Page 97 of The Stalker Snafu

Rafe grabbed the back of my shirt, bunching the fabric in his fist. “Don’t move. We can’t leave until they’re gone. Too high a chance they’ll walk out or see us through the windows.”

Great. Lovely. I was stuck between two hulking guys I barely knew while my fugitive boyfriend chatted inside with their handler—whatever that meant.

I had no idea how I would explain any of this in my diary.

My lungs screamed at me to escape. I pushed against Adrian, shaking my head. “I’m sorry, but I need air. Please.”

It felt like my skin was fighting to separate from my body.

A door opened, breaking the stillness, and Adrian moved faster than I could blink. He pushed me back, crowding me in against Rafe and bending down until his lips met my ear.

“Listen,” he whispered, and I froze at the bite in his voice. I’d assumed he was the nice twin earlier, but now he sounded dangerously like his brother. “Kincaid kept a lot of things from you, but it’s not my place to explain for him. Right now, you need to pull it together, or we’re all in deep shit. Breathe.”

The command hit me with the force of a tidal wave as his hand found my hip and squeezed. I sucked in a fractured breath.

Then another breath.

And another.

My panic ebbed a little more with each one.

Then I realized an entirely new predicament that sent my heart racing in my chest just as I’d gotten my breathing under control.

The twins were both closer than before—far too close. Instead of my arms brushing them, their chests were plastered to both sides of me. Adrian’s hand gripped my hip. I was an Emma sandwich between two very attractive slices of bread.

Surely this was on a bucket list somewhere.

I tried to focus on anything else but the way my chest pushed against Adrian’s with each inhale, but his breath against my ear wasn’t helping. My shirt was still fisted in Rafe’s hold, and his free hand had gripped my shoulder.

Goose bumps popped up along my arms.

I vaguely heard the gate open and close, then a moment passed before car doors slammed shut.

None of us dared to move as the engine started and the car crunched away. I nudged Adrian forward, eager to get out, but he took his time easing back.

“Quick visit. That’s not usually good.” Frowning, Rafe released me and my shirt. I tugged the hem down with a shaky exhale. “Let’s go.”

Adrian shuffled out of our hiding spot and ducked behind the bushes, and I took a stunted breath as I followed on unsteady legs. I was in desperate need of space.

“Wait,” I said when they both moved to leave. “I know I don’t deserve to, but can I look one more time before we leave? Please?”

Adrian paused long enough that I thought he’d say no, but he placed the binoculars in my hand. Rafe didn’t even slow down on his way to the gate, sneaking out without another word to us.

“He’ll meet us at the car,” Adrian explained, herding me toward the bushes closer to the gate. “One quick look, and don’t even think about making a run for the house again.”

“I promise,” I said. He raised a thick brow, and I winced. “And I mean it this time. Sorry. I don’t know what got into me.”

Adrian crouched silently beside me, and I lined myself up with a small opening in the bushes before raising the binoculars to my face. I took a deep breath to center myself, then focused on the third window.

Noah hadn’t moved from his spot in the armchair, reading a book. But there was a paper coffee cup next to him now, and his finger tapped the sleeve when he drank from it. It wasn’t a great time to remember how good coffee tasted on his lips.

He flipped the page, and I squinted to get a closer look at the book in his hands.

“We need to go, Em,” Adrian said quietly, making me blink at the new nickname. “We’ve been here too long.”

I pulled in a shaky breath before lowering the binoculars. Unclenching one hand and stretching my fingers, I tried to stabilize between warring pangs of relief and anger.

But I couldn’t get the image of the book Noah was studying so closely out of my head.