That makes two of us.
This time, silence stretches longer.Long enough that my attention drifts back toward her windows again.A shadow crosses the living room.Then stops.My phone pings with another message from her.
You recording tomorrow?
Okay, this has promise.I reply back.
Off until Monday.
Her response is almost instant.
Let’s do coffee tomorrow.
I’m usually the one that makes the demands.
I smile as I hit send.
You saying no?
I’m a man.Rejecting you not remotely possible.
This time the response takes longer, but I wait, rewarded a moment later.
There’s a café next door to the museum.11?
I’ll be there.
Are we really doing this?
It’s just coffee.
You know what I mean.
I do.
She doesn’t respond after that.And I know I should leave.Instead, I stay where I am, watching the movement inside her apartment while the city hums quietly around me.Ten minutes later another message lights up my screen.
You can stop staring at my windows now, Hayden.
A laugh escapes me before I can stop it.I type back immediately.
Your cat’s been sitting in the window judging me for the last five minutes.I think we’re past subtle.
The typing bubble appears almost instantly.
Stalker.
I stare at the message longer than I should.Then glance back up toward the second floor just in time to catch her silhouette stepping away from the window.
And somewhere in the middle of downtown Chicago, alone in my car like a complete fucking idiot, I realize I’m smiling like a love struck idiot.
Chapter Twelve
Vanessa
Favorite Crime
Olivia Rodrigo
