Page 21 of Sugar Coated

And then someone else sat on the bed beside me, and I tore my gaze away from my Devil to stare into the silvery eyes of Fang. The man wore all black, his lean figure inching toward me as a handsome smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. That white tuft of hair near his left temple made him look a bit older, but it fit him.

“There you are, Princess,” he whispered, flashing his metallic fangs at me with every word. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” The way he stared deep into my eyes made me forget my Devil was on the other side of the room. “I’m not the only one.”

“What—” It was the only word I could get out as I turned my head to my right and saw another man, this one standing next to the bed. None of this made any sense. I had to crane my head back to meet the watchful eyes of the mountainous man standing there. “Mike?”

Mike lowered himself to his knees, kneeling beside the bed as he rested his forearms on the pink comforter. He reached for me, but he didn’t quite touch me; he was a few inches short. “What are you doing to me?” His voice came out low and hesitant, as if he was anxious to admit it.

Mike and Fang surrounded me with my Devil looking on. I vaguely remembered how possessive he could be, but the details of his possession over me were fuzzy in my head.

“Well, well, looks like you forgot all about me,” a third man’s voice filled the air, and I turned my head to see the owner of the voice strolling over to the bed from the corner of the room. He stopped when he stood behind Mike’s kneeling figure, his hands awkwardly shoved into his pockets. It’s funny, because I didn’t remember seeing him there seconds ago.

Kieran wore a lopsided grin, dimples on his cheeks. His black eyes were a familiar shade, and seeing him standing behind Mike made my heart do something funny in my chest. His brown hair was a bit messy, but I didn’t mind it.

“I’d never forget you,” I whispered, and Kieran responded by walking around Mike and sitting on the edge of the bed near him—and near me.

Three men surrounding me. Three men staring at me like I was everything. Three men I shouldn’t want one bit, but wantedwith every fiber of my being. The strangest thing was, I should feel torn between them, but I didn’t. I felt right at home in the middle of them.

Except…

I slowly brought my eyes to my Devil, but instead of staring at his illuminated figure, I saw nothing but an empty hall. He was gone. He no longer watched me on this bed. He left. Maybe he’d seen too much and he couldn’t take it anymore.

I felt bad. I wanted my Devil to come back. If I could have these guys, why couldn’t I have him, too? Why did he feel the need to keep himself separate?

The last thing I remembered before I woke up was the feeling of loss.

As my eyes were slow to open, the sight that greeted me was not Fang or Mike or Kieran or even my Devil—it was the empty plate of pizza rolls I’d eaten while sitting on my bed. With a full belly, my body must’ve been too content to fight off the drowsiness. Too content and too exhausted.

I felt a bit better now, though I wouldn’t say I was at one hundred percent.

I rolled off my bed, stretched, and then grabbed my plate and shuffled out of the room. Sad as it was, I could eat more. As I walked down the hall, I felt my hair. I’d get a good baseline on how long I was asleep by whether or not it was still damp. And, to my shock, my hair was completely dry.

Oops. Guess I slept longer than I thought.

Down the stairs I went, through the hall and into the kitchen, where I deposited my plate into the sink. I grabbed some water out of the fridge and chugged it down, suddenly so very thirsty. The microwave let me know what time it was, and my brows furrowed when I wondered why my dad hadn’t woken me up to scold me for doing something stupid.

I left the kitchen, and the moment I did, I heard voices I didn’t hear before, coming from the sitting room on the other side of the hall. It’s muffled from where I was, but I definitely heard my dad’s voice, so, the nosey girl I was, I went to eavesdrop.

Maybe it was just Tessa telling my dad about my party escapades.

Tessa’s voice was the one I heard next, and since I was closer, I could make out what she was saying, “You really should have called. We would’ve picked you up.” Okay, so not talking about me sneaking out for a party, then.

My dad’s voice: “Yes, she’s right. You should’ve called. I would’ve dropped everything—”

I inched near the archway opening, dying to peek my head around, but knowing if I did, I’d probably be seen. What on earth were they talking about? Who were they talking to? I mean… and then, just like that, it hit me. It hit me the same moment the third person in the room with them finally spoke.

“Ah, you two have more important things to do than pick me up from the hospital.”

I couldn’t settle for eavesdropping from the shadows in the hall any longer. I moved around the archway, causing all three pairs of eyes in the room to land on me, but I only had eyes for the man sitting on one of the couches, looking a bit tired.

Kieran.

Kieran was here, awake, alive—and the best part was, I wasn’t dreaming.

My dad glanced at me, but quickly returned his stare to Kieran, while Tessa glared openly at me. Kieran, on the other hand, gave me such an easygoing look the butterflies in my stomach went nuts.

“Looks like we have a listener creeping in the shadows,” Kieran spoke with a grin, that same grin he always seemed towear, the one that I used to find so annoying and now… I didn’t know when it all changed, but it had. “Hey there, creep.”

All I could say was, “Hi.” The word sounded hollow. There were so many things I could’ve said, and I went withhi? Jeez.

---