I lean down and kiss her one more time, a deep kiss that makes her arch into me. “Please lock the door when I leave,” I say around her lips.
She nods her head. “Of course, I promise.” And I pull it open, stepping outside into the cold.
I look back and give her the smoothest smile I can. “Sleep tight, pretty girl,” I say, and close the door. Hearing it lock, I descend the steps and get back on my bike. Loosening the clip from how I’d fitted it for Ember earlier, I slip it over my head and buckle it. I see the curtains move just a little bit, bright blue eyes peeking out, and I blow her a kiss before starting my bike and backing out of the driveway.
I ride home, tons of thoughts filling my head. Ember, Dean, the overlook. I pull into my garage before pressing the button to close the garage door. I walk up the two steps, pushing the door open into my kitchen. I lock it up and grab a beer from the fridge.
I head into the living room, sit in my recliner, and get ready to relax. It’s not until this moment that I realize I never got Ember’s phone number. Last night she was drunk, and went right to bed when I dropped her off. I was so anxious from the report on Dean that I was up and at her door by 8 AM. We had spent the day together, so I didn’t need it.
I pull out my phone and type her name into Facebook. A few accounts pop up, and I finally land on the one with those familiar blue eyes and that strawberry blonde hair I love so much. I press the “Add Friend” button. I scroll down her facebook page, noticing she must not use it very often, because there isn’t much on here. A new photo every few months, a shared post from someone else’s page—otherwise it’s pretty bare. I hope she’ll at least approve my request, maybe even message me from the messenger app, but then I remember that Dean is famous for going through her social media accounts. Most likely why she doesn’t update it very often. I can’t say I blame her, honestly. I letout a breath and click my phone off. I’ve been home for just under twenty minutes, and she lives about fifteen minutes away, so it has only been about forty minutes since I left her.
I get up and toss my empty beer bottle into the trash and head into my office. Clicking my laptop on, I pull up the app for the cameras we’d installed outside her house. She didn’t pay too much attention while I installed them, so it was easy enough to get photos of the serial numbers and model numbers off the boxes.
I go through the steps of setting up a new device. I type in the numbers, and duplicate the name, so it doesn’t raise suspicion to Ember. Once I presssync,the feed in front of her house pops up.
I justify my actions by telling myself I just want to be able to keep an eye on things, in case Dean gets ballsy. I watch for a bit, nothing really happening. It’s about 7 PM now, and I see the light from the front porch turn off and the night mode click on, illuminating the night.
Twenty minutes pass, and in that time I check through my entire phone. I scroll through new emails, responding to the ones that I need to get back to. Just as I'm about to log off, I see the front end of a dark blue Nissan Altima come into view across the street. I scoot closer to the screen, waiting to see who gets out.
Five minutes pass, and nothing happens. The street Ember lives on is pretty slim, but the way the car is parked ensures I can’t see the driver. The hairs on the back of my neck raise when I finally see the door swing open and light-colored tennis shoes come onto the screen.
Dean comes into view, and I'm out of my chair, bent at the waist, watching closely. The closer he gets to her driveway, the more I want to rip him apart. My anger is boiling over the closer he gets. The light from the camera must have flickered on when he got close, because he stops and looks right into the camera before a smug smile stretchesacross his face. With that, he turns back around and strides back to the car. I run my hand down my face, waiting to see his next move.
I download the app onto my phone and pull the feed up. He’s still sitting there as I race down, pulling my garage open and sliding into my black Audi. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I can barely control myself. I hate knowing he’s watching her. I pull out of the garage, making sure I close it up before heading right back to Ember’s house. I make a roughly fifteen-minute drive in under ten. I hit every back road I can, trying to get to her faster. When I swing a left onto her road, the Nissan pulls out, continuing down the road. I let out a breath, feeling some of the stress release, thankful he’s not sitting outside her house anymore. I’m just about to pull into her driveway when I make a last-minute decision to follow the car.
“Where are you headed, you fucking worm?” I say to myself with clenched teeth.
Keeping a steady distance, so as to not set off any alarms that he’s being followed, I perform a fake turn down a road, flicking my lights off, then pull back onto the road and follow him. Just like he’d warned Ember in the texts, he’s only a few miles from her house. He pulls into a run-down apartment complex. He sits there for a few minutes, the phone light illuminating his face in the driver's seat. Finally, he gets out of the car, pockets his phone, and heads up the stairs to the second floor. I watch to see which apartment he unlocks and make a mental note. The door closes, and a light comes on through the curtain.
My first instinct is to head back to Ember’s, but I think I'm going to camp out here for a bit, make sure this isn’t a pit stop before heading back to my girl.Fuck. Not MY girl. Not officially at least.My windows are tinted, so I’m not concerned about anyone seeing me sitting here. As I wait, I realize that less than two days ago I had it pretty bland. Iwas ready to go all in with the coffee roastery, and I still am, but now Ember fills my head.
I don’t think it's realistic to say we love each other right now, but Idoknow that if she asked me to jump, I'd ask how high. I laugh to myself, because even though I say I don’t want to call this feeling love, I'm sitting outside her exes house just to be sure he’s not messing with her, and I don’t even have her number.
I watch, carefully, until I see the light go off through the window into Dean’s apartment. I stay for another fifteen or so minutes before heading out. It’s an extra few minutes, but I cruise by Ember’s just to take a look and make sure all is good there. I can see a little light peeking through the curtains, but it's so faint I think it’s just a night light in the front room.
Getting back to my place, I pull into the garage and head inside. Making sure everything is locked back up, I open my app again, scrolling the feed back until I see my car roll by. I play from there, and don’t notice anything else that would raise an eyebrow.
I lay in my bed and wonder what Ember is doing. I almost give in and message her on Facebook, but I hold back. I also think about messaging Asher, because he definitely would have her number, but think better of it. I don’t know how private Ember is about relationships.
Dragging my hands down my face, I sigh before popping up and stripping to my boxers. I lay in bed, thinking about how badly I want to get her number. I feel like a teenager in the hallways, wanting to text “wyd” to my crush.
CHAPTER NINE
EMBER
Harley left abouttwenty minutes ago, and I hate how empty the house feels. It never used to feel empty before, but now that Harley’s presence has touched my home, the weight of the emptiness is as loud as ever. I head into the kitchen, carrying the pizza box from earlier. I set it on the counter before drifting into my own world while I clean up. Starting my day with a clean kitchen feels essential for a good day.
I’m setting the last pan in the dish drainer when I get a notification on my phone. Drying my hands, I walk over to my phone.
Motion at door.
My body freezes, as I pull up the live feed, just in time to see the back of a balding head retreating from my driveway. Scrolling back, I see Dean was definitely headed much closer, but the motion light must have turned on and he realized I’d installed a camera. The smug smile on his face sent chills down my spine. Shivering where I stand, I wait to see what he does, staring into the phone with a grip so tight my fingers ache.
I made sure everything was locked up as soon as Harley left, but the unease is still prominent in my stomach. I don’t understand what he wants from me. All we ever did was fight. He sits there for another ten or so minutes before his headlights flip on and he pulls out from in front of my house. Another car passes soon after, and I let out a breath.
I turn down the house and grab my bottle of wine, toting it with me to my bedroom. I already showered today, but I could go for a long soak.
Running my bathwater as hot as I can stand it, I strip down and slip into the tub. My wine bottle sits on the edge. I scroll through my phone and click on Facebook. Hitting the notifications tab, I see that I have a new friend request. I take a swig of wine, and click into Harley’s request with a smile plastered on my face. I click “accept” and then click on his profile.
