Make Me by Parker Blue Read Free Book Online Page A

BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME? he asked plaintively, looking up at me with his big brown eyes.
    Okay, I had to admit, he did cute and adorable really well. I couldn’t help but scratch him behind his fuzzy ears. That’s beside the point.
    BECAUSE I WAS HELPING PIA AND DAVID… THEY’VE BEEN THROUGH A LOT. I FIGURED THEY DESERVED SOME SLACK. BESIDES, YOU NEEDED TO HEAR AND SEE WHAT MICAH HAS BEEN HIDING FROM EVERYONE.
    You could have done that with words alone.
    MAYBE. BUT WOULD IT HAVE BEEN AS CONVINCING?
    Probably not. You scared the hell out of me.
    I KNOW, AND I’M SORRY FOR THAT.
    And why me? Why didn’t David pick on someone else?
    LIKE HE SAID, IT’S BECAUSE YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. PEOPLE SEE YOU DIFFERENTLY. DAVID AND MICAH KNOW HOW INFLUENTIAL YOU ARE, JUST BY BEING YOURSELF, EVEN IF YOU DON’T.
    Ridiculous. Why did everyone forget that I was still only eighteen? Sure, I felt years older in experience, but I was too young for all the responsibility everyone kept trying to shove off on me. And I sure didn’t want it. But the Demon Underground didn’t have the same social conventions tied up with arbitrary age numbers. They didn’t see years. They saw something else. If I could figure out what it was, I’d darned well stop showing it to them.
    WHAT ELSE ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE? Fang challenged. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
    Maybe not, but I wanted to be the one to make the choice, not have it shoved down my throat. Don’t push me. This is not going to make me want to forgive you yet. And don’t even think about getting pizza until I do.
    OKAY. He sighed heavily. I CAN LIVE WITH THAT.
    We rode in silence the rest of the way home. When we arrived, David and I exchanged phone numbers and Fang and I got out of the truck. It was near dawn, but all the lights were blazing in the house. Guess my roomie, Gwen, was up.
    Inside, two people and a hellhound sat in the living room, their postures tense. Gwen looked worried, her short red hair more tousled than normal, and Shade’s general swirliness was an agitated mess.
    WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? Princess demanded. MY HUMAN WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU.
    Shade was seven-eighths human, but I always thought of him as demon. Apparently, Princess didn’t. And I noticed that the part hellhound, part Cavalier King Charles Spaniel didn’t say she was worried. She’d always been self-centered, but now that she was pregnant with Fang’s pups, she was more demanding than ever.
    At least Gwen and Shade looked relieved to see us. Gwen said, “When I got home from the ER, I found your motorcycle here and your cell lying next to it.”
    I patted my pockets. Sure enough, my phone was gone. It must have fallen out during the struggle.
    “I called Shade,” Gwen continued, “but when you weren’t at his place, we both got worried.”
    That explained why he was here. “Sorry,” I said. “But it wasn’t my choice.” Privately, I asked Fang, You didn’t tell Princess about this?
    NO, he answered ruefully. YOU TRY REASONING WITH A HORMONAL HELLHOUND, SEE HOW FAR YOU GET.
    I hear ya.
    Shade moved around the couch to envelop me in his arms. Oh, my. Lola liked. Now finally free of the sticky web of the drug, Lola was able to reach out and touch. She wanted to drink up all the yummy goodness that was Shade, but I wouldn’t let her. Not right now anyway. For now, it felt good just to be wrapped in his arms, feeling the warmth of his body against mine. Knowing someone cared enough about me to worry infused my being with a warm glow of happiness.
    Sappy, I know, but Shade affected me that way. Home again with friends surrounding me—it didn’t get better than this.
    “What happened?” he asked, holding me at arm’s length.
    Since he was still touching me, the swirls were gone and I could see his face. That made me happy, too. Our relationship was still new, and I never got tired of his hot studliness. Didn’t think I ever would.
    GAG ME, Fang said,