Page 18 of Sugar Coated

My nostrils flared. He knew I didn’t want to tell my dad anything. If he genuinely thought I’d do that, he’d lost his mind.

Mike waited a moment, but he must’ve sensed I refused to say anything back, because just like that he turned around and stalked away. I watched as he went, my mouth tugging into apout. He was hot and cold, but it seemed like he leaned toward the latter today.

Screw that guy.

Once he was gone and it was just Fang and I, Fang said, “Give him some time to cool off. I’m sure once he settles down, he’ll realize he just threw a tantrum. Maybe he’ll even apologize.”

“I don’t care if he apologizes. I don’t care.” Saying it twice didn’t make it a fact, sadly, and as I sat there, I couldn’t help but stew. Fang had done wonders to calm me down and comfort me, and Mike had to rile me up all over again.

Men. They drove you nuts as easily as they were your sanity, apparently.

The look he was giving me made me ask, “What?”

Fang, to his credit, was calm as ever. “I never understood people who refuse to accept their own emotions. Wouldn’t it be easier to acknowledge them? Even you didn’t want to accept them, acknowledging their existence in the first place would be the first step to overcoming them.”

“Are you saying that I need to admit I have feelings for Mike?”

“I’m saying the opposite: Mike should accept he has feelings for you. He’s fighting it more than you. As for you… your Devil complicates things, as does Kieran.”

My heart ached at the mention of him. “Kieran is in a coma.”

“For now, maybe, but I don’t doubt he’ll wake up, and when he does… let’s just say I’d be surprised if you’re not the first thing he returns to. He’s got an edge to him I can appreciate, and from what little I’ve seen, he does care for you.”

“By edge, you mean…”

“A darkness.” His words mirrored what he’d said before about Kieran. “The beast in me recognizes a similar beast inside him, just as I see one waiting to emerge from Mike.” The cornersof his mouth quirked upward in a sexy smirk, and he flashed me his fangs. “It seems you’re a magnet for men like us.”

A magnet for men like us.For psychos. For men with a hint of darkness to them. With my Devil added onto the list, it certainly seemed that way.

The strangest part was that I didn’t mind it. In fact, I was slowly coming to the realization that I craved that same darkness.

I made Mike wait until late morning. To his credit, he didn’t barge in and drag me out. A part of me wanted to give him enough time to cool down, but the bigger, more petty part of me simply wanted to make his ass wait.

Before I changed back into my clothes from last night, I had to return my panties to Fang—and he immediately tucked them beneath his pillow for later. What I wouldn’t give to see him when he missed me, to know what exactly he did with that thin, flimsy piece of fabric.

Some things were better off left to the imagination, I guessed.

Fang walked me down, and before I exited out into the alley, he took me by the hand and pulled me against him, dipping me back for a goodbye kiss that was both hungry and sweet. Before straightening me out, he nibbled on my bottom lip enough with his metallic fangs that I shivered into him.

“I’ll see you later, Princess,” Fang whispered against my mouth. “I should have something for you within the week.” And by that, he meant my metal fingers.

My dad was going to blow a gasket when I came home with one of Fang’s inventions on me. I couldn’t wait.

He gave me one more chaste kiss before releasing his hold on me. He reached for the door and held it open for me, his silvergaze on me as I walked around him. Once I was in the alley, near Mike’s parked car, I gave him a coy wave.

I got into Mike’s car, finding him sitting in the driver’s seat, silently staring out of the window in the opposite direction. He didn’t even glance at me as I got in. Once the door was closed, he started the car and pulled out of the alley.

The man said not a word, and minutes passed. Eventually, it got to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore. I said, “Mike, please. Can’t we be normal about this?”

His normal was not saying a word—though he did glance at me for just the quickest of seconds before making a right turn. Back to being the broody, quiet one, the one who never let his emotions get the best of him.

A lie, in other words.

“You have every right to be upset with me over sneaking out. It was stupid. I won’t do it again, for what it’s worth, but… you really don’t have a leg to stand on anywhere else. If I’m just a job, then you need to treat me like I’m just a job.”

It took him a few moments to mutter, “You’re right.”

For some reason, hearing him say that made my chest tight in an uncomfortable way, but I ignored the feeling and said, “And you work for Lola, not my dad. I’m still not convinced my dad isn’t behind all of this somehow. I want to act like nothing went on last night besides me going to a party.”

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