calories?”
“She never did anything on my watch. But from what I hear, it’d been a problem when she first started out. She was younger then—and she had a shitload of pressure on her. Everybody wanted her—she was the biggest model in the world.”
“Do you know any reason Devon would have been scared this weekend?”
“ Scared ? What are you talking about?” He stepped closer, and in the harsh light I saw how deep the grooves ran in his skin and the pockmarks from adolescent acne. He had the kind of looks only groupies and models seemed to love.
“I caught her crying in the woods around midday yesterday,” I explained. “She told me she was frightened—but she didn’t say why.”
He shrugged, wrestled a butane lighter and pack of Salems out of his jeans pocket, and fired up another cigarette.
“In case you didn’t notice, Devon was a bit of a mind fucker,” he said, after shooting a razor-thin stream of smoke out of the corner of his mouth. “Maybe she was just playing with you.”
“It didn’t seem that—”
“I can’t help you, then. Like I said, there was still this connection between us, but it’s not like we talked anymore.”
“I had the feeling this weekend that she might want to restart the relationship—she seemed to be flirting with you.”
He snorted, as if I had no clue what I was talking about.
“Didn’t you hear me?” he said. “Devon was a master mind fucker. She liked playing with me, just like she liked playing with everyone else. Why’re you so interested, anyway? Tory said you’re a reporter for one of those tabloid magazines. Shouldn’t you be trying to track down some story about a woman giving birth to wolves?”
“I work for a different type of rag than that.”
“You good at what you do? You look like you’d be good at what you do.” He ran his eyes up and down my body, letting them rest on my poncho. If I wasn’t careful, he was going to suggest we hunt down a squeeze bottle of Hershey’s syrup and spend the afternoon together.
I was thinking it might be just the right moment to take my leave, especially since it had begun to rain again—or make that sleet. Icy slivers of rain were suddenly bearing down on us, stinging my face. As I started to say good-bye, I heard a door nearby bang open. When I turned around, Tory was standing there, wearing only a pale yellow top and black leather leggings. She looked about as friendly as a fer-de-lance.
“You’re standing out here, talking to her ?” she screeched.
“I’m having a fucking cigarette,” he snapped.
“But you said you were coming back in five minutes.”
“Why don’t you just chill, Tory.”
“I need you to be with me right now,” she said, her teeth chattering from the cold. “I’m going out of my mind in this place.”
“You’re gonna need Botox if you keep scrunching your face up that way. Why don’t you go back to the room, and I’ll be there in a minute.”
“So you can be with her ? You wanna fuck her like you wanted to fuck Devon?”
“How could I want anyone else when you’re so freakin’ brilliant in the sack?”
“I hate you,” she screamed with a hard, fast shake of her head. In the minute she’d been standing outside, her hair had become coated with sleet, turning it into a shiny black helmet. I decided it was about time to extricate myself from this lover’s skirmish, and besides, my feet were now soaked.
Before I could move, Tory turned and stormed back into the barn. Tommy watched the door slam and then moved closer to me, his body dripping wet.
“Why don’t we finish this later,” he said, though I wasn’t sure what exactly we were supposed to finish.
Rather than trail behind them into the foyer and possibly end up in the midst of round two, I descended the short set of wooden steps on the side of the deck and made my way toward the small barn. I pulled the hood of my poncho tighter, since the sleet was practically coming down in sheets
“She never did anything on my watch. But from what I hear, it’d been a problem when she first started out. She was younger then—and she had a shitload of pressure on her. Everybody wanted her—she was the biggest model in the world.”
“Do you know any reason Devon would have been scared this weekend?”
“ Scared ? What are you talking about?” He stepped closer, and in the harsh light I saw how deep the grooves ran in his skin and the pockmarks from adolescent acne. He had the kind of looks only groupies and models seemed to love.
“I caught her crying in the woods around midday yesterday,” I explained. “She told me she was frightened—but she didn’t say why.”
He shrugged, wrestled a butane lighter and pack of Salems out of his jeans pocket, and fired up another cigarette.
“In case you didn’t notice, Devon was a bit of a mind fucker,” he said, after shooting a razor-thin stream of smoke out of the corner of his mouth. “Maybe she was just playing with you.”
“It didn’t seem that—”
“I can’t help you, then. Like I said, there was still this connection between us, but it’s not like we talked anymore.”
“I had the feeling this weekend that she might want to restart the relationship—she seemed to be flirting with you.”
He snorted, as if I had no clue what I was talking about.
“Didn’t you hear me?” he said. “Devon was a master mind fucker. She liked playing with me, just like she liked playing with everyone else. Why’re you so interested, anyway? Tory said you’re a reporter for one of those tabloid magazines. Shouldn’t you be trying to track down some story about a woman giving birth to wolves?”
“I work for a different type of rag than that.”
“You good at what you do? You look like you’d be good at what you do.” He ran his eyes up and down my body, letting them rest on my poncho. If I wasn’t careful, he was going to suggest we hunt down a squeeze bottle of Hershey’s syrup and spend the afternoon together.
I was thinking it might be just the right moment to take my leave, especially since it had begun to rain again—or make that sleet. Icy slivers of rain were suddenly bearing down on us, stinging my face. As I started to say good-bye, I heard a door nearby bang open. When I turned around, Tory was standing there, wearing only a pale yellow top and black leather leggings. She looked about as friendly as a fer-de-lance.
“You’re standing out here, talking to her ?” she screeched.
“I’m having a fucking cigarette,” he snapped.
“But you said you were coming back in five minutes.”
“Why don’t you just chill, Tory.”
“I need you to be with me right now,” she said, her teeth chattering from the cold. “I’m going out of my mind in this place.”
“You’re gonna need Botox if you keep scrunching your face up that way. Why don’t you go back to the room, and I’ll be there in a minute.”
“So you can be with her ? You wanna fuck her like you wanted to fuck Devon?”
“How could I want anyone else when you’re so freakin’ brilliant in the sack?”
“I hate you,” she screamed with a hard, fast shake of her head. In the minute she’d been standing outside, her hair had become coated with sleet, turning it into a shiny black helmet. I decided it was about time to extricate myself from this lover’s skirmish, and besides, my feet were now soaked.
Before I could move, Tory turned and stormed back into the barn. Tommy watched the door slam and then moved closer to me, his body dripping wet.
“Why don’t we finish this later,” he said, though I wasn’t sure what exactly we were supposed to finish.
Rather than trail behind them into the foyer and possibly end up in the midst of round two, I descended the short set of wooden steps on the side of the deck and made my way toward the small barn. I pulled the hood of my poncho tighter, since the sleet was practically coming down in sheets
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