Page 63 of Sugar Coated

“I have a lot going on.” So much so that I couldn’t even tell her about any of it. There were things she just wouldn’t understand, so it’d be pointless to waste my breath.

“I know! And I’m not saying it’s bad.” She shrugged. “Maybe it goes back to what we were talking about before. Maybe there were parts of you I never noticed.”

Had I really changed so much? The possibly swirled around in my head. Sitting in that room for two years, growing hateful and bitter, of course I was bound to become someone else. There was no way I’d leave that room the same girl I entered it as, so it wasn’t news to me—but still, hearing Kelly say it again made me think more about it.

If she noticed, surely everyone else did, too.

She must’ve sensed my roaming thoughts, because she changed the subject and pointed to my left hand. “Those are wicked sweet, though. Who made them?”

I waved my metal prosthetics between us, showing her how they bent when I moved what was left of my natural fingers. “A guy named Fang. We’re, uh, kind of seeing each other.”Kind ofdidn’t quite cut it, but I didn’t feel like getting into much detail about my love life right now.

“What? No way! How am I just hearing about this? Who is he? What’s his last name? I have to do some stalking.” She pulled out her phone, ready to search him on all the apps.

“He’s not online.”

That got her to raise a brown brow. “He what? Oh, Laina, don’t tell me he’s some anti-social media weirdo. I’m sorry, but anyone who doesn’t have a single profile anywhere these days is definitely waving around a red flag.”

Hell, I was pretty sure the only guy who actually had any social media profiles was Kieran, and that was undoubtedly on Tessa’s insistence. I couldn’t see Mike with anInstagramor anything like that.

“It’s not like that,” I said. “He’s old-fashioned, I guess? He doesn’t sit around and doom scroll all the time. He’s busy constantly making stuff.”

“Hmm. I will reserve judgement then, until I meet him.” She paused. “If you want me to meet him, I mean. I hope you do.”

“Sure.” Someday. Not anytime soon. When things calmed down, I could have a talk with Kelly and tell her that Fang wasn’t the only man I was with. I could imagine it now: her eyes would bug out of her head, and once the shock wore off, she’d tell me how insanely jealous she was that I had multiple boyfriends.

Or she’d make a comment about how she couldn’t imagine how much work it was juggling multiple guys. One or the other.

Before she could say anything in response, someone knocked on my bedroom door and stuck his head inside. Kieran. He spotted us on the bed immediately, and he gave us a goofy, dimpled grin—the grin that had fooled me for so long.

Man, I still couldn’t get over how good of a liar he was.

“Hello, girls,” he spoke with a flourish. “Can I get you two anything? Anything at all?”

Kelly’s reply came swiftly: “Yeah. How ‘bout a date? We can talk about how happy I am that you didn’t die.” Her flirtatious tone came off as a bit too eager; she’d always had a crush on him, and it’d always made me wonder if she was insane.

Turned out, she knew where it was at.

His chest hummed. “Sorry, Kelly, but I’m afraid I am a taken man, so you’ll have to pine for me in the shadows.” He winked at her, and then those black eyes of his landed on me. “You’re good? You don’t need anything?”

Hearing him say he was a taken man filled me with a warmth I couldn’t describe, so it took me a few seconds too long to tell him, “No, I’m fine, thanks.”

“All right. If you change your mind, just holler.”

Kelly waited until he ducked his head out of my bedroom and we were alone once more to shoot me a knowing look. “What was that about?” Her nose was wrinkled, her mouth drawn into a sly smile.

“What was what about?”

“That.” She pointed behind her, to the now-closed door. “Don’t think I forgot our late-night talk the other night. I sensed something there just now. You guys looked at each other like I wasn’t in the room. Did something happen there? Don’t tell me you got something going on with him, too—seriously, do you? I won’t even be jealous, I promise.” After another moment, she added, “Maybe a little jealous. I’ve always had a tiny crush on that guy. It’s those dimples!”

The dimples were nice to look at. Kieran’s smile could put anyone at ease, apparently. As it was, I’d never looked at him twice—not like that—before he’d taken me and held me captive for two years. It was only after I came back that things got complicated, and I wondered if a part of me, deep down, had already connected the dots.

But I wasn’t ready to tell Kelly about it yet. Besides, she could never find out that Kieran was my kidnapper; she’d react like any normal person would and probably try to call the police. Couldn’t risk it.

So, I simply said, “No, there’s nothing going on.”

“Uh-huh. Sure. We can pretend like that was believable, if you want, but sooner or later, I want the truth.” She flashed me a grin as she snatched another pizza roll off the plate.

I was grateful that she was letting it go; a part of me assumed she’d keep picking at it until she pulled the truth out of me. For now, what was between Kieran and me would stay between Kieran and me—a good thing, since he and I hadn’t really spoken at length about his whole stint as my Devil.

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