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I nod. “Okay, good. Let’s get rolling.”
Charles hesitates. “What, now?”
“Every second I spend doing nothing is another second they’ve got my dog,” I snap. “So yes, now.”
Charles swallows. “Half now, half later, like last time?”
“Yeah,” I say, turning away. “We need to swing by my place first. There are some tools I need to pick up.”
The war drum is beating deep inside me, the reverberations traveling through my body, preparing me for what I have to do. No, nothaveto. I don’t have to do this. I want to. I need to. Not just to save my dog. Not just to distract myself from how mopey James has been today but to unleash some of this fury. The rage I feel knowing, deep down, that I’ll never get to be with the only woman I want.
CHAPTERSEVEN
Samantha
“Sammy,” Mom calls up the stairs. “There’s something here for you.”
I turn down my music, pushing away from the desk. I’ve spent the last two days focusing on my latest art assignment. I’m doing well at college because I’m more interested in my studies than partying and having fun. I’m not sure that’s a good thing, honestly. My peers seem to have way more social skills than me.
Walking downstairs, I find myself tryingnotto think about Fletcher. It’s a game I’ve been playing with myself ever since the last time I saw him. How long can I go? I’ve lost every single time. I don’t think I’ve made it longer than a minute.
Mom is beaming at the bottom of the stairs. She looks vibrant and youthful today. Next to her, there’s a huge bouquet of red roses on the table. Suddenly, my heart starts beating quickly, and my thoughts spin over and over. Fletcher somehow found my address and arranged these flowers. He feels the same! He wants everything I want!
“There’s a note,” Mom says. “I haven’t read it, of course.”
“But youwantto,” I reply with a smile. “Come on, it’s okay. We’ll read it together.”
I wonder what he’s going to say. Maybe he’s going to ask me for a date. We can forget about my bad date with his son and pretend it never happened. This is just going to be aboutus. The scent of the flowers fills me up as I reach forward and take the small note.
My belly drops as I read. My eyes begin to sting like I’m going to cry. I feel that weak. It’s not from Fletcher.
I’m sorry for the other night. Give me a second chance? James x
“Who’s James?” Mom asks.
“The man I went on a date with a couple of nights ago.”
“You went on adate?” Mom gasps, and I remember I haven’t told her yet.
“Yeah, but it went terribly. He was rude. Or maybe I was distant. I don’t know, but I don’t want to give him a second chance. We didn’t have any chemistry at all.”
And he’s my crush’s son, but I’ll leave that part out. I’m almost scared to say it aloud, especially with all the hints Lexi keeps dropping. She seems convinced she’s seen right into my heart. She thinks she knows how badly I want Fletcher. The thing is, shedoes. She read me easily during that conversation we had at the gym.
“Should I put these in some water?” Mom asks softly, sensing I don’t want to talk about it. Mom is good like that.
“Sure, thank you,” I tell her, tossing the note in the wastebasket.
“How does he know where we live?” Mom asks, reaching for the flowers.
It’s funny. Before, when I thought Fletcher might’ve sent them, I didn’t care how he found the address. The fact that he did would’ve been enough, romantic even, thinking of him going through all that effort, but she’s right. How the heck didJamesfind out where I live?
“We’re not publicly listed,” Mom goes on. “You know what Dad was like.”
When Dad was a kid in the fifties, his family was the victim of a stalker who’d targeted his mom, my grandmother. Since then, he’s tried to be anonymous, including taking our address off public registers.
“I don’t know,” I murmur, a shiver moving up my spine, an entirely different species of shiver to the ones Fletcher sends whispering over me.
Mom looks out the window. Her posture tightens. She and Dad were married for so long that, even if Mom never experienced any of the stalking, she shares a lot of his fear orsharedsince he’s not around anymore. Rest in peace, you beautiful, funny, wonderful man.
