Page 58 of Filthy Little Pretties
Liam puts his chin on my shoulder, since he’s been reading over my shoulder. “I hate her for you, Van. What a bitch.”
I smile up, feeling the stinging of embarrassment in my eyes, and wave a hand in the air. “I don’t even know who that is…must be a wrong number.”
Liam twists his face and kisses my cheek, hard, pressing it in, before rising to his full height, accepting my humor by not pushing.
“Cherry.”
I don’t look up at Grey. If I do, I might crack. He’s my truth serum, always has been, but I don’t want him to see the hurt because he’ll want to dive in until he reaches the bottom.No explorations today.
Grey’s finger comes under my chin and forces my eyes to his. What scares me most about this moment isn’t that I’m going to tell him what he wants to hear. It’s that I want to. That I need to. I want to seek out a safe space in him. I want to let him in, but if I do, I’m afraid he may root himself inside and never leave.
“What do you want me to say? My mother is a bitch, but I’ve given her more reasons to hate me than she even realizes. The irony is it’s my inability to cater to her whims that she dislikes me for the most. It’s like life’s cruel joke—she despises me for something I can’t control or fix.”
“It’s her loss.”
I wipe a hand quickly under my eye, removing any evidence that I care, as I stay locked on him. “Is it? You don’t really know, now do you?”
He doesn’t because I won’t tell him all the reasons she has not to love me.
“I know enough. Only a monster abandons their young.”
I wish I could kiss him.It’s a single thought, the impulse that takes over my mind. He stares at me, and everything disappears. It’s just me and Grey, like when we were little, understanding each other in the way only we can.
“Thank you,” I mouth, and he gives me a nod.
“Grey’s full of shit. The real monsters are inside there,” Liam growls into my ear, pointing at the haunted house.
On cue, screams come from inside the building, and I jump. Liam laughs at me, but I wrap my arms around him, giving him a quick hug, letting go as we shuffle closer to the front.
We move forward slowly to the entrance, as Liam acts like a clown, but it lightens the mood and has me rolling my eyes at him. We stop at an attendant dressed like a vampire who’s taking payment. He bares his long fangs, and my eyes fix on him, fully creeped out as I grab for Liam’s hand.
“Don’t you dare leave me,” I whisper, as he laughs at me again.
Grey hands the guy cash, then reaches out quick as lightning and nabs my side, making me jump ten feet in the air.
“No! Dammit. No! I hate you.”
The guys howl with laughter as I smack their arms, taking a step forward in front of them, but a hand creeps up the back of my jacket and dips two fingers inside the band of my skirt, slowly pulling me back. Grey’s warm breath moves the side of my hair as he speaks.
“Cherry, let me go first. Wrap your arms around me and don’t let go. You dealt with enough creeps today. I got you from here.”
He always knows just what to say. A smile pulls at my lips, grateful for the human shield in more ways than one. Grey slides around to the front, Liam staying behind, as the attendant stationed at the entrance waves us in. I do as I’m told and wrap my arms around Grey’s hard stomach, already grimacing and squeezing my eyes shut as I grip his shirt for dear life.
Ghostly wails and the sound of chains rattling surround us as the darkness takes over. A burst of air makes me yelp and hold on tighter to Grey as we walk in step past whatever is happening. I refuse to open my eyes. My pulse is already skyrocketing through the roof, and the last thing I need to see are the nightmares I’m envisioning. Grey taps my hand, probably needing me to loosen my vice grip, but I wholeheartedly refuse, just shaking my head against his back. Grey’s stomach vibrates with laughter as I scream again, feeling something touch my shoulder.
“It’s just me, Van.”
I giggle but reach back for Liam when I feel a sort of cold air behind me.
“Donovan, we’re fine. There are four rooms. Open your eyes.”
I blink them open, loosening my grip on Grey, and look over my shoulder at Liam, who’s shaking his head with a huge smile due to my overreaction. Screams from the next room echo, and I pull back, forcing Grey to drag us through the shredded fabric that’s separating the rooms.
“It’s fine, just fake decapitated bodies,” Liam says behind me.
It’s disgusting. A bloody menagerie of headless mannequins is littered around the room, posed in various ways to look like dead bodies. I let out a breath, keeping my eyes peeled, when a chainsaw rips, rattling through the room. My arms drop from Grey’s body as I begin pushing his laughing frame forward, screaming.
“Hell no! Oh my God. Go!”
