Holy shit. It’s her. She’s what smells so fucking good.
When her eyes come up and meet mine, I notice they’re ice blue as they widen. It’s the last thing I see before I take control of my body and peel down the street. I don’t know what the fuck just happened and I’m not sure I want to find out.
Life is strange enough around here. I don’t need to add to it.
It’s not like she would ever want me anyway.
CHAPTER 2
DAKOTA
There’s something calming about Screaming Woods. Trust me, I know it makes no sense considering the number of…unusual people who live here. It’s hard to process the different creatures I’ve seen, but I’m not judging them. Creatures. I fucking hate that word to describe them, but I’m kind of at a loss over what other word to use.
I’ve heard them refer to each other as monsters, but it feels wrong. Sure, they’re not exactly normal, but who the fuck wants to be surrounded by normal? It would be boring as hell if everyone were the same.
I almost got lost in what someone else expected of me and I’m not going to do the same to someone else. I won’t put them into a box when they don’t deserve it. Boxes are so hard to break out of. I should know.
It’s one of the reasons I left Denver. Something was pulling me to Screaming Woods as I started to look for the perfect place to open the first storefront for the business that I run with my best friend Hadley. I can’t explain why, but every time I thought about going somewhere else, I would feel sick.
Not just uneasy or unwell, but I would get nauseous. I can’t explain it, but then again, considering where I am maybe I don’t need to find an explanation. I’ve seen things. Things most people would think only exist in fairytales.
Orcs. A fairy. A vampire. I swear I saw a dragon flying around the other night. I’ve heard a howl from somewhere in the forest that set all the hair on my body on edge.
Not from fear though. It was something else entirely and I’m not sure how to process it.
Which is why I’ve pushed it to the side.
I’ve been here for a few weeks now and I feel safe, even surrounded by all the residents of this little town. People have either accepted that I’m joining the community, or we’ve kept our distance. They’re far more wary of me than I am of them.
I guess it makes sense. They don’t know me. It’s their turf.
I think this is going as well as it would in any new place. The place I chose just happens to have residents who are a little different. I’m okay with different.
I’ve always felt unique, but I spent far too long trying to fit into a certain mold. Hadley spent years trying to get me to be me, but I put that energy into helping our business grow. I’m far more outgoing than Hadley is, but from the few conversations we’ve had since I came to Screaming Woods and she went to the Double Dog Dare Ranch, it sounds like she’s coming out of her shell.
I’m proud of her.
I didn’t even realize all the ways I’ve been suppressing the person I am and most of it was because of my ex-boyfriend, Macneal. He wanted me to be a certain way, so I tried to fit into the box he created for me. I know my need to be loved comes from my own issues of not feeling like I’m enough as I am.
Macneal took things too far. He was always manipulative, but I let it go for the most part, and then I was in too deep. It’s not uncommon and I won’t pretend like it is, but that doesn’t make it easier to heal from it all.
He wanted me to be polite and smile when he wanted to impress others. He didn’t want me to laugh too loudly. He had to approve everything I wore. He didn’t want me to dye my hair.
The last straw was when he put his hands on me violently. It was a wake-up call, and I knew I couldn’t look my family or Hadley in the eyes and stay with him. The longer we were apart, the better I felt in a lot of ways, but I also felt less safe. I knew he was stalking me. After he showed up where I was the third time, I got a feeling in my gut that something wasn’t right and wouldn’t be as long as I stayed in Denver.
That’s when I started to look for a place to go, knowing I could go somewhere new and take the next step in our business plan. Opening a storefront has been something Hadley and I dreamed about for so long. We can ship most of our treats anywhere but opening a store in Denver was going to be too expensive and we had outgrown using Hadley’s van as our base of operations.
The last thing I did before I left Denver was go to Georgia, a friend of some of my customers who are one big family, to get my hair dyed. Now it’s exactly how I’ve wanted it for years. The purple, teal, blue and pink mermaid hair is perfect for me, and I feel like I’m stepping into who I am now. Who I was always meant to be.
Was it a big ‘fuck you’ to Macneal? Sure, and I’m not even a little bit ashamed to admit it.
He doesn’t deserve to make decisions for me. Not after he left bruises on me. Fuck him.
I can breathe here in Screaming Woods, and I’ve found the perfect place for Paws Up. Things are exactly how they’re supposed to be. The only thing I’m missing is Hadley being here, but it’s okay. I have a feeling she’s right where she’s supposed to be. We can still run the business together, considering she was always the recipe girl.
As I leave the little shop that I’ve found which used to be a café of some sort and already has the equipment we’ll need, I head down the street to Lucky Beans, a little coffee shop. I need the caffeine. I have a lot of work to do before I’m ready to open, but I’m so jazzed to get it going. I have a goal of being done and ready to open within a few weeks
I can do it. I know I can. I’ve never wanted anything more than for this to work out and for Macneal to forget all about me.