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I blinked her into focus and felt my face heat. “Alright, fine,” I agreed. “I’ll be careful. But you already know me; I’m a cautious girl. I mean, have you ever seen me jump into a heavy relationship withanyone?”
“No,” she had to admit because I’d never actuallydate-dated a guy before. “But I’ve seen you jump intobedwith plenty.”
“Wow,” I muttered, pulling back in extreme offense. “Way to make me feel like a whore.”
“I’m not sayingthat,” Jay insisted, starting to look desperate. “You’re the sweetest, most giving woman I know. You show the best affection and are totally loyal and wonderful. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you liking sex. Even if it’s with gross men. I just worry about how freely you share your body with people you don’tknowthat well. I’m telling you, after watching all that Dahmer shit on Netflix, I am thoroughly freaked out. There are some scary-ass, unhinged people in this world, and I don’t know what I’d do if you got hurt by one of them.”
My heart melted at her concern. “Oh, sweetie,” I said, reaching for her hand. When she took my fingers and clung tightly, I sighed. “I promise you, I’ll be careful.” And this time I was serious.
She tightened her grip briefly. “You better be. Which is why I need to tell you where Ifollowedthis Damien guy.”
My stomach automatically tightened with dread because I wasn’t sure if I could handle hearing anything bad about him. I mean, what if Jay had caught him going off with some other girl and hooking up withher? On campus.
I know I’d only planned on having him for myself that one time, so technically he was free to be with anyone he wanted, but damn… I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him…and wanting him. It’d only been four days since our night in the newsroom, but I’d been tempted—more than once—to call him up and see if he wanted a repeat.
It would really sting to learn he’d already moved on.
“What?” I asked, already cringing and bracing for the pain.
“Okay, so…” Jaylani heaved in a deep breath before delivering her big news. She turned to me completely and lifted her hands, “I’m, like, eighty percent sure he’s stalking you. When he was walking past Hill Hall, he looked up—right at the second floor where the broadcasting room is—as if he knew you were in there or something.”
“He did?” I exhaled in a rush as my belly heated and thighs quivered,flattered—not concerned—that he’d been remembering our night together when he’d walked past.
Quickly waving a hand in the hopes of diminishing his actions, I told Jay, “Jeez, he could’ve been glancing up there for any number of reasons, most of which have absolutely nothing to do with me. And besides, even if he glanced up briefly because he thought I might be up there, it’s not as if he discovered my possible whereabouts through some kind of underhanded measures. I straight-uptoldhim I was a journalism major.”
“Well, he also spent a considerable amount of time in the psychology department,” Jaylani went on. “Apparently, he has, like, three or four psychology classes this semester. And you know whatthatmeans, don’t you?”
I lifted my brows with no idea where she was going with this. “That…he’s a psychology major, perhaps?”
“It means that if heisa sociopath, then he’s learning how he needs to behave just enough to blend in and trick people into thinking he’s not.”
“Wow,” I said, lifting my eyebrows. “That’s it. No more serial killer shows for you. I’m serious, Jay. You’re getting a little bittooparanoid.”
She bit her lip and winced. “Maybe you’re right. But it’s really scary to realize how horrible people can be, especially the ones youthinkyou know.”
“Definitely no more, then,” I ordered. “I know there are monsters out there, but it won’t benefit our lives any to live in constant fear of crossing paths with one of them.”
She nodded and drew in a deep breath. “But still be careful around this landlord guy, anyway,” she ordered.
I smiled and rolled my eyes. “I will.”
Her return smile was a little more relieved. “Good.” And before she could say anything else, her phone rang. After checking the screen, her eyes widened, and she pressed it right back to her stomach. “It’s Scarlett,” she gaped in horror. “What do I do?”
“Um,answerit,” I said, lifting my eyebrows in confusion. “She’s your girlfriend.”
“But she didn’t know I was coming here today. Or that I’d be with you? What if she hears the waves in the background?”
“Oh my God,” I screeched. “You didn’t tell her you were going to hang out with me?Directlyafterthe two of you had a fightaboutme! Jesus, Jay.”
She winced. “But—” The phone stopped ringing, and she glanced down, looking devastated. “Fuck, she just gave up on me, didn’t she?” Only for the phone to start up again.
Her eyes widened as she looked up at me. “What do I do?”
“Answer the damn phone!” I cried.
“But I can’t tell her I’m here with you.”
“Yes, you can,” I said. “Because the worst thing you can do is lie to her. So pick up and tell her that you brought me out here to ask that we take a little time apart.”
