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A beautiful manifestation of my deepest desires, triggered by my throbbing headache and my lack of sleep. I’m convinced of that the moment I catch sight of the beaded ankle bracelet on one of the bare feet in front of me. Then the rose tattoo on the other ankle. The long, tanned thighs. The ruffled panties with the pink and white tiger stripes.
It’s gotta be a mirage. You know when you’re thirsty in the desert, and you start seeing all these fake images of water, because your body wants it so fucking bad?That’s got to be why I’m imagining Tough Girl right now, standing here in my buddy’s family home.
My duffel bag slips from one hand. My blow-up doll slips from the other.
Then my mirage spins around, sending a river of wet, black silky hair splashing in every direction. My eyes connect with those pastel blue irises and my heart catapults up into my throat.
What the fuck?!
Her jaw drops right about the same time her empty coffee mug clatters against the floor. It’s safe to say that we’re both in utter shock at this unexpected reunion.
“Did you follow—?”
“How the—?”
“Get out of my house!” she screeches at me as she yanks out her tiny white earbuds and flings them at me.
Then, she comes hurtling forward. Good god. Mynon-hallucination is about to put another one of her karate moves on me. Luckily, I manage to restrain her flailing arms before she can give me a second black eye.
“Let go of me!” she demands, squirming and slithering like an octopus caught in a fishing net.
“Then don’t fucking hit me again!” I cautiously release her, holding my hands up and taking a safe step backward.
“What the hell are you doing here?” the crazy woman barks out. “Did you follow me?” She puffs up her chest, and in doing so, highlights the fact that she’s not wearing a bra. My mouth instantly starts to water.
Focus, idiot. Focus. Where’s my self-preservation when I need it?
“Huh? Hell, no. How would I even know you’d be here?” I shoot back. “My buddy’s parents own this place. I’m staying here while I work at his father’s medical practice.”
Tough Girl’s eyebrows pinch together. “Yourbuddy’sparents? This ismyparents’ house. I grew up here. And I’m certainly not your ‘buddy’.”
Fuuuuck…
I feel the earth cracking beneath my feet. My headache resonates against my temples like a pounding drumbeat. “You’re…you’re Felix’s sister?”
It’s all coming back to me now. Karla. Karrie. Karine. What was her name again? Felix must have mentioned her dozens of times when we were roommates but I never actually met her. Until now.
She swallows, gingerly taking a backward step. “Felix…? Felix is your friend?”
I grab her elbow to keep her from stepping on the shards of her broken coffee mug. “Yeah,” I say, my voice cracking on the word. “We shared a dorm in medical school.”
And she looks like she’s drowning. I stand here, watching realization dawn on her, watching her tough girl act sink to the bottom of the sea.
I blink and rapidly shake my head. “But wait—how did you even get here? I saw you get on the highway and drive out of town!” I know this town is weird and all, but the roads can’t be that loopy.
She shrugs, and I’m pretty sure I catch a faint little smirk dancing on her lips.“Ha! As if I’d tell you I’m staying here in Starlight Falls!” The sassy girl scoffs. “I faked leaving town, so you wouldn’t follow me like a stalker. And murder me in my sleep. It’s a safety thing. My brothers taught me that as soon as I was old enough to drive.”
Her brothers.
I do the math in my head. Pretty sure she has five of them.
Five burly, lumberjack brothers. And they’re each going to kill me.
That’s five slow, painful, gruesome deaths.
My gaze shifts to the bruises and love bites I left on her throat just a few short hours ago. Internally, I groan.
Yup. I’m a goner.
