He nodded, gave me a little salute, and headed toward the elevator. As we watched the last of the policemen clear out, I eyed the door to my apartment, not sure yet that I wanted to go back.
The snake sender was still out there.
There was one small relief. The guy who’d been pounding on my door had been arrested—not because there was any evidence that he was the stalker. They’d found enough drugs in his apartment to make it clear that he was more than just using.
Troy closed the door and turned back to Rhett. “I KNEW IT,” Troy said, eyes wide. “I told you they were death machines! But no, everyone’s like, ‘Oh, they’re more afraid of us than we are of them.’”
“I think that still applies,” Rhett corrected absently from the kitchen. “Most snakes only attack when they feel threatened.”
“Thank you, Wikipedia,” Troy rolled his eyes, but there was fondness in his voice. “The point is, they were danger pasta and I was right to be terrified.”
Despite everything, I felt a laugh bubble up in my throat. “Danger pasta? Really?”
“Venomous legless hate worms?” Troy offered. “Evil floor ropes? Pick your poison.”
“Venom,” Rhett corrected with a grin.
“You’re ridiculous,” I said, but my smile felt more genuine than it had all day.
“That’s why you like me,” Troy winked, then glanced over at Rhett. “Both of you.”
Rhett looked at us as he dished the food onto plates, a soft smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “Yeah, well, it’s a close thing sometimes.”
I sat at the table, letting them dote on me, listening to their easy banter. They’d been like this all day—keeping things light, making jokes, distracting me from the horror of what had happened. From the realization that someone who hated me enough to send me venomous snakes knew where I lived.
“The cops will find him,” Rhett said as he took a seat across from me, nudging my foot with his under the table. “They’ve got your laptop, they’re tracing the package, they’ve got the note. This psycho isn’t exactly subtle.”
“I know,” I said, stirring my food around on my plate, suddenly not so hungry. “I just keep thinking about how he found my address. Like, did he follow me home? Has he been watching me?”
Troy stopped with his fork an inch from his mouth and made a noise low in his throat, almost a growl. “If I ever get my hands on him…”
“You’ll hold him down while I beat the shit out of him,” Rhett finished, reaching over to squeeze Troy’s knee.
“My big strong protectors,” I said, trying for teasing but landing somewhere closer to grateful.
“Damn right,” Troy nodded. “And since we’ve established that we were right all along about you needing us—”
“Did I say that?”
“You’re staying here until they catch this guy.”
“It’s my choice, Troy.” But the thought of going back there, of sleeping in the apartment where those creatures had been slithering just hours ago, made my stomach churn.
Rhett set his fork down and reached for my hand. “Aims, you’ll be doing us a favor. If you go back to your place, neither of us will sleep a wink imagining some asshole showing up at your apartment with more snakes. Or worse.”
I shivered. “Fine, just for tonight. While the adrenaline wears off.”
“You can have my room,” Troy said as he wolfed down the rest of his meal. “I’ve got clean sheets and everything.”
“I can’t kick you out of your bed,” I protested. “I’ll take the couch.”
Rhett shoveled a huge forkful of food into his mouth, shaking his head. “Troy wants to be in my bed, anyway. He’s determined to fight with me over who is the little spoon.”
Troy laughed, stealing a dinner roll off Rhett’s plate and eating that, too. “You’re just jealous because I’m better at it than you.”
“I’m six-foot-three, you dick. I’m not built to be the little spoon,” Rhett said, as if Troy wasn’t nearly the same height.
“Yet you whine until I let you be it anyway,” Troy shot back, and Rhett’s face split into a grin.
