Page 31 of Pretty Monsters

"Jesus fucking Christ, it's a good thing we got you out of that house when we did." He hurries out of the room, muttering obscenities all the way to the kitchen, leaving me alone with Sin.

"Who was it?" he demands.

"None of your business."

"I don't believe you," he insists.

"I don't need you to. You made an assumption, and I set you straight. Go fuck half the world. I really don't give a shit."

"This doesn't change anything between us. We aren't going to happen."

A laugh bubbles out of me. "Why do you think I want something to happen between us? I'm not a silly little girl, no matter how much you want to shove me in that box."

"Be careful, Raven," he coos. The tone of his voice at odds with the threat he's giving me. "I'm not a good guy."

"So you've both told me."

He walks away, leaving me alone to get dressed. Part of me understands why he went out last night. The need to connect to another person, in any way you are capable is powerful. Not to mention, being cooped up in this apartment without an occasional escape we'll go mad.

I've got news for them both. My days of being locked away are over. I'm getting out of this apartment today.

* * *

An uncomfortable silencehangs between the three of us since this morning. For the last several hours I've sat alone in the bedroom, wondering what I'm going to do to stay busy. There's no television in the apartment, and since we left without warning I don't have a single book to entertain me.

The door opens and closes, and I realize Lucien has left for his first day at work. Being left alone with Sin is torture because I don't want to be anywhere near the gorgeous bastard.

The shower kicks on, and I'm on my feet. He messed around with the water heater earlier, but there's no guarantee it worked yet. Which means I have five minutes to leave the apartment if I don't want his overbearing ass breathing insults down my neck.

Outside, the scent of barbecue wafts up from the tiny courtyard. There are a couple of picnic tables in about as good shape as everything else around here. Splintered wood seems to be held by little more than peeling paint. Weeds grow in planter boxes.

However, despite the lack of visual appeal, I'm drawn to the mess. It's a far cry from the sterile and controlled environments I was raised in. It's chaos and ugly, but there's freedom in there that I have never felt before. No one is trying to force the space to be something it isn't. Yes, it's marked by poverty, but it doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is. It's not another prison masquerading as a girls' school, and for that alone I'm grateful.

A group of men gather around camp chairs drinking beer they are grabbing from a cooler. My brother and Sin would be wary, but they continue to fail to see me for who I am.

"Oh! You must be our new neighbor! We heard from Greasy Gerry there was a girl that just moved in." The guy jumps up to greet me. He's open and eager, and nothing about him screams threat.

"Yeah, I am sharing with my brother and his roommate until I can figure out what I'm doing next. I just graduated and didn't take life planning seriously."

"What's your name?" the guy asks.

"Alice," I reply. Not sure where the name came from, but I knew enough not to give him my real name.

The grumpy guy still seated narrows his eyes at me. "You don't look like an Alice."

I put my hand on my hip and return his look. "Oh yeah? What does an Alice look like then?"

"Like a short blonde chasing a rabbit," mutters a preppy douche standing next to the grill.

I roll my eyes. "Like I've never heard that one before." I haven't of course, because I just came up with the name a few seconds ago.

The asshole shrugs. "I was thinking it's an old lady's name."

Giving him a careless shrug I dig into my lies. "Well, it was my grandma's name so I guess you're half right."

This guy is a dick, but he's attractive in a jacked up jock kind of way. Besides, he's nowhere near in the same stratosphere of asshole behavior as my personal tormentor.

"Want a beer?" the guy I spoke to first offers.

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