Haunted by Amber Lynn Natusch Read Free Book Online Page B

couple of rows away.
    Always watching out for me.
    My attention was guided back to my car when a voice called to me, softly.
    “Hello, Ruby,” said Sean as he pushed himself elegantly off the hood of my car. He closed the final few yards between us quickly and came to rest inches away from me. “That was quite a routine you did at the end there. It felt oddly familiar though. Have I seen it before?” Sean asked. The smile I loved to hate crept slowly across his face.
    I forced a closed-mouth smile in return while I ducked around him toward my car. As I reached the driver’s side door my phone started vibrating.
    “We need to talk, Ruby,” he said plainly, as though it weren’t an option. Without responding I looked at my phone to see who was calling. Cooper. I put my phone away.
    “Did you hear me?” he asked.
    “Yes, Sean, I heard you, loud and clear. Not tonight,” I wearily protested.
    He looked as though he was about to rebut, when my phone once again started going off. Seriously, Cooper, what the hell?
    “I need to take this,” I told Sean and walked back to the trunk of my car. “Yes?” I asked with a heavy amount of fatigue in my voice.
    “We’re going out. Now. I’m going to meet you at Vain,” Cooper said, speaking a mile a minute.
    “No good, amigo, I’m pooched. I’m going home.”
    “No, we’re going out to celebrate your performance. It was awesome. I’ll be there in twenty, I just have to go pick something up first. I’ll meet you outside,” he continued.
    “Fine. I’ll meet you there. Bye,” I said and hung up without waiting for a response from him.
    I turned to walk around the car and saw Sean leaning on the far side of the open car door.
    “Cooper, no doubt,” he said.
    “Yep.”
    “What did he want?”
    “Not that it’s any of your business, but he wanted to make plans for the night,” I replied.
    “And what was the consensus?” he asked, expression unchanging.
    “We’re going to meet at the house and hang out. I don’t think he’s planning on having you come over. Sorry,” I replied, plastering a wounded look on my face in mock pity.
    There was a flinch of emotion from Sean for the briefest of moments before it vanished completely. I wasn’t certain that I'd even really seen it.
    “I guess he’ll just have to get over it, now won’t he? If I recall correctly your couch will hold three, so you’ll just have to make more popcorn than usual.”
    “Suit yourself,” I responded, knowing that there was no chance that was happening. Going out with Cooper was looking better by the second.
    You have fun with that, buddy. Guess you’ll just have to get over it, now won’t you?
    I climbed into the car and turned it on. Sean hovered by the door looking like he wanted to say something or was waiting for me to; I just couldn’t tell. Something in his face was just off. He looked tense and that didn’t bode well for the conversation he thought we were going to be having that evening. I just wanted to run away.
    “So I’ll see you at home?” I asked.
    He did a quick nod and headed off to wherever it was he’d parked. I took off out of there as quickly as possible, heading for the highway. In the rear view mirror I saw him watch me leave to see where I was going, making sure I was headed for home.
    How stupid does he think I am?

    * * *

    I got onto the highway and drove for a few miles only to get off three exits later. I never saw Sean anywhere behind me so I was pretty certain that I was in the clear. He was not going to be happy when he got to my place and realized he’d been had, but I figured that was a problem for another day; I’d add it to my ever-expanding list of them.
    I made my way to Vain and as I passed by the club I saw Cooper crossing the street to enter. I honked the horn at him, but he didn’t seem to hear me. He pulled a Sean and totally skipped the line, walking right past the bouncers working the rope. I didn’t think I was going to have