Caged by Amber Lynn Natusch Read Free Book Online

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    I scoffed to myself and muttered something under my breath.
    “What was that?” Sean asked.
    I sighed heavily in an attempt to convey my displeasure with repeating myself.
    “I said ‘so much for that theory’.”
    “And what theory would that be?” he asked casually.
    I sighed again.
    “My theory that it can’t ever be a bad day when Dave Matthews sings ‘Crash’ on the radio.”
    He smiled boyishly.
    “You like that song?” he asked.
    “It’s one of my faves. Why?”
    “You do know what it’s about, don’t you?” he asked, choking on a laugh.
    “Apparently you do, so why don’t you enlighten me?” I asked, getting frazzled by his persistence.
    “It’s about masturbation. He’s a Peeping Tom, Ruby,” he said, just before he roared with laughter.
    “You’re disgusting. It is not…it’s about love.”
    The more I tried to defend my tune, the harder he laughed. Ronnie finally cleared her voice from behind the counter.
    “It’s forty-five dollars, please,” she said to Sean.
    He wiped the tears that were welling in his eyes from the strain of laughing.
    “Sorry,” he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the necessary cash. “Here you go”.
    He took the bag that Ronnie extended to him before turning back to me.
    “I guess your theory was wrong. You really do look like you’re having a bad day.”
    “You’re an ass” was all I could muster in response.
    “Never claimed to be anything else,” he said as he strode past me flashing his impossibly green eyes down to mine. “You should buy it. Especially the boots. I have the perfect place for you to wear them,” he said plainly. “I’ll see you soon, Ruby.”
    I stared blankly at the door from which he’d just exited, completely speechless. I heard Ronnie come up beside me.
    “I’d do more than beef up my wardrobe for that one,” she said, her comment laced with innuendo.
    “It’s not like that, Ronnie,” I defended.
    “It should be. It really, really should be,” she said, staring me down. “Now go take that off so I can ring you up. You heard the man, he’s got plans.”
    I begrudgingly dragged myself back to the dressing room. I emerged wearing my comfy clothes, bringing the others up to the counter.
    “I don’t really know him that well, Ronnie. I’m getting to know him, but sometimes we have the strangest interactions, and he pops up so randomly. The whole thing is just a bit weird.”
    “Nothing in this world is random, Ruby. Remember that,” she said, grabbing my hand as she handed me my bag. “Nothing.”
    I had never seen her so serious, and was completely baffled as to what I missed that caused such a change in her demeanor. I smiled, trying to soften the mood.
    “Thanks for the help. Guess I’ll see you soon.”
    “I guess you will,” she replied with the same curling of her mouth’s corner.
    “Tell Peyta I’m sorry about the boots. I’ll give them a good home,” I said as I pushed the door open.
    “I’d rather tell her about what you did in them.”
    I pretended not to hear that one.

9
    “So I was thinking,” Sean said with a mouth half-full of some greasy concoction he purchased at Dunkin Donuts, or “the Dunk” as he liked to refer to it. “You said that you’ve never been into the city. I think we should go down this weekend and I can show you around…do whatever you want to do.”
    “I believe what I said was that I’ve never seen the city before. My parents took me once to Boston. So what exactly do you have in mind?” I asked with a tone of caution and incredulity. “I should warn you that my idea of a good time doesn’t involve a trip to the Green Monster or Hooters.”
    I was quite certain that if a person could pierce your body with a stare and subsequently cause internal organs to combust, my pancreas would have been ablaze given the glowing eyes pinned on me.
    “Ruby, are you implying that beer, boobs and baseball are what I consider to be a good