Crossing my arms over my chest, I scowled. “Doesn’t matter.”
We sat and talked for a bit longer, my mom interjecting different guys I could date at every chance. See why I needed coffee this morning? She made me feel like a broodmare. Would it be so bad to let me decide when I wanted to have kids? Maybe I wouldn’t have them at all. Wouldn’t tell her that though. She’d disown me. Well, she was too nice for that. She’d give me a hard look. Probably.
As Mandy and I made our way back to the car, she asked, “Why don’t you stop paying attention to the angels? Your mom seems to have moved on from them. Why can’t you?”
I shrugged. “I gave up fighting what I saw a long time ago. They’re there. No use trying to pretend they aren’t.” I heaved in a large breath and let it out. All the tension from seeing my mother dissipated. At least something good came from all that therapy. Grinning like an idiot, I glanced at Mandy and started the car. “Are you hungry? I’m starving.”
Mandy let out a puff of air and chuckled. “Of course, you are, you bottomless pit.”
“Hey, don’t hate me because you’re jealous of my fast metabolism.” I held up a hand in her direction.
Snorting, Mandy whipped out her phone and started scrolling through it. “You say that when you’re in your thirties and have a muffin top and cavities. Can you drop me back off at your apartment? I left my car there.”
“Sure, and what about the case?”
She lifted her head from her phone and sighed. “I can’t seem to stop you when you have your mind set on something plus the captain wants to meet you, so I don’t really have a choice in the matter.”
“Damn straight.”
Mandy glared at me. “Anyway, can you come by the office before work?”
Brows furrowed, I thought about it. I still needed to buy groceries, I had nothing in the apartment. I’d eaten the rest of what I had last night which in the grand spectrum of things probably wasn’t the best anyway. Who knew how long that Chinese had been in there for?
I also needed to reconcile with the guys. I’d been a right bitch to them this morning and last night. They wouldn’t be happy to lend me their services so I could make money unless I apologized. Sure, they were endless flirts, and I had blue ovaries because of them, but really it wasn’t their fault they couldn’t touch me.
“Jane?” Mandy snapped her fingers in front of my face.
Blinking, I nodded. “Yeah, I can do that. I’ve got a few more things to do, but I’ll come by before I head to the bar.”
“With your ... companions?” I almost smiled at how hard it was for her to admit that they existed.
My lips tipped up in what I hoped was a smile. “You leave that to me.”
5
There was only one place I wanted to go after dropping Mandy off, and coincidentally, it happened to be the same place I knew the guys would show up.
The Tasty Orange.
It not only had the best frozen yogurt in town but twenty-four different flavors with even more options for toppings. I’d made the mistake of one time getting one of everything in the same bowl. I was drunk and spent the following few hours in front of the toilet.
Since then, I made sure to stick to the basic flavors, but I still visited the Tasty Orange more often than my own family. There was just something so soothing about the white and screaming orange walls, the vinyl seats, and the smell of sugar in the air. It catered to all types of people. The young, the old, the hung-over. The Tasty Orange could turn anyone’s day right side up, which I needed after another of my mom’s talks about guys and grandkids.
Luckily for a Friday, it wasn’t filled to the brim with people. A couple sat in a corner, their eyes firmly on their phones while their bowls of froyo melted before them. I didn’t need to be a psychic to know they weren’t going to last. They were almost as sad as the cashier who looked like she’d had just about enough of our crap. As long as she only had gummy bears as a weapon, I wasn’t too worried. The family of four might cause me some issues though. Toddlers didn’t know when to pretend something wasn’t wrong, unlike adults, who were fluent in denial.
I sat at my table eyes down as I tried to inhale as much sugary goodness as possible before I had to give up my dignity. I had no doubt the guys would make this as painful as possible for me. They might be angels, but that didn’t mean they weren’t devils at times.
“You humans and your sweets,” Michael said as he appeared. He made a face across from me and shook his head.
Gabriel appeared next, his leg pressed against mine, sending a tingle down my thigh. “Leave her alone, Michael. Just because you can’t eat doesn’t mean you should judge others.”
“Yeah, lighten up, Mike.” Lucifer became visible, taking the seat next to Michael, much to the angel’s displeasure. “If Jane wants to kill herself with sugar, that is her business.”
I took a sugar covered bite just to spite him, making an over exaggerated moan as it filled my mouth. It had the desired effect. All three of them tensed beside me, leveling me with heated stares. But it wasn’t just them staring at me, the family of four looked at me like I had gone off my rocker.
Removing the spoon from my mouth with a pop, I shoved it into the bowl and dug around in my bag. I pulled out my phone and earbuds, putting one bud into my ear.
“What’s that for?” Gabriel asked next to me, his head cocked to the side like a curious little boy.
I kept my eyes on my food as I muttered, “So, I don’t look like a freaking psycho talking to myself.”
“What’s wrong?” Gabriel asked, his brows furrowed. Of course, he’d be the first one to notice my mood.
Slouching further into my seat, I frowned at my dessert as if it had been the one to upset me. “Just not a good day.”
All three of them became intensely interested in my face, and I tried not to be offended. While they could easily go to the top of my most hated list, the guys, even Lucifer, were way too caring for me to stay mad at them. Besides, I was supposed to be there to ask them a favor, not talk about my problems.
Of course, I couldn’t just jump right into it. I had my dignity, at least some of the time, and an abnormally large amount of candies in my bowl.
“I’ve been wondering something,” I started, glancing up from my bowl, their intense stares making me shift uncomfortably. “If Lucifer is the Devil, should you two really be talking to him?”
A mixture of confusion and surprise greeted me. Lucifer slumped back into his seat, and somehow, he made even that look good. Fucking angels.
“That’s what you called us here for?” Lucifer pouted, his arms crossed over his chest.
Ignoring Lucifer’s whining, Michael, as usual, took the lead. “Lucifer may be fallen, but he’s still our brother. We are not forbidden from interacting with him nor would we want to do so.”
“Why not?” I quirked a brow. “He’s the Devil. Bringer of evil. Torturer of damned souls. Isn’t that completely against everything you and Gabriel stand for?”
“You’re forgetting dangerously sexy and a generous lover.” Lucifer slid his hand down the front of him, a lewd grin on his lips as he looked me over. Well, there went today’s panties.
Gabriel chuckled, ignoring Lucifer’s display. “You watch too many movies. Lucy isn’t any more evil than the rest of us. He just doesn’t know how to stay out of trouble so God, our Father, assigned him to monitor Hell. He doesn’t even get to torture anyone.” Gabriel’s laughter caused Lucifer’s jawline to tighten and grind his teeth. Sour subject for him apparently.
“What did you call us here for?” Lucifer growled, clearly trying not to lash out at Gabriel.
“Chill out, Lucy.” Gabriel threw an arm over the back of my seat, a lopsided grin on his face. Where his arm touched me warmed and buzzed. I leaned back into the feel of it. Who needed a masseuse when you had your own personal angel to use? I did mean in a happy ending kind of way.