Page 125 of Show Me

“You staying smart?”

I huff a breath. “Define smart.”

He doesn’t smile. “Not letting this turn into something else?”

“Yes.” Seriously? You’d think I was the biggest dick in the world the way Dominic is harping on me. I’m not that bad.

Hell, I might have a player reputation, but I’ve always been a harmless flirt rather than focused on racking up notches on my belt. He should know. I pushed Bella toward him, or they wouldn’t be together today.

Jake claps my shoulder once. “If this escalates again, you don’t wait. You call.”

“I did.” I can’t keep the bitterness out of my tone as Jake attempts to draw my attention from wanting to pummel Dominic in the mouth. “That’s why you’re here.”

Jake steps back toward the doorway, Dominic following. Boots crunch over gravel as they head back toward the trucks.

I stay where I am, staring at the open frame, the space where the window will go. Wind moves through it like nothing’s there to stop it. I pick up the level again, press it into place. The bubble wobbles. Settles. For now.

My back teeth grind together. I’m not an asshole.

Chapter Sixty-Five

Ruby

Friday Night

Callahan’s is loud enough to blur the edges of a bad week. That’s why we’re here. The door swings shut behind us, heat and noise wrapping around me: music, laughter, the clink of glasses, the smell of fried food and beer and damp coats drying by the door.

Bella slides into the booth beside me, Emily across from us, both of them settling in like this is just another night. I try to match it. Try to let the noise fill in the cracks.

For a minute, it almost works, then something shifts. Not big. Just enough. I feel it before I see it. Brent is at the far end of the bar, shoulder angled toward a group of guys I don’t recognize. He’s mid-conversation, laughing at something someone said.

Then his eyes lift. Find mine. Not surprised. Not curious. Like he expected me to be here. Like he’d already been staring at me. He gives a small nod. Casual. Familiar. Then turns back to his drink as if he’s satisfied after ensuring I know he’s there.

My fingertips dig into my glass. Bella nudges my arm. “You good?”

“Yeah,” I say, a beat too quick. “Just… tired.”

Emily watches me longer than Bella does. Of course she does. But she lets it go for now.

We order drinks. Talk about nothing. Work, mostly. Small things. Safe things. I laugh in the right places. Nod when I’m supposed to. Don’t look back at the bar. Pretend everything is normal.

Ignore that I have a stalker. Gloss over that Xavier is sleeping on my couch and pretending that having an escort is normal. But it’s not normal that the girls picked me up from work and will drive me home at the end of the night.

Not leaving until they’re sure that Xavier has me locked inside my own home. Where inch between us feels loaded.

Emily pulls a napkin toward her, flattening it against the table.

“Okay,” she says. “Walk me through it again.” Emily pulls the napkin closer and uncaps a pen. “We're doing this one piece at a time. Start with the first thing that happened, then don't skip anything.”

Bella groans. “Jake has turned you into a do-it-yourself crime sleuth.”

“I’m making sure we stop guessing.” She clicks the pen and draws six quadrants.

Bella arches her eyebrows. “You’re making this a crime board.”

“It is a crime board,” Emily replies, already reaching for a pen. “Break-in. Notes. Flowers. Package. Tire. Gate.”

Hearing it laid out like that makes my stomach tighten. Pattern. Not bad luck. Pattern. Not something I can ignore and pretend it’s coincidence. Even if it’s been over a week and a half since anything happened.