Handcuffs Read Online Free Page A

do to him and with him, with my hands, with my mouth, every single little thing I can think of, I tell him I want to do. He’ll know it’s me because I’m giving him all of his desires, regurgitated. Everything he’s whispered in my ear. Everything I rejected when he became my ex-boyfriend. He has to know this is from me, right?
    I get up and walk across the room. Open the bottle of Aquafina only to screw the top back on and pace again. I go back to the screen and add two more juicy little details. My fingers are sweaty. I wipe them on my jeans, and before I can lose my nerve, I hit Send.
    Refresh, Refresh, Refresh, Refresh. Ten excruciating minutes for his reply.
    Is this a dude? Sorry, I’m not into dudes.

 
    7
     
    “I’ m afraid to break it to you, Park, but I’m thinking we’re going to have to get dates for tomorrow night.”
    “Yeah?”
    “I’m out of money with no child support check until next month. You want some gum?”
    I shake my head. Raye knows I never chew gum. It transforms me into a cow. I put the gum in innocently enough, to freshen the breath after a mall burrito or whatever, I chew it discreetly for a while, and before I know it I’m deep in thought and gnawing at it like a heifer. A mad cow.
    Raye knows this, but she still offers. Raye is kind of a pusher.
    “I have a little bit of Christmas money.”
    “And you have that check for one hundred dollars in your jewelry box.”
    Rachel Tannahill is my best friend. She knows things about me that nobody else knows.
    “You keep saying that about the child support, people are going to think you have a bunch of babies running around,” I say to change the subject.
    “With a body like this?” Raye flashes white teeth at me. She wears her dark hair short, with all these wild edges that look even wilder because of her big dark eyes. She’s one of the few people on earth who can wear any color of eye shadow, even purple, and still look cool. Raye’s dad left her mom for a younger woman five years ago. Her mom turned around and married a dentist. To show her colossal disdain for her ex-husband, Raye’s mom just has his child support check deposited into a checking account for Rachel Tannahill. I have to say, the loot went a lot further before Raye developed an astronomical car payment. Guess I should chip in some gas money sometime.
    We walk into the Gap, my favorite place to buy solid-colored V-neck sweaters. Raye walks straight to a circular rack of shirts and starts flipping through them, but I feel like I’m attached to the planks of the hardwood floor. The first thing I see as I scan the store is Marion Henessy, my ex-neighbor. She’s standing in a fairly long line of day-after Christmas shoppers. It’s funny how I pick her out immediately, even though I’m not looking for her, or anything else, really. Just wasting time. Marion turns and sees us and her mouth scrunches up like she’s tasting something sour.
    She’s stocky and not very tall, and her hair is curly. When we were little she used to wear it in these two long pigtails. Now it’s medium length and kind of blah. What my sister would call unstylish.
    The customer in front of Marion signs a credit card slip and walks away.
    “Can I help you?” the guy behind the counter asks. Raye has abandoned the rack of shirts and is standing beside me now.
    “No.” Marion sounds like she’s ready to cry. “No, I’ll come back later.” She gives me a venomous look, holds the bag of stuff that she must’ve been returning close to her chest, and stomps out the door. The salesguy blinks a couple of times and then turns to the next customer.
    “Boy, she really hates you.” Raye is as mesmerized by Marion’s clumsy stomping retreat as I am.
    “Yeah, she can really hold a grudge.”
    “I like this shirt,” Raye drags me over to the rack where she was browsing and picks up a hot-pink T-shirt with long sleeves, very punk chic.
    I reach out and touch the sleeve. It’s a nice soft