Haunted Read Online Free PDF Page B

her neutral lip gloss as I looked on, assessing the coverage of her outfit.
    “I'm all set. How do I look?” she asked, doing a spin around once for me.
    “If he doesn't want a second date he's a moron,” I said, laughing. “I'm not sure if that's good or bad, though.”
    “Do you think Cooper would approve?” she asked shyly.
    “Nope. He'd send you back in there and make you put sweatpants and a hat on. Preferably dirty ones,” I replied.
    She giggled in response as she grabbed her cell phone and wallet, putting them in her brown clutch purse.
    “I won't be too late,” she said.
    “No, you won't. Your mom said to be back by eleven at the very latest.”
    “You talked to my mom about this?” she asked, looking like I'd blown the whistle on her.
    “I'm not trying to shoot myself in the foot. Your mom is my supplier, I can't afford to piss her off,” I said, smiling at her from across the room. “Have a good time, but be careful.”
    “Don't worry, I will,” she said as she walked out the door, stopping short before it closed behind her. “Are you sure you're going to be okay by yourself? Do you need me to do anything for you?”
    “I'll be fine,” I protested. She'd been helping me almost non-stop since I “slipped in the tub” and hurt my back. It was oddly endearing to see her so caught up in her date that she almost forgot all about me.
    “Are you sure?” she asked with a frown.
    “Positive. I'll just be sitting here staring at the clock until your arrival…at eleven o'clock sharp.”
    “Ugh…that's so early,” she groused, feigning annoyance before turning up the wattage on the smile she couldn't contain despite her best efforts. She started to close the door behind her, but I got one last shot in as she did.
    “ELEVEN!” I yelled after her. I wondered if interactions like that were what sisterhood was like. It was kind of fun riding her.
    Right after she left, I got up and locked the door behind her, wanting to make sure I had some fair warning if I was going to be interrupted. I went to my bedroom, closing and locking that door behind me as well. I looked down at my ring and thought it was so funny that such a small thing withheld such a powerful being. With a sigh I said a little prayer under my breath and pulled the little silvery band off, tossing it on the bed.

8

    The whole thing was horribly anticlimactic – nothing happened. Then it slowly dawned on me that any time I'd Changed in the past was because I was under extreme emotional duress. That didn't really apply at that moment. I flopped down on the bed and instantly regretted it as pain shot through my broken ribs. Even that wasn't enough to draw her out of hiding, leaving me to try to figure out what plan B was going to be, because A wasn't working out quite as I'd imagined.
    I heard the lock click in the apartment, and got up to see if Peyta had forgotten something. I was surprised when I saw Cooper walk in instead.
    “Oh, so now you finally decide to come home,” I said, walking down the hallway towards him. “I've been trying to talk to you all week. You didn't answer any of my calls or my texts.”
    “What do you want, Ruby? I'm busy, I don't have time for this,” he said, looking a little jumpy. Everything about him looked like he'd been wound up a little too tightly. He was edgy, twitchy, and his energy was completely frantic.
    “Oh, you'll make time for this. It's about a small matter of you breaking my ribs and my need to be in top shape for my performance on Saturday. So far things aren't looking so great. Any suggestions?” I asked, planting my hands on my hips and using my body to block his way. He needed to know that I meant business.
    “Take some Advil and put your big girl panties on, you'll be fine,” he spat as he stormed past me into his room, slamming the door.
    Mother fuc…
    I spun on my heels and followed him.
    “Are you kidding me?” I yelled as I pounded on his door. Each movement jarred my