Page 82 of Hexed
“Heard your cousin’s back in town,” he says, instead of starting the game for us. “She was always a fun time.” He glances at me for a second, and the motherfucker must have a death wish because then he steps closer to Venesa and leans in. “Maybe shecan do me a favor like she did back in high school and make sure you and I have time to…connectagain.”
“Rusty,” Venesa croons. “If you don’t stop talking, I’m going to step over this booth and show you exactly what I think of how you treated me all those years ago. And trust me, you don’t want that because I’m much better at standing up for myself now than I was back then.”
What the fuck does she mean by that?
“Ah, come on, Urch. We had fun.”
“You’re right,” she lilts. “Let’s do it again, except this time we’ll trade positions.”
My eyes snap back to Rusty, and his face has drained of color, his eyes flashing with panic.
Rage taps against the edges of my calm.What is she implying?
“You two know the drill?” He doesn’t make eye contact now. “The squid is going to pop up, and your job is to gun it down. The more you hit, the faster your own mermaid will rise to the top.” He points to the red alarm that’s perched up high. “When that goes off, game over.”
I push the anger back down to deal with later and smirk over at Venesa. “Ready to be a loser?”
She smiles back and hip checks me. “You’reseverelyunderestimating my abilities.”
The buzzer goes off and we start, and it’s child’s play, really, how quickly I get the little mermaid to the top. The alarm goes off, and I spin the water gun around in my hand and blow on the top like I’m hot shit, because let’s face it, I am.
Venesa scoffs. “That was hardly fair.”
“Don’t be salty.” Before I can stop myself, I brush a thumb across her cheek. “I won for you. Pick a prize, Venesa.”
She sucks in a breath, and my heart skips in my fucking chest like I’m a schoolboy with a crush. Which I guess I sort of am.
Spinning toward the booth, she points to a giant plush squid that’s hanging. “That one.”
“A squid? After what we just did to all those metal ones? Brutal.”
She makes a face. “I like the underdog—sue me.”
Rusty’s standing there staring at her, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed, and I snap my fingers.
“Hey, fuckface. Get us the prize, and stop looking at her before I teach you some manners.”
He jolts to a stand and glares, but he listens, getting the stuffed animal down for us and passing it over.
It’s gigantic, so I text Scotty to meet us by the Ferris wheel so I can hand it off to him to put in the car, and then I focus back on the douchebag who works the game. Reaching out, I grab the stuffed animal from him, but with my free hand, I grip his wrist and pull him in harshly. His stomach hits the edge of the counter, and he grunts.
Lowering my voice, I tell him, “I don’t have to know the details to know you’re a piece of shit, so let me make something crystal-clear: If you ever so much as evenbreathein Venesa’s direction, I’ll know about it. And I’ll come back here, and I’ll find you, and I will take my time making sureyounever breathe again. Do you get what I’m saying to you?”
He swallows, his body physically shaking as he nods.Pussy.
“Good. Glad we had this talk, sweetheart.” I smile and release him, turning to Venesa and telling her we have to meet Scotty.
She eyes me curiously, and I’m confident she heard what I said, but she doesn’t mention it. If anything, there’s a bit of reverence in her gaze, like she’s surprised someone would stand up for her.
It’s a short walk to the Ferris wheel, and the entire time, I’m burning to have Venesa tell me what exactly that fucker Rusty did to her, but I hold back, because we’ve already hit the heavytopics once tonight, and I don’t want to push her for more. Not when we’re having a good time now. And if she wanted me to know, she’d tell me, same way she did with the story about her folks.
Still, I file away the information for later. Maybe I’ll get it out ofhiminstead.
Scotty’s already waiting when we walk up, leaning against the small white metal fence, a giant goofy-ass grin on his face when he spots us walking up.
“Who’s your new friend, E?” He points to the giant squid in my arms and then takes out his phone and snaps a picture.
“You’re deleting that,” I demand, shoving the stuffed animal into his chest.
