Chasing Red (Chasing Red 1)

Warmth traveled from my heart to my toes.

He’d kept them all, even the ones from the first day.

Oh, Caleb.

I put everything back in its place, gave him one last glance, and left for work.

As I boarded the bus, I wondered whether I should tell Caleb about his friend from last night. The creep said he’d see me at school. I’d rather eat scorpions and tarantulas than see him again. The hair on my arms had actually stood on end while I was talking to him, as he was eyeing me like I was a piece of meat.

The college was huge. He wouldn’t find me. Plus, I had a knack for hiding from people.

He might have driven Caleb home, and he might’ve had the face of an angel—with his dirty blond hair, blue eyes, and boyish looks—but I didn’t trust him. Looks could be deceiving, and his definitely were.

I wondered what assumptions he’d made when he saw me at Caleb’s last night. I didn’t want everyone on campus to find out that I was living with Caleb.

Poor people might not have money, but they have their reputation to take pride in. A good, clean reputation. And morals. You can’t buy that with money. Remember that, Veronica.

That was what my mom had said. What would she say, I wondered, if she were still alive and found out I was living with a guy? She’d skin me alive.

But I was desperate when I met Caleb. Living at his place had seemed like the best choice at the time. And now everything had fallen into place. Somehow it just felt right to be with him.

It wasn’t like we were having sex.

I closed my eyes and suddenly felt hot as a memory shot into my head. When he was licking my skin, kissing, tasting.

Oh God. Stop. I must not think about it. Must not think about it.

Kara had taken today off to help Beth shop for a dress for her graduation, so I opened shop by myself when I arrived. It was busier than normal since it was Saturday and I was alone, which was perfect. Didn’t give me time to think much about Caleb.

When the office phone rang and the caller ID showed Beth’s name, I grinned as I answered it.

“When are you going to get a phone, homie?” she greeted me.

“I have one. It’s just for emergencies. How’s shopping?”

“I’d rather have a root canal.”

“That bad?”

“Kar’s dragged me to every freaking consignment shop in the city. Listen, Ver, you know I was born smart. Very, very smart. School made me dumb. Ya feel me?”

I laughed. “What happened?”

“There’s a sale going on. Anyway, it says seventy percent off, right?”

“Uh-huh.” I glanced at the clock. Half an hour more until closing time. I’d better start cleaning up, I thought as I shuffled papers and started filing.

“You know when stores add another red sticker on top that says take an additional percentage off?”

“Uh-huh.”

“This one says take an additional thirty percent off. Am I dumb, or doesn’t that make it free? Seventy percent plus thirty percent is one hundred percent! Free!”

I laughed, reaching for the stapler. “No. Let’s say the original price is one hundred dollars. Take seventy percent off, and you’ll end up paying thirty dollars. Then if there’s another additional thirty percent off on top of the seventy percent off…” I bit my lip, crunching numbers in my head. “Thirty percent of thirty dollars is nine dollars. You subtract nine dollars from thirty dollars. Total price is twenty-one dollars. Got it?”

There was silence on the other end of the line.

“Beth?”