Page 31 of My Girl

I’m not jealous of this man for sticking his dick inside of that little girl. That would mean that I’m insecure about my place in this world, but I know, without a doubt, thatno onewill ever be able to get to Rae like I can.

He’s just a dick she’s using for a cheap thrill.

I put the key in the ignition and start the truck. The engine roars to life, loud enough that Rae can likely hear it in her bedroom.

The mind is a funny thing. When it has no connection to the people it sees, the suffering makes no difference.

But if Raeknowsthe man that’s dying, it will be different for her. It’s why I love killing people when they’re together. They fight for each other’s survival, then dissolve into dying defeat, and it’s like taking a breath of fresh air after being choked unconscious.

When the time is right, I’ll kill DrummerBoy420 while Rae watches. The need for survival, the fear of death, and the thrill of murder will rush between her legs. I’ll force her to endure that inevitable lust.

She won’t be able to deny that we’re the same.

Chapter11

Rae

It’s late—almostmidnight—and the Galloway House blocks the moonlight. The tattered curtains are stagnant in the upstairs windows. I try to picture my father standing there, peering at the empty desert. Did he bring my mother here? It would have been risky, bringing his mistress to his home, especially if his wife could have caught him. But there would have been a thrill to it too. The chance of getting caught and watching the chaos unfold.Thatfeels familiar. I’ll have to ask my mother about that.

I unlock the padlock with my copy of Ned’s key and stuff the bulky lock near a cactus bush. It’s late—hours past the mall’s closing time—but you can never be too careful about who’s watching.

I stand in the entryway and shut the front door behind me. I should go upstairs and see if there are any clues about my father’s life and death, but Crave won’t be up there.

He’s the reason why I’m here.

In the basement, I don’t hide my footsteps this time. The stairs creak. Crave leans against the wall, a dim light hanging from the ceiling above him, illuminating his rugged form and his eyes shrouded in black cloth.

My body tenses, every muscle ready for anything Crave throws at me.

A need fills me. What will he do next?

Is that what Crave is to me? A sexual fantasy?

No—he’s more valuable than that.

I swing my purse around, making sure that the lens is aimed at him.

“You know I record everything in my apartment, right?” I ask. He doesn’t know that the cameras don’t film while I’m sleeping. “I have footage of you breaking in. I know you looked at my purse.”

He clicks his tongue in amusement, like this is a game between the two of us. My stomach squeezes, each butterfly crushed into a pulp.

“Always the blackmail,” he says. “There are worse things. You should just kill me.”

Kill him?

I shake my head automatically. “I don’t kill people. I’m not?—”

“What?” he cuts me off. “You’re notwhat,exactly? You’re not stupid enough to kill? You’re not smart enough? Or are you too good to get your hands dirty? Are you too dumb to get away with it?”

His lips pull apart, revealing gleaming teeth. “You’re not like me,” he murmurs. “That’s what you were going to say, wasn’t it? But you’d kill in a heartbeat. You’re just scared of getting caught.”

I roll my eyes and exhale. “That’s right, Crave. I’mnotlike you.”

“You wish you were like me.” He grins. “Tell me something, little girl. If you found your ‘father’s killer’”—he lifts his fingers in the air, mocking me with air quotes—“what would you do to him? If you had the chance to kill the man who stole your family from you, would you do it?”

“All I want is to find out what actually happened to my father,” I scoff. “This isn’t about murdering anyone.”

Crave’s boots clunk on the floor, each step reverberating in my chest, his shadow creeping over me like a burned layer of skin. I hold my ground and force myself to stay strong.