She sat up, looking excited. "You got all far away and dreamy looking. It's about a guy, isn't it?" Angel moaned and picked up a pillow, burying her face in it for a moment. Her friend knew her way too well. "I met a guy yes, and he's super-hot and incredibly sexy and no I'm not s

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