Page 7 of Pretty Prey

Fuck me.I should never have stopped to help her earlier.

“Hi Trish.”

She beams at me now in a bikini top and shorts with makeup painted all over her eyes and cheeks, making her look like a slutty festive Barbie with double-D tits.

“I wanted to invite you to ride in the back of my truck for the parade, we could really use a man with a good throwing arm.” She winks at me, making me want to puke by the amount of neediness she’s giving off. “Please, pretty please, the girls and I would be so grateful.”

“Girls?” I question because I thought this weekend was meant for mostly couples and people who wanted to fix their relationships according to the itinerary.

“My gal pals and I are here on a friend’s retreat, all ten of us. We could really use a manly man to help us.” She moves closer, eating the space between us and invading my personal bubble. I’d bet she’s never had anyone find her behavior appalling like I do in this very instant. “Please,” she bats her eyelashes at me, running her hand down my exposed bicep.

I have to swallow down the wave of nausea that hits the second her fingers graze my skin.

My mind wanders back to my earlier thoughts. Maybe my little prey is one of the girls on the other side of the tree line. If she’s up high in the back of a truck looking out over the crowd of people along the route. That might be the best way to spot her.

“Fine, but no touching, and absolutely no costumes.”

“Deal, meet us at our site in half an hour.”

She skips off back down the road with more pep in her step then she had coming over here in the first place. I really hope she doesn’t think I want anything to do with her. I simply want to use her truck as a perch, so I can hunt for my little prey.

I sprint into my camper and make quick work of taking a shower to wash off the sweat from my lengthy run, along with any grim the lake left behind after my swim.

The sound of giggles draws my head out of my duffel bag, causing me to stop my search for my white tank top. I know that giggle, at least I’m pretty damn sure I do. It’s not my little prey, but it’s her best friend.

My cowboy boots click on the metal stairs of my camper as I descend them two at a time, praying I’m right. My wife beater tank top slips over my head before I get my belt buckled. If her best friend is here, there is no way she isn’t. The two are inseparable most of the time.

They have no idea the shadow that’s been following the two of them around for months now has followed them twelve hours away. It’s like some sick comic twist of fate, putting them both in my twisted little orbit.

His Prey

CHAPTER 9

“Come on babe we’re going to be late if we don’t hurry the hell up. You don’t want to miss the parade. Shay would never let us live it down.”

I try to usher Annie down the aisles of the local supermarket with a full shopping cart of crap.

“But we need marshmallows and peanut butter cups.”

She darts around the end cap as she gazes up at the signs above each aisle. We have been here far too long already, and the store is packed with families shopping for their barbecue needs. I make a mental note to never come shopping on a holiday ever again, no matter where we are or what holiday it is.This is like torture.

I push the cart, nearly hitting a little blonde girl as she runs away from her mom with a bag of ketchup chips clenched in her little hands. We need to go before I lose my shit right here in the middle of the pasta aisle.

“Marco.”

I hear it come from somewhere to my left, in Annie's sweet, buttery tone.

“Polo.” I yell back, not caring that everyone in the aisle stares at me.

Even the little girl stops and gives me a dirty look.Thanks, kid.I finally find Annie down the candy aisle with her arms crammed full of sweets.

“That’s more than peanut butter cups.”

She empties her arms into the cart, revealing a smorgasbord of sugary confections.

“I need options. Plus, we both know you’re going to get stoned later and want all the sweets.”

She winks. Fucking winks at me like she thinks she knows me better than I know myself. I grab her wrist, pulling her into my chest. My heart pounds in my chest as she stares up at me with her big caramel eyes. It takes everything I have not to kiss her right here.