Page 56 of Daddy's Princess

“Alright, chickadee, enough of this pouting bullshit. We’re going to Jose Locos for tacos and tequila. Alice and Jen are already on their way. Get up, get dressed.”

I collapse back into the couch. “I can’t go out tonight. Go without me.”

“Uh-uh, no way. You’re going.”

“Ugh. Fine, but I’m not going to have any fun.”

“Sure, you aren’t,” Candace says with a laugh. “Whatever you say. Just go wash the cookie off your face and put on some clothes that don’t smell like Cheetos and sadness.”

“That was super insensitive.”

Candace shrugs. “We’ve moved on to the tough love portion of the evening.”

“Well, I’d rather have the nice Candace who lets me snot on her shoulder and holds my hair while I puke back.”

“Too bad.”

With a little more bullying from Candace, I manage to make myself look less like Night of the Living Dead, more B-movie vampire. When I tell Candace as much, she laughs and tells me I’m the prettiest vampire she knows that doesn’t sparkle. With a little more prodding, she gets me out the door and into a taxi.

21

Oliver

“Jesus, man, take it easy,”Lucian complains again. “This isn’t a fucking championship fight. We’re sparing for Christ’s sake. Melly will be pissed if you bruise my face. She’s already nervous enough to be introducing me to her parents.

“If you weren’t so slow, I wouldn’t be getting any hits in, old man,” I taunt. Lucian is my oldest friend. By a weird twist of fate, we share the same birthday, born only minutes apart. He’s older than me by six minutes. He had a bit of a meltdown when we turned thirty, and teasing him about it is too good to pass up.

“Are you ever going to let that go?” he grumbles, taking a half-assed swing at me.

“Nope,” I say as I throw another punch. Lucian moves out of the line of fire enough that my fist only grazes him.

“Are you going to tell me what’s got you all riled up today?”

“Nope,” I repeat, feigning a right, then connecting with a left to the stomach. He grunts, knocking my arm away. I dance back a couple of steps, waiting for him to retaliate.

Instead, Lucian drops his hands. “Bullshit. Tell me.”

Frustrated, I pull my gloves off and throw them to the mat. I pace my side of the ring, my hands digging into my sweaty hair. “She’s driving me crazy!”

Lucian’s eyebrows disappear into his hairline, which is a feat because his hairline is receding faster than high tide. “Who is driving you crazy, and why?”

“Sugar.”

A slow smile spreads over my best friend’s face. “Oliver’s got a girrrrlfriend,” he sing-songs like a child.

“Fuck off. I don’t know what we are,” I admit. That’s half the problem. I know what I want us to be, though based on the fact that Sugar’s currently avoiding me, I’d say she’s nowhere near ready to label things beyond ‘dating.’ Though, I’m wondering if that’s not too much of a label for her at this point. “She’s avoiding me, and I don’t know why. One minute she says she’ll be waiting for me at my place when I get off work and the next, she won’t answer her phone.”

“From personal experience, if a woman is avoiding you, she’s either A) pissed at you or B) you epically fucked up, so she’s beyond pissed at you or C) she was playing you like a fiddle.” Lucian shrugs his shoulders. “Women are confusing creatures. I’m just lucky that Melly understands that I’m an idiot and loves me anyway.”

“You are an idiot.”

“Hey now, don’t get all pissy with me. I’m just telling you the truth. It’s not my fault that your girl is pissed at you. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she played you. It would serve the player right to get a little of his own.”

“I’m not a player, you jackass.”

Lucian laughs. “No lie, you’ve got zero game.”

“And Sugar isn’t the kind of person to play me. She’s… special.”

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