Free Twisted Minds by Komal Kant Page A

parked a little further past the liquor store and got out, locking my car.
    I wasn’t Finn—there was no way I was going to leave my baby unprotected.
    There was still a dull pounding in my head, but that was the only sign remaining from my hangover. Patron was fucking incredible, but it liked to remind you that it had infiltrated your veins.
    The town was bustling, or at least what I assumed was considered busy in Ripley. There were families walking around, peering into the locally-owned stores, taking their time as they went about their day. New York City was chaotic, nothing at all like this small town that functioned at a leisurely pace. There was actually something kind of nice about it.
    People waved at each other, some couples paused to talk. These people, they cared about each other. The city was a mean place with too much to do. Here, everyone seemed to take their time.
    Slowing down a little, I passed the liquor store and caught sight of the general store a few stores down. As I drew closer, I saw it was called The General Store. How original. It was a lot bigger and newer than the other buildings, and I wondered if it had been built recently.
    When I entered, there were a few people walking through the aisles, but no one at the register. Weird. Maybe they could get away with an unmanned register in this town.
    I found the Pedialyte pretty quickly, and grabbed three bottles—one for myself—in grape flavor. Then I made my way back to the register, hoping someone was there so I could get the fuck out of here.
    My steps slowed as I caught sight of a girl stocking a shelf with candy right by the front counter. Curly blonde hair fell down her back, resting just above a huge ass that had been squeezed into tight, blue jeans.
    I’d know that ass and its owner anywhere. I’d thought about doing dirty things to that ass since the moment I’d seen it sticking out of a pair of lacy panties. It was Kira—the last person I expected to see working here.
    “You sure you wanna bend that ass over like that?” I asked in a teasing tone.
    Kira’s body went rigid, and she stood up too quickly and spun around. Her blue eyes narrowed when she caught sight of me, an easy scowl appearing on her face. “What are you doing here?”
    “Your brother needed a hangover cure.” I held the bottles of Pedialyte up as evidence as my eyes roamed her body, resting on her perky tits that were squeezed into a low-cut, white blouse. “He’s pretty fucked up.”
    “Pedialyte?” Kira stared at the bottles suspiciously. “Seriously?”
    “Yeah. You’ve never tried it?”
    She shook her head. “I can’t say that I have.”
    “Well, now you know.”
    “Huh,” was her response.
    We both continued to stare at each other, weighing the other up, wondering what to say. Considering the deep and meaningful talk we’d had last night, I figured Kira’s iciness towards me would’ve thawed a little, but she was still as cold as ever.
    “Will you check me out?”
    “Excuse me?” Her eyes narrowed even further, as though I had said something terribly offensive.
    “Check me out,” I repeated slowly, raising the bottles even higher so they were at eye level with her. “So I can get outta here.”
    “ Oh .” Her ears turned pink, and she look pretty fucking cute. “Sure, come over to register one.”
    There were only two registers behind the counter, so I just followed after her to the one closest to the glass doors and placed the bottles on the glossy, laminate countertop. My stomach suddenly let out a growl, and I realized I was still hungry despite eating the chicken salad sandwich.
    “Hey, is there some place I can get food? You don’t have a Daniel around here, do you?” I joked, glancing out the glass doors as though one of my favorite restaurants was going to suddenly materialize in front of my eyes.
    “Daniel?” Kira frowned at me. “I don’t know any Daniels.”
    “It’s a fine dining restaurant in New York,” I