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“Why you were behaving so strangely around Keira?”
I hadn’t expected him to say that, and I feel myself blush. “I wasn’t.”
“Yeah, you were. You’re doing it now, and all I did was mention her name.” He shrugs his shoulders. “I mean, I get that the whole stalking thing was really stressful. I get that you were scared. You had every right to be. That’s why I offered to take you home that night.”
“I know, and I’m sorry I was so ungracious about that. To be honest, I regretted saying ‘no’ the moment I walked back through my apartment door. I felt like I was being watched all the way home…”
“You were.”
“I’m sorry?” What’s he saying?
“You were being watched. By me. I followed you.”
I gaze up at him. “You did what?”
“I followed you. Did you actually think I was gonna let you drive home by yourself? I wasn’t being creepy or anything. I just followed you in my car, waited until you’d gone inside, and drove away again… and then I came back in the morning, and followed you to work.”
“I can’t believe this.”
He frowns. “You’re not mad at me, are you?”
“No, of course not. I’m just shocked.”
“I—I followed you every day until Keira came and told us she’d found out who your stalker was.”
“You really did that? Every day?” I move around to his side of the island unit, staring up at him.
“I just wanted to know you were safe. And I’m only telling you now because I want you to know I understand how scared you were.”
“It was very kind of you.” I want to hug him, but I can’t.
“That’s not the first time you’ve said I’m kind, and I don’t understand.”
“Why I say it?”
“Yes.”
“Because you are.”
He shakes his head. “Kind or not, you still haven’t explained why you were behaving so strangely around Keira. And don’t tell me you weren’t, because you were. You were quiet and withdrawn… not with her, but with me. I thought I must’ve done something wrong, but I couldn’t work out what.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“In that case, why won’t you tell me?”
“Okay… if you must know, I thought Keira was an ex-girlfriend of yours, and it made me feel uncomfortable.” Not as uncomfortable as I’m feeling now, having to explain it, but uncomfortable, all the same.
He frowns and takes a moment. “I don’t understand,” he says. “Why would you think that? I explained, she dated Drew, not me.”
“Yes, you did… afterwards. But before, when you were telling me about her, you said she was a ‘sort of’ friend, and I thought…”
His frown deepens. “You thought she and I were an item?”
“I thought you must have been at some stage. You had her number on your phone,” I say, trying to justify myself.
He nods his head and leans back against the countertop, folding his arms across his chest. “Yes, I did. When Drew broke up with her, she struggled for a while. She loved him a lot more than he realized.”
“She didn’t want them to break up?”
