The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate Read Free Book Online Page B

eyes perfectly, so they stood out even more than usual, almost taunting me. I was torn between wanting to break his stare and not wanting to be the one to have to look away first.
    “Stop looking at me like that,” I whispered finally, hating that my voice sounded so small, that my breath felt so tight.
    “It’s just a smile, Nat,” he said.
    For a second, Justin Balmer sounded almost defensive. But then he licked his lips and bared his teeth at me. It sent a shiver down my spine.
    “You know,” he sneered, going back to being the animal I knew, “I find your doggedness to win this pageant a little, well, amusing.” He leaned forward, dropped the purple cat suit in my arms. “And when I get amused,” he continued, stepping past me, “it makes me want to play.”
    I squinted at J.B. standing in the doorframe, stroking his chin.
    “Fine.” I couldn’t help grinning. “Game on.”
    “Who are you talking to?” Kate called from the dressing room just as J.B. stepped out onto the street.
    “No one,” I said quickly, turning around just in time to see Kate fling back the curtain. She shimmied out of the dressing room, wearing nothing but the pink silk getup, which fit her like a glove.
    “You’d better be ready to throw down tonight,” she sang, dancing up against me.
    Catching a final glimpse of Justin walking toward the boardwalk, I crossed my arms and said, “Oh, I’m ready.”

CHAPTER Five
    CHARMED LIFE
    “ W elcome to Bourbon Street,” Rex Freeman said, opening the door to his parents’ Palmetto mansion Saturday night. He was topless, a jester hat covering his signature red buzz cut. He had on jean cutoffs and flip-flops. He was wearing so many strands of beads around his neck, you couldn’t see his buff, freckle-covered upper body—which might have been a shame, but I knew that in his efforts to see the upper bodies of every ho in this room, Rex would have to give up most of those beads before the night was over.
    He was grinning at the sea of Bambies separating Mike and me from the entrance to the party. “You ladies can hang your coats in the closet if I can hang these beads on your—”
    “Excuse me,” I said, pulling Mike’s hand past the tittering crowd of girls. “But before things get too fleshy in the foyer, you don’t mind if we just squeeze through, do you?”
    Mike shook his head and smirked at me.
    “Sorry, man,” he said, fist-bumping Rex on his way through the door. “You know Nat doesn’t have much tolerance for Bambi hide.”
    “Pas de problem,” Rex shrugged. “More for me.”
    I reached around Rex’s neck for a strand of particularly garish beads. They were hollow metallic plastic and shaped like peacock feathers.
    “Fancy,” I said. “And ooh, they light up. Mind if I?…”
    Rex grinned at Mike, the freckles on one cheek scrunching together. “You know, most girls would do anything to earn such special beads. Either I’m already sloshed or you have a very powerful girlfriend.”
    “Not that those two things are mutually exclusive,” Mike joked.
    Rex motioned for us both to lean in and nodded at a banner overhead, which read: Lick’er in the front, pok’er in the rear.
    “Ignore the signs,” he said. “Though there is poker out back. But you’ll find the high-end booze upstairs in my dad’s library.” His face got serious. “I tell you this on a need-to-know basis.”
    “ Discreet is our middle name,” I said. “Thanks, Rex.”
    As Mike and I headed toward the need-to-know stash of library liquor, we could hear Rex turn back to the scantily clad pubescents in the foyer.
    “Now before I grant you beauties entrance to the party,” he was saying, “I just need one small token to prove your undying Rexfection—”
    Mike was shaking his head and laughing, but when I caught a glimpse of the two of us ascending the curved staircase, I stopped us both in our tracks.
    “What’s wrong?” Mike asked.
    I pointed at our reflection in the massive