Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 147545 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147545 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
I’ll keep it to myself and share my feelings with my journal, and eventually, this pain will end. Or at least the threat of him will lift.
It has to. He’s moving to Boston next month, after all.
The thought triggers a pang in my heart that I instinctively try to ignore, and then I remember I don’t have to. I turn the page of my notebook so I have a fresh canvas to bleed out on.
“Are you getting hungry?” Shaley asks, glancing over at me from the couch.
“I could eat,” I say, nodding. “In fact, I probably should before I go to work.”
She nods, moving Sprinkles off her lap and setting her book aside so she can come into the kitchen. “I’ll order us a pizza.”
“Sounds good.” I close my pen inside my journal and slide off the bench to go fetch my purse.
“What kind do you like?” she asks, waking up her phone so she can tap on the app.
“I’m a cheese girly, but get whatever you want. I can pick off what I don’t like.”
“I’m good with extra cheese.”
I dig out Tor’s credit card and offer it to her. “Here, pay with this.”
“You don’t have to pay,” she assures me. “I’ve got it.”
“I’m not paying. Tor is.”
“Oh.” She takes it, glances at it, then shrugs. “Okay.”
“If I could charge him for my pain, I would, but I don’t think he’s taking invoices. Pizza, though. He can pay for pizza.”
She shoots me a sympathetic look. “Are you ready to talk about it yet?”
“Nope.”
Without missing a beat, she shifts the focus back to our late lunch, early dinner. “I kinda want a salad. Should we get a side salad to go with it?”
“Buy whatever you want. If you can buy the land the pizza place is built on, add it to the bill.”
Shaley cracks a smile. “This is so weird, but I don’t see that on the menu.”
“Eh, his stupid family probably already owns it, anyway.”
She finishes putting our order in, then puts her phone back down on the counter. Since I’ve been going technology-free while I’m staying here, she has been trying to stay off her phone too, in solidarity. I wonder if this is what life was like before cell phones—people having no choice but to enjoy offline creative pursuits and actually talk to each other.
“It looks like there’s a break in the rain,” she says, looking out the window. “I’m gonna take Sprinkles outside to go potty before the pizza gets here.”
“Sounds good,” I tell her with a little smile.
She grabs his leash, and I hear him jingling excitedly as he anticipates going outside. She steps out and closes the door behind them in good spirits, but when she comes back in, she looks a little rattled. I frown slightly, but she speaks before I can even ask.
“Hey, so… this might sound crazy,” she warns me.
“I’m fluent in that particular language,” I tell her. “What’s up?”
“I think someone might be watching the house.”
My heart drops.
Probably thinking she sounds paranoid, she quickly offers evidence of her claim. “Earlier when I took Sprinkles outside, I saw a car parked on the street. I could see that someone was in it, but I just thought they hadn’t gotten out of the car yet. No big deal. But that was hours ago, and the car’s still parked there… and the guy is still inside.”
I slide off the barstool and cross to the window she looked out of before.
And then my heart shrivels because I recognize that car. It’s the same one that picked Tor up outside my house the night Russell was waiting for me.
Shaley joins me at the window to peer out. “Am I crazy?”
“No,” I say lowly. “You’re not crazy.”
She waits a moment to see if I offer more, and when I don’t, she asks, “Do you think Tor…?”
“Yes. That’s Tor’s shady mystery friend. I don’t think I’ve met him yet, but I’ve seen that car before. He is watching the house.”
That’s so disappointing.
My whole body feels heavier as I leave the window and begin gathering my things. “I’ve really enjoyed staying here with you, but I think I’ll head back to the apartment after work tonight.”
“You don’t have to,” she says, even while casting another anxious look out the window. “Shady mystery friend doesn’t sound great. Do we think he’s dangerous?”
I have no idea, but I don’t say that. “You won’t have to worry about him,” I tell her instead. “He’s only here because I am. When I leave, I’ll text Tor and tell him I’m not coming back, so the guy shouldn’t either.”
“I don’t like this,” Shaley says. “I don’t want you to leave because of some creep. I don’t want you to break your fast and text Tor, either. He shouldn’t be able to control you like that. I can call Bryce and have him come over. Maybe seeing a guy here will scare him off.”