Page 19 of The Stalker Snafu

When his truck disappeared behind the parade of cars parked, I tucked my phone back into my waistband with a pleased nod.

Good riddance.

Mr. Everton’s bag of powdered sugar had fallen to the sidewalk during my little show of force, but it wasn’t any worse for wear when I scooped it up.

I’d made it two steps toward the gate when Finn came jogging around the side of the house. The guy must have a sixth sense alerting him whenever I was close to the catering van. It was uncanny.

A large black duffel bag hung over his shoulder, probably holding his magician gear. The cape and top hat were conveniently missing, and a beer had taken the place of his magic wand.

Such a role model.

“Hey, Cupcake. Hungry?” he asked as he buzzed through the gate. He held up a small plate with two bite-sized cheesecakes in offering, which he must’ve nabbed from the dessert bar.

Never one to say no to sweets, I paused on the sidewalk and waited for him to reach me before plucking up the chocolate one.

“Thanks.”

Euphoria hit as soon as the little cube touched my tongue, and I wanted twenty more.

He smiled, looking pleased with himself as he tossed the other one into his mouth and popped open his beer. I’d never seen someone underage be so comfortable drinking in public. “How many brownie points was that one worth?”

I hummed happily. “Five.”

Finn jerked back. “What? Only five? That’s a rip-off.”

I raised both eyebrows. When he stole that cupcake out of my mouth, it had been a strange sort of torture I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. But he’d promised to make it up to me. That promise led to him bringing me sweets, which earned him brownie points. Turns out Finn found brownies very motivating, so we decided once he earned fifty points from bringing me sweets, plus replaced my cupcake, I’d get him a brownie.

The logic didn’t really make sense to me. I mean, he could’ve just gone out himself and gotten a brownie without all the fuss, but I wasn’t about to look gift chocolate in the mouth.

“You’re lucky to even get five, because the desserts here are open for anyone to take,” I said. “I can go grab some now.”

His lips twisted. “Well, that still puts me at forty-five points, so you better get that brownie ready. I’m so close.”

“Thirty-five,” I corrected, licking a crumb off my finger. “The Milky Way, the pun text, the chocolate kiss, and this little cube of heaven add up to thirty-five.”

Finn held up a finger. “Ah, but I gave you two kisses. They’re ten points each.”

He wanted to play it like that, did he?

“That’s interesting, because I only recall awarding points for one.” I shrugged. “The other was a nice bonus, though.”

Finn’s eyes narrowed, but there was no missing the corner of his mouth twitching. “You run a tight ship, Cupcake.”

“Only when it comes to cupcake thieves.” I watched as he took a long pull of his beer. “Something tells me if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile.”

His twitching lips spread into a full-blown grin as he lowered the bottle. “Smart girl.”

I eyed the empty plate. Not a single crumb had survived. “Guess I should throw this out and get back to work.”

“You don’t have to. My ride will be here any minute. You can keep me company.”

My back straightened. I didn’t remember a ride picking him up before, but maybe that was because he always seemed to sneak off whenever we crossed paths. It felt wrong after I’d just seen my friendly neighborhood stalker on the street, and I frowned. “Your ride… Is it a guy?”

Finn stared back at me, unblinking, before his grin turned sly. “Yeah, why do you ask? Jealous?”

I tried to raise a single eyebrow at him, failed, and settled for chewing on the inside of my cheek instead. I couldn’t squash the uneasy feeling. “Does he speak English?”

Finn looked at me like he thought I might be a few crayons short of a full box. “Of course Rian speaks English.”