Total pages in book: 181
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
Whoever says they don’t is lying.
And my, oh my, the gossip does not disappoint.
Because none other than Aspen Caruso and Grey Whatever-the-fuck-his-name-is are sitting on a love-booth seat in the back of the shop, eating some red heart-shaped cake together like they’re having …
“A date?” I murmur to myself as a wretched smile appears on my face. “Interesting.”
“That’ll be fifteen dollars,” the cashier says. “Here you go.”
I take my order from the cashier and pay with my black credit card, then sit down quietly behind the couple just to listen in for a bit.
“So … are you finally going to tell me what’s been bothering you?” Grey asks her, oblivious to the fact that I’m staring at them.
What’s this about?
“What?” Aspen mutters, obviously taken aback by his question.
“This morning in class, you were so distracted, and you’ve been acting strange ever since the bonfire,” he says. “I just figured something happened.”
“Oh.” Aspen laughs awkwardly. “No, nothing. Nothing happened.”
Nothing?
A smirk forms on my lips. I beg to differ.
A little freckled birdy told me she has a masked stalker.
She just doesn’t want to tell him. But why?
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m just … frazzled from a nightmare.”
Lies.
She pokes at her cake with her fork. “I had this dream the other night where I saw my sister’s casket again, and when I looked up, someone was watching us from the forest.”
Grey pauses while eating a piece of his cake, staring at her for a second. “Hmm. Sounds like you’re still worried her death might not have been an accident.”
“I’m just …” She sighs. “It was just a dream. It’s not important.”
He grabs her hand and squeezes it gently. Intently. “It is important. You matter. You know you can always talk to me.”
The way she looks at him, good God, it’s almost like she’s smitten.
My nostrils flare as I lift my head above the menu and glare at them together.
Every time she smiles, those freckles of hers nearly light up, and I love it. But then I remember she’s still staring at that white-haired fucker like he’s some kind of perfect fucking boyfriend.
That fucker should be me.
Suddenly, Grey leans in to kiss her. And she’s frozen to her seat, staring at him.
That motherfucker.
She doesn’t move closer to his lips. Instead, her eyes briefly connect with mine in absolute terror.
Yes. I’m watching you, Freckles.
And I know you’re thinking of my lips when he tries to kiss you.
He leans away without even having had the kiss he was so desperate for while she keeps blinking like a deer looking straight into the headlights.
Good.
She immediately jumps up and drops her cake on the floor. “Oh God.”
She panics and tries to pick it up, but half of the cake drops on his arm as they both try to clean up the mess.
“No, no, no, I can do it. It’s fine,” she insists.
“Are you okay?” Grey asks her.
She shakes her head and plops everything on the table, then moves away. “I’m sorry.”
And she runs out of the shop without even taking another look, leaving him and those perked-up lips all to himself.
Oh my fucking God.
I burst out into laughter.
Like full-on laughter.
Everyone’s looking at me, even Grey, but I don’t care.
She just rejected him in such a stone-cold manner that it made even my black heart throb. And that means a lot.
“What the—What are you laughing at?” Grey growls at me.
“Good luck with those fucking blue balls,” I say, laughing all the way out of the store.
What a fiery little thing.
Grey
I nearly break the happy and gentle facade, piercing the cake with such rage the plate splits into four pieces. Lucky for me, Aspen is long gone, along with my chance to kiss her.
Goddammit. How the hell did I manage to mess that up?
And why the fuck was that airhead Apollo here to witness it all go down?
I scoot my chair back, grab my jacket, and waltz off, leaving the half-eaten cake on the table. Sugary treats won’t satiate the kind of hunger I’m experiencing right now, so I get back into my car, slam the door shut, and start the engine. I can only go to one place on this earth to get this out of my system, one place that won’t even blink twice at monsters like me.
And even though it’s broad daylight, I still skid the wheels as I race off, knowing something is waiting for me up ahead that I can sink my teeth into.
Levi
“Tell me how school’s been,” my dad asks as he brings a few coffee cups to the table and then lights a cigarette.
I shrug. “The same.”
“Doubt that.” He takes a drag first, then a gulp of his coffee to wash it all down. After a while, he holds the cigarette out to me. “Take it. You look like you need a fix.”
“Didn’t Mom tell you to quit smoking?” I reply, but I still take the cigarette from him and inhale a much-needed drag.