Page 20 of Crybaby

Darcie then steals the beer cup from Giselle’s limp hand and turns around, walking away. I have no idea where she’s going, but all I know is that I’m following.

Quickly downing my beer, I toss the cup into the fire and chase after her.

I don’t call out, but simply follow as she enters the dense woods alone. She isn’t Little Red Riding Hood—she’s the fucking wolf. I don’t mask my footsteps behind her, and she doesn’t turn around to see who’s following her in the dark.

Once she’s finished throwing back her beer and tossing her cup onto the ground, she climbs the steep hill to get to the place the local kids call Jacob’s Point. The lookout from here is really fucking beautiful. I come here often, late at night after I’ve fucked some woman into next week, to just get away from the noise.

I know the terrain well, so I keep back and allow Darcie to navigate at her own pace. She grips the ledge and pulls herself up, dusting off her hands once she gets to the top. Gripping the rocks, I scale the hill like a monkey and am behind her in seconds.

Her back is turned. Arms folded as she stares into the distance. From up here, you can see our entire miserable town. The moon is full, bouncing off the silver strands of blonde in her hair.

“What star is that?” she asks, pointing into the sky.

She knew I was the one behind her all along. At least she doesn’t think I’m a serial killer and feels safe being alone with me. Or maybe she isn’t bothered either way.

I follow her line of sight and peer into the heavens. “Sirius. It’s part of the Canis Major.”

I don’t go heavy on the details because I don’t want to bore her, but she cranes her neck to peer at the brightest star in the sky. “How do you know all this stuff?”

I could reply with a smart-ass response, but I get the sense she’s asking a serious question.

“I don’t know,” I reply honestly. “I like to read, and I guess it just sticks.”

And that’s the God’s honest truth.

“My mom said I take after my dad”—I can’t keep the bitterness from my tone—“but I wouldn’t know because I’ve never met him.”

Her attention dithers from the night sky as she turns to look at me. “So it’s just you and your mom?”

“Yes, but it may as well just be me because June is broken…and she ain’t ever going to be fixed.”

She arches an inquisitive brow, watching me in the darkness with those sharp eyes—like a predator watching her prey. “Sometimes, people don’t want to be fixed.”

Her statement catches me off guard. I don’t speak. I let her continue.

“Sometimes, it’s better when things are broken. People tend to leave you alone when you’re unfixable.”

“Is that what you want to be? Left alone?”

She lifts her shoulders in an apathetic shrug. “It doesn’t matter what I want. Every action has a consequence…and this is mine.”

I have no idea what that means.

“Why did you set that rose bush on fire?”

“Why not?” she counters quickly. “Whose house were you sneaking out of?”

So busted…and her defiance just turns me the fuck on.

“If you’re not prepared to answer a question, then don’t expect others to answer yours.” She folds her arms across her small frame, daring me to challenge her.

Challenge accepted.

With a sluggish pace, I step forward, bringing us close. I tower over her, but she peers up at me, jaw firm, those eyes setting me on fire with the need to eat me alive.

Bending low, I take great pleasure in hearing the hitch to her breath.

Our lips are mere inches apart, and her scent is a combination of ripened strawberries and the precise moment a thunderstorm lingers on the horizon, about to shatter your safety forever—she’s dangerous, and I’m addicted to the taste.

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