1. Candy

I t had been six whole miserable fucking months. Minus the fucking. I was probably the only celibate cupid in all of Cupidale.

Six months is far too much time to wonder why you were rejected by not one, but two beings of the veil. What’s even worse…I can’t seem to move on.

That night was magical, everything I ever wanted. But by morning, I was alone, abandoned without a word from either male suitor.

Life was looking gloomy.

“Oh, Candy, not again,” Gloom says. The reaper Gloom, not the status of my pathetic love life.

“Leave it. Let me organize.” Gloom looks over at me with pitying eyes.

“I say this with all the love I have left to give, Candy. I think you’ve hit rock bottom.”

I gasp, clutching a soup can as if I might throw it at him, though I never would. Gloom somehow slithered his way into my heart—platonically of course. Not only is he my best friend with zero attraction between us, but I’m not stupid enough to get on Ladybird’s bad side. And messing with one of her men was a surefire way to end up on the tall, stunning cupid’s shit list.

“Well, I have some gossip that might cheer you up,” he says with a wink. Gloom grabs the soup can and puts it on the shelf.

“Gossip? What sort of gossip?”

“Well, you know how the interim Head Cupid is one of my best friends?”

“Yes.” I try not to roll my eyes.

“Well, she has the guest list for the Christmas Ball,” he says from where he leans against the shelves. “Figured you might want to know if a certain scary under lord or kind-of hot beast are attending.”

“They RSVP’d? Mortem and Krampus are coming to the ball?”

“They did, and neither of them has a plus one.”

I clear my throat and rub my hands down the side of my thighs. “Well, it’s not like I should care… right?” I ask, and he looks unamused.

We’ve had far too many rather pathetic moments in this pantry.

“You liked them. You haven’t stopped thinking about them for months. Maybe it was a misunderstanding? Now you can talk to them both and figure out what happened. You deserve to be happy, Candy.”

Tears well in my eyes as I look up at Gloom. “What… what if it wasn’t a misunderstanding, and they just didn’t like me?”

The kind reaper grabs my face and smiles.

“Then they’re the stupidest motherfuckers I ever met. Now, let’s get out of the pantry and find you a dress that will have these two idiots drooling over you.”

I nod, pushing back unshed tears.

When Gloom opens the door, Cupiō and Ladybird practically tumble into the small storage space, caught red handed in their snooping.

Ladybird recovers faster and Cupiō’s cheeks turn a darker shade of pink.

I search their gazes and Ladybird flings her hands in the air. “What, I’m still a cupid. God, change out of that hideous apron, Candy. We’re going shopping.”

Gloom gives me an encouraging nod as Ladybird all but drags me to the best boutique in Cupidale.

Ladybird commands everything around her, and it feels like the shopping attendants are going out of their way to make this experience perfect—starting with settling Ladybird in a chair and handing her a sparkling drink.

The women running the shop are collecting dresses in my size to try on as Ladybird clicks her tongue.

“You know, you never told any of us what happened that night.”

“Oh. Well. I mean, the Love in the Veil Mixer was great,” I say, silently praying that the cupids running the shop help save me from this conversation by insisting I try on dresses.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I know that. It’s just… It’s stupid.”

“I’m sure it’s not,” Ladybird says, her voice softening just a hair. I can’t handle sweet Ladybird. She makes me want to tell her all my secrets.

But I’m embarrassed.

“Tell me what happened. I want to help,” she says, and dammit. Fine.

“It wasn’t sex, and I feel like everyone thought it was sex. So I never corrected anyone. I’m a cupid, for heaven’s sake! We’re nearly feral when it comes to fucking. Mortem realized I was nervous about going all the way, so did Krampus. So it was just some kissing, some light touching.”

Ladybird’s eyebrows furrow, and she tilts her head. She doesn’t laugh or call me stupid, she just clicks her tongue.

“All three of you together were kissing?”

“Well, no. I kissed Mortem and then Krampus.”

“Did they kiss each other?” she asks, and I tilt my head.

Think, Candy, think.

I was so buzzed on sparkly pink drinks and caught up in the surprise of being kissed again, that everything feels like a blur. I gasp and clutch my hands against my chest.

“I think…Oh, holy balls, Ladybird. I think they might have tried to kiss, and that’s the moment they both seemed to pull away?”

Ladybird’s lip twitches ever so slightly.

“Next time, don’t keep this bottled in for so long. I could have had you out of our pantry months ago,” she says as the women bring me the first dress. “Go try on the dress, Candy.”

I nod at her, excitement and anxiety flipping around in my stomach. Did I actually do nothing wrong? But if that’s the case, that means they ignored me over something so ridiculously stupid. I’ve spent the last six months thinking I wasn’t good enough, that something was wrong with me.

Why? Because they got a little scared of a kiss?

I angrily change into my dress, shimming it over my very nice, voluptuous ass before wrangling my tits in and zipping up the back.

Part of me wants to shoot a million arrows at their two stupid faces, while the other part wants them to kiss me senseless again.

When I walk out in the fitted dress, an eerie smile takes over Ladybird’s face.

“That’s the one. Now, are you ready to play dirty, darling?”

“What do you mean ‘play dirty?’”

“I mean no more Miss Nice Cupid. You want to bring men to heel, you have to learn to take what you want.”

I rub my hands up and down my bare arms. “I’m not like you, Ladybird, you’re confident and strong.”

She scans the room, glaring at anyone who seems to be too close, before approaching me and turning me toward the trio of mirrors.

“I was in love with Cupiō for years before we became lovers. We’re not as different as you think. Now, how do you feel in the dress?”

I look at myself and damn, I can’t deny that I feel beautiful. Ever since we invited more beings of the veil into Cupidale a lot of things have changed, one of the biggest being the amount of color brought into our world. The body-hugging sparkly red dress makes me feel sexy and confident.

“You’re more powerful than you think. Now, if you want them, despite them being complete dickheads about the whole situation, here’s what we’re going to do,” Ladybird says with a smile, gripping my shoulders with her perfectly manicured nails. “We’re going to make them think you’re not interested at all.”

My brows pinch together and I spin around, looking up at the tall cupid.

“Uh, why would I do that?”

“Because, darling, men love a chase. Plus, after having to watch you mope around my house for months on end, I need some entertainment. Let’s get them on their knees and barking like dogs.”

My jaw drops, and she closes my mouth.

“Now, let me show you the art of not giving a fuck.”