Skin of a Sinner

by Avina St. Graves

Sometimes when angels fall, the serpents devour them. Other times, they learn to live with them.

“Don’t worry. If you break, I’ll put you back together. If you run, I’m running right behind you. If you burn, I’ll burn with you.”

me, gnawing on my lip while Mickey scowls at the back of my head like he’s been personally victimized by my hair.

Beauty isn’t just something you put on or become blessed with from genetics. It’s a feeling that doesn’t need a mirror or a photo for proof or validation.

And Mickey makes me feel beautiful, even on days when I’m disgusted with myself.

“You’d get on your knees for me if I asked. Does that make me your god, Princess?”

It isn’t just a kiss. Our lips aren’t just touching. He’s claiming me, body, mind, and soul, and there is nothing I can do to get away from it. Because I want him, too, more than anything else in the world.

My religion starts with “Isa” and ends with “Bella,” and I’d worship at her altar every night. Blessed be the meal I’m about to eat and all that.

“You promised me, Roman. You fucking promised that you wouldn’t leave me—that I’d never be alone. You said no one would hurt me. You told me no one would touch me. You’re a liar, Roman. I can’t believe I trusted you.”

“God, you’re fucking wet. Does my girl like being chased?”

This is who we are; predator and his prey; Mickey and his mouse.

“You were perfect, Bella. Like I said, you were made for me.”

In comparison, I’m a common, everyday, trash-living pigeon; loose-fitting jeans, an oversized hoodie, and red chucks.

Same girl.

The rose-tinted film falls back into place and my veins thrum with desire because it isn’t just any monster waiting to devour me whole. It’s my monster.

This whole time I was misguided in my views of Mickey. Roman Riviera isn’t a liar who abandoned me. I wasn’t nothing to him or a girl he would eventually leave.

“I’ll make you another promise: From this day on, there will only ever be us. Everything we do, we do together,” he says. “I love you, Isabella Riviera.”