I spin the thought around, working my way through the list of Matthew’s old friends. It would make total sense for those people to hate me. Most of them did long before he ended up floating in the lake.
But none seem to fit the bill.
Whatever.I push the thought away.Stupid fucking small towns.
8
NOAH
I lean my head back,resting it against the cool brick exterior of the Grab n’ Go that’s shaded by the woods. I couldn’t even come up with a single word to say to her.
But unlike that night at Matthew’s, I sawsomethingthere in her eyes.
She knows me. And now, she could call and turn me in.
That’d be bad. That’d bereallyfucking bad.Shit.I push off the wall and angle my body back toward the parking lot. I wait a few moments, expecting cops to come tearing in.
But they don’t.
Instead, little Rue comes bounding out, her arms full of groceries. Her eyes scan the lot in front of her in a paranoid way I can relate to. Part of me wants to run to her and help her carry all that shit. The other part of me is enjoying the struggle.
Even if it’s petty as fuck.
I stare at her jeans, and the way they hug the curve of her ass. She swings her hips in this strange, enticing way, and I’d recognize her gait anywhere. It’s kind of…goofythe way her hips move. But now that she’s all grown up?
It gets me so hard.
I shift uncomfortably, adjusting myself in my waistband.It’s real fucking messed up to get turned on by the woman who ruined my life.That’s what I need to keep reminding myself. There’s no room for her to exist in the positive space in my mind.
Still, she’s impossible to look away from.
Rue is much harder to forget than me.
Maybe that’s why guys like me end up in prison.I frown at the thought and take a deep breath, rolling my shoulders. They’re so tight they ache, and I’m not sure if it’s the shitty sleeping situation in the barn loft, or just the fact that I’m here in Moccasin Cove when I really should be in Mexico.
And the Marshals are going to show up here eventually.
People have seen me now.
Rue coughs, breaking my thoughts. While carefully balancing everything in her arms, she manages to get her key fob out and hit the button for the back hatch—but not before the bearded fucking wonder comes darting over to help her. I roll my eyes, and watch it play out. He’s trying so hard it makes my stomach sick.
And Rue just grins like a little angel.
I scoff.Better watch out, buddy. She can get a little stabby.
But Macho Man keeps making obnoxious gentleman moves, carefully helping her unload her arms. He places all the things in the back of her car like a good boy, laughing and conversing with her like they’re just old pals.
Fucking suck up.
But even then, Rue giggles in a way that has me wishing she was doing it to me as she rearranges something before leaning back. She smashes theClosebutton, and then steps back, dusting her hands off on her jeans.
After a closer look, I notice a bandage on the palm of her right hand.
Hmm. What’d you do, Little Rue? Stab someone else?
I mull it over for a moment. Somehow, I can’t see Rue as the serial killer type—not after having spent a decade around them in prison. Her energy is all wrong. She carries herself in a way that makes me want to give her a hug and tell her everything is going to be okay.
And that’s why she’s so dangerous.
