Read Urban Climber 2 for Free Online Page A

“Are you out of your mind? What did you just say?”
     
    “You heard me!”
     
    “Shit, are we actually fighting through the wall, blondie?”
     
    Ring. Ring .
     
    “Answer your damn phone!”
     
    “So we are?” I giggle.
     
    “Yeah, looks like it.”
     
    Ring. Ring .
     
    “Well, this sucks!” I yell out.
     
    Ring. Ring .
     
    “LAURA! Pick up your phone or throw it out the window. You choose.”
     
    “Not gonna happen!”
     
    “Why not?”
     
    “‘Cause it’s him, okay, and I don’t want to speak to him.”
     
    “Of course not, you just want to fuck him. Harder, harder, yeah, ooh Ashhh.”
     
    “Shut up, Mel, shut up!” I scream, covering my burning ears.
     
    “You know it’s true,” she laughs.
     
    I turn off the phone and pull the covers over my head. Sleep cannot come fast enough.

FIVE
     
    Thursday
     
    “Hi, doll. How are you?” This is what I’ve been dreading all week. Hearing his voice again, deciding whether to take the ring off and be selfish for what I want or doing what’s best for my family and, probably, me in the long run. “You there?”
     
    “Hey, Hugo.” I exhale, closing my bedroom door behind me. “Yup, I’m here. How are you?”
     
    “We just got in a new shipment of diamonds from Russia. I’m sure a diamond necklace would go very nice with your new ring, don’t you think?” I don’t need any more diamonds. The one I’m wearing is a big enough eyesore as it is. “How’s your week been?”
     
    My eyes drift out the window and onto the driveway. There it is. The shining Hugo-mobile. People still gape and stare at my car but not because it’s painted in flowers and is brighter than the sun—oh no. Now, it’s because it’s so expensive it looks like I stole the thing.
     
    “Laura.” He clears his throat. “Is this a bad line or something? How has your week been?”
     
    “Confusing.”
     
    He laughs. “Do you want me to give you more time? I can do that. I’ll give you as much time as you need.”
     
    “No, it’s okay. I’ve thought about it long enough, and when I weigh all the options, it seems like a no-brainer.”
     
    “I always knew you were a smart girl.” Smart? Not smart enough. If I were smarter, I never would have gotten myself into this situation in the first place. “So—?”
     
    “I will marry you, Hugo, and I’m sure it will be an amazing day, but—”
     
    “Don’t disappoint me, Laura. Why does there have to be a but?”
     
    “But,” I chew down on the edge of my lip, “I want to spend the rest of the semester here.”
     
    “Why?”
     
    “Because I’m sick of moving around, and I just want to finish my classes and then move back.”
     
    “How can I trust you not to fuck that guy again?”
     
    It was a lot more than that … way more. “How can I trust you ?” I snarl, without even thinking.
     
    “Well-played, Laura.”
     
    “I’m not playing; I’m just asking. And under the circumstances, I think it’s a fairly reasonable question.”
     
    “I’ll keep my dick purely for your panties. Does that make you happy?”
     
    Not really, but it’s not about that, I guess. “Promise?”
     
    “Yes, doll. No more pussy other than yours.”
     
    “Don’t be nasty.”
     
    “Nasty?” he sniggers. “Well, you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?”
     
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
     
    “Do you give me your word there’ll be no more hickeys on your neck?”
     
    “Yes, Hugo.” I roll my eyes. “I promise. I’m just gonna focus on my studies for the rest of the year, and then I’ll come home at Christmas.”
     
    “You don’t know how happy this makes me, Laura. I’m going to take care of you. I’m going to take care of everything.”
     
    “Everything, meaning …”
     
    “Yes, dollface. I’ll call the bank as soon as I get off the phone and transfer all the money they are chasing. Your parents won’t lose the house; they won’t lose anything—I give you my