Page 8 of Pretty Prey

“The only sweet treat I need is you,” I whisper into her ear.

“Scar…”

“I know, babe, it's okay.” Her eyes look at the couple who shimmy around us, as they don’t bother diverting their stares. “You’re the sugar I need.”

My Jeep comesto a rolling stop as we approach our campsite. The camper on the other side of the tree line is barren of people, making me still wonder if it’s really him or not.

“What’s wrong?” Annie gives me her normal concerned look that she does anytime she thinks I’m hiding something from her.

“Nothing. I’m just tired.” I lie because how can I tell her I think someone from home has followed us twelve hours away?

Shay skips over to us as we still sit in my Jeep.

“Did you get everything?” She reaches in and grabs the tied bags off the back seat.

“Yeah, but a slight problem,” Annie says.

She reaches for the one bag she put on the floor out of direct sunlight since the tops and doors are off. Thankfully, I have those netted half doors, so things don’t slide out when going down the road.

“They only had dark chocolate,” she hands Shay a pack of dark chocolate bars.

“Annie, you have to stop being so dramatic. I thought it was something majorly wrong, not some damn chocolate,” Shay lets out.

I admire them as they bicker about who’s more dramatic and who’s allowed to go shopping next. My tension slips away as I watch my two closest friends act like a dysfunctional family. I guess that’s what happens when you’ve known each other for so long.

Will Annie and I fuck up our relationship with the other three if they find out about us? Are we going to lose the girls who have been through everything with us?

Maybe that’s why Annie prefers to hide it from everyone.

Her Shadow

CHAPTER 10

My head pounds as I listen to one of the ladies tell me about her pet cat as we toss candy from the bed of the truck. With each passing second, I kick myself in the ass for agreeing to this shit. I want to stuff the candy in my ears just so I can’t hear this woman. Ever since we took off, there’s been never-ending bitching and worrying about how her fucking cat is doing at home all week with the sitter.

“What if she doesn’t eat?” She asks me as I toss a heaping handful of hard candy towards a group of campers who are all dressed in red, white, and blue tie-dye clothing.

I just shrug my shoulders, trying like hell to not push this lady off the side of the truck.

I don’t know what it is today, but I have absolutely no patience for needy women who don’t shut their traps, and try to use their looks to their advantage. Honestly, I’m not normally this damn impacted by things like that, but today it makes me want to commit murder.

My attention is drawn away from the cat lady when a blaring car horn and skidding tires echo through the campground. I search for the sound of the noise behind us.

I immediately find the source like a mouth to a flame. There she is, flipping off some guy as he dives in front of her now-stopped Jeep as he bends down for something in the middle of the road.

She gets out of the purple beast like she’s about to confront the idiot who clearly tumbled his drunk ass into the road. Before she gets past the bumper, Annie’s by her side, pulling her back towards the vehicle. I bite the inside of my cheek as I squish a lollipop into dust in my hand, as I watch her glare at the asshole over her shoulder while he flips her back off. That man has no idea how close he’s becoming to ending up fish food at the bottom of the lake. The line of cars and golf carts starts going again, catching up to us. I don’t want her to spot me, not yet at least.

“May I borrow your hat?” I ask the crazy cat lady who’s sporting an American flag cowboy hat.

“Of course.” She put the hat onto my head with a giant smile on her face. “You look sexy, like a patriotic cowboy.”

I’m sure she isn’t wrong because I still have on my white tank top, cowboy boots, and jeans with an American flag belt buckle.

“Thanks.”

I nod at her and turn to the side. This way my little prey can’t get sight of my face. That doesn’t mean I’m not keeping an eye on her and her rowdy bunch of friends. I watch them out of the corner of my eye between tossing out candy from a five-gallon bucket.

Her Jeep trails behind a line of golf carts, all done up with streamers and lights. The group of people toss out beads like Mardi Gras or some shit and candy. Willow runs around theJeep, then around the group in front of them and back, tossing candy as she goes. My little prey lazily steers the vehicle with one hand, and tosses candy from some type of bin stuffed between her legs.