Pretty Hurts Read Online Free PDF

look like you got some sun.”
    “I did. I went fishing with my best friend, Addler.”
    “Catch anything good?”
    “Enough to have a nice little fish fry. Do you fish?”
    She wrinkles her nose. “I can.”
    “You don’t like it?” I ask, trying to gauge her expression.
    “You promise not to laugh?”
    “Cross my heart.”
    “I hate taking the fish off. I cut the hell out of my hand doing it when I was younger and had to get stitches. Now I have a thing about it.” She grimaces.
    I wince. “I’ll make you a deal, if we ever go fishing you bait, and I’ll take the fish off.”
    “Done deal,” she says, gifting me with a flash of pearly whites that causes a chain reaction in my mouth. Suddenly, I’m grinning like a fool.
    “I never would’ve pegged you for the outdoorsy type.”
    “Well, I won’t lie. I do like fine dining, fashion, and travel. But I also like roughing it and kicking back. Life’s about balance. My dad taught me that.”
    The more I learn about this woman, the more I like her.
    “What about you? Surely there’s something you splurge on.”
    “I like to craft my own beer and whittle.”
    “Whittle? Like wood work?” she asks.
    “Yeah.”
    “I can’t say I’ve ever met anyone with that talent.”
    “I’m a novice. But I enjoy it.”
    “Do you have a workshop?”
    “I do. I converted a shed into a work space in my backyard.”
    “I want to see it sometime.”
    This is the second reference to future plans we’ve made. I can only count that as a positive sign. We make small talk until we enter the building and find our seats in the middle of the theater—which I refer to as the sweet spot because the sound is the best.
    “Did you eat?” I ask as we settle in.
    “No. I’m totally using my cheat day for this.”
    “Your what?” I ask.
    “Cheat day. The one day out of the week when you can pig out and feel guilt free.”
    I laugh and pat my less than perfect belly. “Can’t say I’m familiar with that.”
    She smiles. “You don’t need to be. What you’ve got going works just fine.”
    Does that mean she finds me attractive? The lights dim, saving me from making a fool of myself. The opening sequence begins to roll as the waiters start to make their way down the aisles.
    “So what high-calorie meal does the lady wish to partake in?”
    She giggles. The light and airy sound pulls me deeper under her spell. “I’m not sure.” She flips the menu over. “Decisions, decisions,” she mumbles as she looks over the items listed. “Definitely the loaded fries. Oh, shake or beer?”
    I force my attention onto my own menu and decide to go with a cheeseburger, fries, and a Shiner Bock. We order and I relax, growing comfortable as the movie starts. The best thing about movies is you don’t have to be on the entire time.
    We enjoy our food and the awesomely horrible movie. I whistle as the lights go up and someone comes down on stage with a microphone.
    “I know you all enjoyed that just as much as I did. Now we’ll get the cast up here for a Q&A session. Afterward, there will be time for the meet and greet, and photo ops.”
    “Are you going to ask a question?” she asks.
    I shake my head. “No, but I’ll be entertained by the ones who do.” The crowd is an interesting mix of people. Some have dressed like the main characters; others look like they came straight from work in an office. The ages vary as well. We laugh our way through the questions and get into line to have our pictures taken. She whips out her camera, and I admire the concentration on her face as she captures the fan interactions and costumes with rapid clicks of the lens.
    “Can you take a picture of us?” she asks the hosts as we pose with the cast.
    “Of course.”
    I wrap my arm around her waist and enjoy her warmth and the way her body fits against mine. It’s over sooner than I’d like, and we make our way out of the theater.
    “That was so much fun. Thank you for inviting me,” she says