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Kai
It had been another week of Gabe showing up at the bar, and now, Kai was pretty sure that he was following her around campus. He was subtle about it, always handing out with other friends—mostly women, and trailing her at a safe distance. But she could hear him—his loud, booming laugh, taunting her. And even worse, Kai could feel his eyes on her. It was creepy—the whole thing, and she just wanted it all to be over.
Her only saving grace was that she had either Taz or Ryker with her everywhere that she went. Kai never left the apartment alone. When she took the trash out, Taz was by her side. When she ran out to her car on her work break, Ryker went with her. She was beginning to feel like a burden to them both, but on days like today, when she could feel Gabe watching her, it was a comfort to have Taz babysitting her.
“I want to fucking kill that asshole,” Taz whispered to her.
“I know,” she said, “I feel the same way, but you know what the cops said. If either of us touch him, he can press charges against us.”
“I just wish that they could find something to stick on him,” Taz said. The police had hauled Gabe down to the station for questioning twice, and both times, they didn’t have enough evidence to hold him. He’d even lawyered up so that he wouldn’t have to answer any of their questions. His lawyer said that if they had the evidence to charge his client, they would have done so by now. He was right—the cops didn’t have anything to prove that Gabe was the one who had broken into her apartment. He was smart and didn’t leave behind even a partial fingerprint, and that left her with an open and shut case. They weren’t going to investigate him any further and with no other suspects, her break-in case was labeled closed. She was free to move back into her place, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. Every time she stepped foot in her apartment, she was afraid.
Taz had some of the guys bring over everything that they were able to salvage, to his apartment. He had effectively moved her into his place, and that was just fine with her. She loved his apartment. She felt safe there.
He had also helped her with the insurance company, going over everything that was damaged and needed to be replaced. He also helped her get rid of those items, telling her that she could use his stuff until she was ready to buy new stuff. Her apartment was now empty, except for the painful memories of the break-in and the bright red paint calling her a “Lying bitch.” The only thing she hadn’t done yet was tell her landlord that she wanted to give up her lease. He was a decent guy and given the circumstances, he would have let her out of her lease, but she didn’t know if that was a good idea or not. She and Taz hadn’t really talked about her living with him long-term yet, and that was mainly because she was a giant chicken. What if he didn’t want her there long-term? What if he only moved her into his place because she was being stalked by Gabe. If he stopped following her around, would Taz still want her at his place? Those were all questions she’d save for another time. Right now, she needed to figure out what the hell she was going to do about her stalker.
“Hey, Kai,” Gabe shouted from behind her. “Wait up.” He and two other girls from class ran across campus like they were just old friends, happy to see each other.
“What the fuck?” Taz breathed.
“Hey, man,” Gabe said to Taz. “You taking classes here now?” Taz looked Gabe over as if he had lost his fucking mind.
“You know damn well why I’m here, asshole,” Taz growled. Shit—this was the last thing that they needed. If he couldn’t keep it under control, Gabe would have witnesses to prove that Taz went after him. Kai squeezed his hand and Taz smiled down at her. “I’ve got this,” he assured.
“Sorry, I’m not sure why you’re so angry with me, man. I mean, we’ve only met a few times, but I don’t think that I’ve done anything to piss you off, right?” Gabe asked, acting so innocent it made Kai want to puke.
Taz’s smile was mean, “I don’t know, man,” he said, mocking Gabe, “your showing up at the bar, where we both work, to stalk Kai pisses me off. And you breaking into her apartment and trashing it pissed me off too.”
“You’re crazy, man,” Gabe said, smiling over at the two women who were with him. “I never broke into anywhere, and the two of you accusing me of that is nuts. Besides, I’ve been cleared by the cops for your break-in. Why can’t you two just let it go?” he asked.
“Let it go?” Kai shouted. “You’re the one who’s stalking me. You are the one who keeps showing up at my work every night and following me around campus so that I need to have someone with me wherever I go.”
“Don’t blame me for your overprotective watchdog, there,” Gabe said, nodding to Taz. “That’s your doing. You can’t seem to do anything without a babysitter, Kai. How sad for you that your new boyfriend doesn’t trust you. Is he afraid that our date meant more to you than you’re letting on?”
“It wasn’t a date,” Kai spat. “You and I both know that I only asked you out to get Taz’s attention, and I’m sorry that I did that. It was a shitty move, but you can’t keep punishing me like this.”
“Wait—you asked Gabe out only to make him jealous?” the blond standing next to him asked. “That is a shitty move, Kai.” She rolled her eyes at the blond. She didn’t even know the woman’s name. She was in one of Kai’s classes and that was about all she knew about the chick.
“You’re not a part of this,” Kai said, “so, keep your fucking nose out of my business.”
“You’re right,” the other woman said to Gabe, “she is a real bitch. We’re not still going to ask her to study with us for the midterm, right?” she asked.
Kai barked out her laugh. “You two are idiots. He never wanted to ask me to study with you all for the midterm. He wanted to try to get Taz here so pissed off that he’d take a swing at him. Or he wanted to upset me so much that I caused a scene and he’d have you two as his witnesses. Take my advice and steer clear of Gabe, ladies. He’s a stalker and whether he admits it or not, he broke into my place and trashed it. He’s dangerous.”
The two women looked at each other and burst into fits of laughter. “Crazy too,” the blond said between giggled. “Let’s go, Gabe, I’m bored,” she said. He wrapped his arms around both women as they flanked his sides.
“See you around, Kai,” Gabe said back over his shoulder. Taz’s growl only made the three of them laugh harder and Kai didn’t want to let go of his hand for fear of him taking off on her and going after Gabe.
“You okay?” she asked.
“I will be,” he lied, “as soon as you get a restraining order against that asshole.”
“We’ve already been over this. If I get a restraining order against Gabe, it will only piss him off more. He’s already stalking me,” she said.
“Right, and now, he’s taking things to the next level. He won’t stop until he gets what he wants from you. We just don’t know what that is yet,” Taz said. “And I’m afraid to find out what his plans are for you, honestly. I won’t sit around and wait for him to make that move. Promise me that you’ll get a restraining order,” he insisted.
He was right, things were getting out of hand, and sitting back and hoping that Gabe just disappeared wasn’t working out for her. “I’ll do it,” she promised.
“Thank you, honey,” he said. “Now all we need is some proof that he’s been stalking you.”
She had the proof; Kai just hadn’t told Taz about it yet. “I have the proof,” she whispered. “I’ve taken pictures and video of him at the bar, watching me, and I have threatening text messages from him.”
“What?” Taz shouted. She shushed him, looking around campus to make sure that they weren’t garnering too much unwanted attention. “You’ve been getting text messages from that asshole, and you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t want to upset you,” she said. “You were already dealing with a lot of shit, on my behalf. Besides, I never respond to them. I’m letting him hang himself and I figure that sooner or later, I’ll have the evidence that I need to take to the police.”
“Or you will take it to the courthouse and file a restraining order against him,” Taz insisted.
“Right,” she agreed, “that’s the plan.” She just hoped that a piece of paper was enough to stop Gabe from stalking her. Kai wanted her life back and this might be the first step in making that happen—hopefully.
