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I’m worried I might like him more than I should.
The offer to come and stay with him for a while was powerful because then I’d get to be around him all the time… but then my heart would be on the line even more than it already is. I don’t know if I can hack heartbreak on top of everything else.
With a sigh, I take the parcel inside and toss it on the table. I don’t really have the energy to open it right now, but I also don’t want to get too caught up in these horrible feelings. I’d rather satisfy my curiosity.
Maybe I’ve brought myself a treat and forgotten all about it. That’d be nice.
“What the hell?”
This is no treat.
It’s a weird letter made with cut-out pages in a magazine, like you see in horror movies from the eighties or something.
The wordsI’m coming for youmake me want to throw up.
But that isn’t the worst part of it all.
There are photos—hundreds of them, of me.
Not me and Alex anymore. Justme.
Someone must be following me. The paranoia isn’t just a feeling, it’s reality. I’ve been feeling that way for a reason, and now I know why.
Somehow, that’s worse than just imagining that I’m losing my Goddamn mind.
My trembling fingers drop the photos, and they scatter all over the floor, giving me glimpses of how much of my life hasn’t been private. It’s disgusting, horrifying. Finally, I have something that I can go to the police with, but that isn’t what I want to do.
For the first time since all of this began, I want to go home.
I want to go back to Cold Springs so I can feel safe.
New York City iswaytoo much for me. I can’t stand it any longer.
Chapter 20—Alex
I check my watch for what feels like the hundredth time, wondering what’s going on. Looking at my phone screen isn’t exactly helping either because all of my texts have been ignored.
Where the hell is Riley?
What is going on?
“Can I get you another drink, Sir?” the waitress asks, a little pointedly, in my opinion. I’m well aware that I’m still here on my own; I don’t need reminding.
I mean, it isn’t like I’m being stood up, is it?
“Yeah, another beer, please.” I pass my glass over to her. “And water, too.”
I won’t meet her eyes again. The last thing I need is the press catching on to some stupid story that there’s ‘trouble in paradise’ or whatever. Even if there were any issues between me and Riley, it’d be the fault of the press anyway. Their intrusion has been killer.
That’s why I picked here to eat tonight. I think it’ll be good for Riley to get out of the house, to remember that the rest of the world is out there and not all against her. This is a quiet, small place where many people with celebrity status can eat without being bothered.
Usually, anyway. The waitress doesn’t look trustworthy to me.
I sigh heavily before calling Rileyagain, but I’m still only getting her voice mail. I wait until the beep comes but quicklydecide against leaving a message. She knows I’m waiting for her, so what else can I say?
Either she’ll turn up, or she won’t. I don’t know what I’ll do if she doesn’t.
She doesn’t need me anymore, I suppose, now she has the story. Maybe it didn’t boost her career in the way that she was expecting, but the story has gotten her name out there. It definitely didn’t seem like she was only in it for the interview, but how can I trust my judgment? I’ve been burned before. There’s no reason I wouldn’t get hurt again.
