Mr. Sugar: A disturbing psychological thriller with a twist of dark romance

by L. D. Fox

  Drew fished his cellphone from his pocket when it began vibrating and checked the call screen. It was Angel, of course. Who else would it have been? He ended the call without answering it.

  For a moment, he’d really hoped it was his daughter. It still hurt, thinking about the sound of her voice. The silence after she’d hung up the phone on him.

  He dialed Penny’s number, and held his cellphone to his ear. It went to voicemail. It would have been pointless to leave a message – it was obvious she didn’t want to see him.

  Drew went back to staring at Kelly’s pool. Rain danced on its surface, shattering the lights from the porch into a fragmented rainbow.

  The gin made him feel warm. Heavy. And pissed off.

  A dark smudge cut across his prismatic panorama. He blinked up at Kelly, shifting aside so she could join him on the edge of the love seat. The small gazebo in the back of her yard was the only other place where he could smoke that provided shelter. But the angle the rain fell at meant that he had to crowd back in the love seat to avoid getting wet.

  “I was looking for you,” Kelly said, giving his thigh a light slap. “Almost thought I found you a few times, but it was always your brother.” She laughed softly and pointed to the bustling porch. “Party’s over there.”

  The smell of roasting meat still filled the air; it had been almost an hour since Kelly had called out that dinner was ready. Almost longer since he’d been sitting here, nursing his triple-shot of gin with its dash of tonic.

  “In case you haven’t noticed,” Drew said with a half-assed smile. “I’m kind of an introvert.”

  Kelly shrugged and then produced a small joint. “Mind if I be introverted with you for a bit?”

  He smiled and shook his head. “Not at all. Need a light for that?”

  “You smoke, right?”

  “Not that,” he said, rummaging in his pocket for his zippo.

  But Kelly wiggled the joint until he took it from her. “Wouldn’t mind lighting it for me though, would you? I never get it right; don’t have the lungs for it.”

  He sighed and put it in his mouth, bringing cupped hands and a glowing Zippo to his lips. Tugging at the joint until it glowed as merrily as any cigarette, Drew handed it back to Kelly.

  “You’re an angel,” she murmured. The cherry became bright red as she pulled at it. “Sure you don’t want?”

  Drew opened his mouth, shrugged, and then took it from her.

  Why not, right? Seemed this was a week of firsts, after all. First time he’d banged someone half his age. First time he’d fought with Penny. First time in a long time that he’d taken lead on a claim.

  First time he’d thought about having sex with another woman and hadn’t felt guilty about it.

  When he handed the joint back to Kelly, their fingertips brushed. Kelly paused, and then took the joint while giving Drew an unreadable glance from under her lashes.

  “Forty-two,” she murmured. “And I’m still trying to get over thirty.”

  “Wait until you get to forty-six,” he said. “You wouldn’t think it, but those few years make a hell of a difference.”

  Kelly had her chin in her hand, elbows resting on her knees. She twisted her face to look at him, eyes hooded and a goofy grin on her lips. “Forty-six? You look—” she waved a vague hand at him “—like late thirties.”

  He laughed. “I feel sixty most days.”

  “How would you know?” she said in a stage whisper. “You’ve never been sixty. That’s prob’ly just what forty-six feels like.”

  Drew ran his palms over his thighs and let out a heavy sigh. “Could you stop saying forty-six? You’re branding it in my brain in letters ten feet high.”

  “Ten feet high?” Kelly pushed back, gripping her knees as she leaned back on the loveseat. It shifted under them and Drew lifted his feet just enough so that it could swing a little. This made the rain touch their toes, but Kelly didn’t seem to mind. “That’s pretty high.”

  “You’re pretty high,” Drew said, grinning at her.

  “Fuck you.” She stabbed a finger into his chest. “You’re pretty high too.”

  “I am,” he said, giving his head a shake. “And pretty drunk.”

  “So what does your brother do?” Kelly began picking at the lapel of his button-up shirt. He’d loosened his tie a while ago, but it still hung around his neck. Hopefully, with the top button of his shirt undone, he didn’t look as stiff as when he’d arrived.

  “Same thing I do.”

  “Really?” She squinted at him. “So you’re like, those really close twins?” She crossed her fingers. “Can you read each other’s—?”

  He grabbed her fingers, wrapping his own around them. “No. That we’re definitely not.”

  “Oh.” Her eyes moved to his hand, where it stuck. “It must be weird, having someone who looks like you. Is it weird?”

  “It’s… annoying.” Drew released the pressure on her fingers but didn’t open his hand. Her skin was so soft, so smooth. Those two fingers were so frail, they felt like they could snap if he flexed.

  “So, what’s up with that girl you’re with?”

  The weed had evidently turned off whatever chatter control Kelly usually had. Or, maybe, this was just who she was when her inhibitions weren’t holding her back. Either way, he couldn’t handle her asking questions about Bryce, or questions about Angel.

  “Nothing. She’s just a girl.”

  “Like, how young?”

  His jaw tightened. Why did it matter so fucking much?

  Kelly’s lips peeled apart, her tongue no doubt ready with another question.

  To stem it, he leaned in and kissed her.

  14

  Peeping Tom

  Bryce lifted the collar of his jacket against the rain as he hurried out to his car. Luckily, he’d brought another packet of cigarettes with him; this was shit weather to be driving around in, and the closest place to buy smokes was the gas station a few blocks away.

  He slammed his car door, turned back to Kelly’s house, and paused. A flicker of light drew his gaze to his brother’s house.

  An upstairs light was on. The curtains hadn’t been drawn yet, but from this angle, all he could see was a square of white ceiling. Bryce walked toward Kelly’s house but stopped with his hand on the gate.

  There was the suggestion of movement behind that lace curtain. He glanced at Kelly’s front door — now shut — and then slipped into Drew’s driveway. He went around the back of the house, eyes glued to the new window of light that appeared. The master bedroom, wasn’t it?

  Was his brother allowing that little chit of a girl to sleep with him in his bed? It would be just like Drew, letting a fling turn into a committed relationship. Not realizing the girl was using him, despite Bryce’s warnings. Not understanding that someone so young couldn’t grasp the concept of monogamy any more than Bryce could.

  He snorted and moved to the back of the house. The master bedroom had another, smaller window here; the en-suite bathroom, no doubt. Bryce lit himself a cigarette and glanced over his shoulder. The hedges were too high for him to see into Kelly’s backyard, but the music was as loud as if he stood under the woman’s porch. He looked back up; the bathroom light had gone out. Thinning his lips in irritation, Bryce made his way to the house’s back door. It wasn’t locked — something Drew would probably throw a fit over if he ever found out.

  Bryce turned the handle and slipped inside, taking another drag of his smoke. The kitchen was dark and empty, but the faint smell of supper still lingered in the air.

  There were the unmistakable — if muffled — sounds of footsteps above his head.

  Good thing he’d never stuck it out with Juliet and bought this house; that noise would have driven him insane.

  He moved slowly through the house, listening for those footsteps. What was the girl doing? Pacing? It sounded like it; she kept walking up and down the length of Drew’s bedroom. He couldn’t hear her when he started up the stai
rs, but he doubted she’d get a fright seeing him. She would mistake him for Drew, just as Kelly had.

  Just as Juliet had.

  Bryce forced that last thought from his mind with necessary force; if he didn’t rid himself of it soon, it would fester and pop out those ugly triplets; regret, guilt, loathing.

  He cleared the stairs, ears straining for sound. No footsteps; but that could be because Drew had thick carpets. When he came close enough to Drew’s bedroom door, he softly pushed against the door. It swung open, revealing Drew’s bedroom lit by only one nightstand lamp.

  A young girl, not a day over nineteen if he was any judge, strode with purpose from one side of the room to the other, oblivious to him.

  She perched on the edge of Drew’s bed and adjusted the straps of her bright-pink nightie. Then she began brushing out her hair and braiding them down either side of her neck until they framed her breasts.

  Bryce watched her, gradually finishing his cigarette, and then stood with the filter between his fingertips.

  Finally, the girl faced Drew’s stand mirror, put her hands into two fists at her side, and took a breath that threatened to pop her breasts out of her nightie.

  A sly smile touched her lips. “Yeah… that’ll work just fine.”

  15

  Unprepared

  Kelly made a muffled sound of surprise when their lips touched and then went stiff. Her hands brushed his shoulders, slid up his neck, slipped into his hair.

  Enthusiastic as the woman was, her lips were so much more reserved than Angel’s had been. Kelly kissed him cautiously, hesitating before opening her jaw enough for his tongue to slide between her teeth. Drew grabbed her upper arm, drawing her close, and brushed a hand over her breast. She wore a thin, satin cami under her jacket; despite how it clung to her, he couldn’t feel if she was wearing a bra through the fabric.

  One of her hands disappeared and reappeared on his stomach. Her kiss paused, and he drew a ragged breath as he waited for her to move again.

  Her hand slid lower, flicking once against the top button of his suit pants. She shivered hard enough for him to hear her teeth click together. He rubbed his hands over the top of her arms.

  “You okay?”

  “It’s cold out here,” she whispered.

  It was too dark in this corner of the garden for him to make out her expression in detail when he pulled back from her. “We could go inside.”

  The light that had been gleaming in her eyes vanished as if she was looking down. “We could.”

  “Or we could go back to the porch.” He kept rubbing her arms, enjoying the warmth of that friction. “It’s warm there too.”

  She took a breath as if she was going to speak, and then leaned hard into him, kissing him again. Twisting her head away, she kept their cheeks together and let out a few short, hard breaths. “Inside.”

  Kelly stood, looking back at him when he pulled free of her grip.

  His dick was so hard that he knew it would tent the front of his pants if he tried to stand.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Let me have a smoke?”

  “Oh, sure.” Kelly’s silhouette wrapped its arms around itself. “Will you meet me inside? I’m freezing my ass off.”

  “Of course. Where?” His own breath was a strangled mess.

  “My room.”

  “Which is where?”

  Kelly let out a small giggle. “End of the hall.”

  “You sure?”

  At this, the woman’s silhouette stood straighter. “Only if you promise to make me feel thirty again.”

  Drew laughed and lit himself a cigarette. “I’ll do my best.”

  She started toward the house, paused, and looked back at him. Her face was wreathed with shadows, but he knew when she spoke that she had an awkward smile on her face.

  “Do you have a…?”

  “I do.”

  “Oh.” She let out another embarrassed laugh. “Good. Okay, see you in a bit.”

  She gave him a small wave, hurriedly yanked down her arm, and then jogged inside the house. Drew made sure she was inside before jumping to his feet and dashing over the lawn. A narrow alley separated her home from the hedge between their properties. Luckily, she wasn’t one of those people that kept dustbins and assorted junk stored here. He ran, unimpeded, right to the gate at the front of her house and then hurried up to his house.

  He wrestled the keys from his pocket, cringing as the rain began soaking his shoulders and back and hunched over the door trying to open it in the dark.

  Inside, his house was silent. No lights were on. Was Angel already asleep? Please, God, let the girl be sleeping. He didn’t want her to know he was only here for… Well, he didn’t want her to know he was even here.

  He crept through his house, taking the stairs one at a time and as carefully as possible. In the hall, shadows moved as if there were people in them. And, for some reason, the hallway smelled as if Angel had been putting out her cigarette butts on the carpet.

  Ridiculous, of course. Just his imagination. The offspring of a zinging mind filled with thoughts of how Kelly looked naked. What sounds she would make when she came. If she was getting ready for him right now, putting on something sexy. Or had she been wearing something sexy the whole evening already?

  He shook his head, shoved those thoughts from his mind, and made his way down the hall. His bedroom door was ajar, but no light came from inside. He pushed it open a bit more and sidled inside, holding his breath as he paused to let his eyes adjust to this even blacker darkness.

  There was a shape on the bed, unmoving.

  Asleep.

  Drew stepped further into the room, keeping his eyes on Angel as he sidled toward the en-suite bathroom. Why the hell didn’t he keep condoms in his car like every other ordinary, single man?

  Because he’d never thought he’d needed them.

  He had his hand on the door handle when Angel made a soft, sighing noise and turned over in her sleep.

  Was she facing him now? He could feel eyes on him; was she watching him? His heart began a hard, slow hammering in his chest.

  Fucking weed; he didn’t need this level of paranoia right now.

  God, she was watching him, wasn’t she? Then why wasn’t she saying anything? Why was she just lying there, staring at him? Because she wasn’t awake.

  She wasn’t awake.

  He repeated the phrase a few times until his breathing was under control again. Then he slowly turned the handle and inched into the room. He closed the door, turned on the light, and slapped a hand over his eyes.

  “Jesus,” he muttered.

  When he could see again, he hurried over to the bathroom cabinet and carefully slid open the middle drawer.

  Where the fuck were they? He rummaged quietly through the odds and ends inside, eyes widening with each subsequent second that passed.

  He could literally picture the string of condoms in this drawer. They’d been right next to an unopened bottle of mouthwash and half a tube of toothpaste he couldn’t stand the taste of but kept on hand in case of emergency toothpaste drought. Except now, it wasn’t here. And he hadn’t used any, and so what the fuck had—

  “Mr. Sugar?”

  He stiffened, slowly straightened his spine, and turned to face Angel. He closed the drawer behind him, blocking what he did with his body.

  She had been awake.

  “What you doin’?” she murmured, wiping the back of her hand over her eyes.

  She wore a nightie that left absolutely nothing to his imagination. Her nipples poked at the fabric, barely an inch from the lacy neckline, and it was pretty damn evident that she wasn’t wearing anything beneath the satin. Her hand slipped down, grabbing absently at one of the two braids dangling over her shoulder.

  “Go back to sleep, Angel.” Drew stepped closer, laying a hand on the girl’s waist and using it to steer her around and out the door.

  “You didn’t come home,” she said, looking back at hi
m. Her blue eyes sparkled in the bathroom light. “Where were you?”

  “At work.”

  “I wanted to wait up for you,” she said, her words distorted through a yawn, “but I fell asleep.”

  He fumbled on the bathroom wall, turning off the light. Then he guided her back to the bed and drew back the coverlet down for her so she could slip inside. She grabbed his wrist, sitting up when he tried to pull away.

  “You’re going?”

  “I still have some paperwork to finish up.” It wasn’t even a lie.

  “But I waited up for you.”

  Jesus, but she sounded so disappointed. He sank down onto the edge of the bed and touched one of her braids, running it through his fingers. “I’m sorry, I can’t stay.”

  “Just until I’m asleep? I swear, I keep thinking there’s someone in the house. It’s freaking me out.”

  Stay? For how long? Kelly waited for him. She was probably wondering where the hell he was; if he’d stuck her up.

  “It’s just us.”

  She slipped down, nestling her cheek into his palm. She was so warm, and the sweet smell of her drifted up to him as she squirmed around in the bed.

  “Promise?”

  “I promise. Now go to sleep.”

  She let out a small sigh and then tugged his hand down, so he was cupping her breast. “I was thinking of you,” she mumbled. “Thinking of all the ways I could make you happy.”

  Drew smiled at that. He could think of hundreds of way she could make him happy.

  “Ssh.” He used his other hand to stroke the top of her head. Then he ran his fingers over the twists of her braid. “Go to sleep.”

  “Would it make you happy—” she yawned again “—if I was here every day when you came home?”

  “Sure. I like seeing you.”

  “I’d wait for you, every day. I’d wear whatever you wanted. Or nothing at all.” She still sounded sleepy, but then she shifted until she lay on her back. The hand around his wrist moved him lower until his palm was on her warm stomach.

  “That… that would be nice,” he managed. Dammit, he had to get out of here. He couldn’t just sit here letting this girl get him hard and then go over to Kelly—