Read Online Real Ugly by C. M. Stunich - Free Book Online Page B

swear to Christ, I can hear gears in her head clicking as she realizes it's me on the phone. Man, she must be pretty tired if it took her this long to get that.
    “What do we have to talk about?” she asks me, and I can hear blankets rustling. I wonder if she's masturbated to me yet. If she hasn't, she will. They always do. Even if this one's different? my mind asks me. I'm too distracted to pay it much attention.
    “Well, you never showed up for drinks last night. I was worried about you.”
    “Bullshit,” she says, but her voice lacks any conviction, like she's too tired to even give me that emotion.
    “And you owe me an explanation.”
    “Oh? Do I?” Naomi says sarcastically, and my fist clenches hard at my side.
    “You asked me if I sent it. Sent what?”
    “Go to hell, Turner.” The phone crackles, and I think she's about to drop me again, so I speak quick. She needs to know that I know she has secrets. I could tell that from the moment I met her. It's a special trick of mine. I spent my whole life around people with dirty, little deeds to hide, so I consider myself an expert.
    “Listen, babe,” I say to her, wanting to make this pretty fucking clear. “I know we've met before. I may not remember when or where yet , but I will. You can bet on it.” I pause and listen to her breathing for a moment. “And if it's one of those little secrets you want kept, come find me before I spill it.”
    This time, it's my turn to hang up on her.
    I clench my hand around the phone and drop it from my ear, noticing as I start to turn around that Josh is glaring at me again. Maybe he doesn't like the way I talked to Naomi. So what? He doesn't know that I'm just fucking with her. I'd never tell, no matter what it was. I may not have any secrets of my own, but I sure as shit know how to keep them. And let's be honest – most secrets are better left buried.

    Phoenix is hot as fuck. No wonder I've never come here before. As soon as I step off the bus, sweat starts to pool on my lower back, and my head swims in the heat. It's the middle of the night for crying out loud, and the desert is still baking the shit out of this city.
    I wipe my hand across my forehead and get out a cigarette, lighting it up before I start across the parking lot and catch a glimpse of Naomi moving across the pavement with a purpose in mind. She keeps looking over her shoulder like she expects something to leap out at her.
    A grin spreads across my face.
    I toss my cig down and hurry forward, cutting through the bushes and heading her off before she comes out the other side. When I step out at her, she doesn't scream, doesn't even flinch, just glares at me with her orange-brown eyes for a moment before taking out her shades and slipping them on her face. It's dark out, so that means she's trying to hide from me.
    My grin gets bigger.
    “Hey there, in a hurry?”
    Naomi ignores me and moves off into the darkness, blonde hair catching light from the street lamps and glowing as she moves between pools of brightness. Angel, devil, angel, devil. That's what she looks like as she crosses between light and dark. I follow a few steps behind her.
    At the next intersection, she pauses and turns to look at me.
    “Stalking is an actual crime, you know.”
    I shrug.
    “Yeah, but walking to the gas station isn't. I can't help it if we're going to the same place.” She continues to stare at me, and then turns away, letting smoke trail from her lips in a gray cloud and curl up and into her nostrils.
    “What the hell do you want from me? You want to fuck me, is that it?”
    I think about that for a minute and run my hand through my hair. That's a good question. What do I want with this girl? Even I don't know the answer to that.
    “At first, I kind of wanted to punch you in the face,” I admit. Turner Campbell doesn't keep secrets of his own, not even little ones. Learned my lesson by watching the people around me fuck up royally, eaten alive from the inside.