“You’re a star,” Connor said, stretching languidly. “This stuff is like Latin to me until you explain it.”
“You’re a lot smarter than you think.”
“Oh,I think I’m a genius—just not when it comes to math.” Connor laughed. “Are you sure you’re okay getting back?” he asked as he shoved his papers into his backpack.
He had offered to drive me home several times. Even though I trusted him, I didn’t want him to see my crappy, rundown apartment, so I turned him down every time.
“I’m going to stay and study for another half hour, don’t worry,” I said, keeping my voice easy.
He nodded, and we said our goodbyes.
I didn’t want to be a liar, so I continued working on a paper for another thirty minutes before packing up and trudging out of the library.
It was shockingly cold outside. I really needed to remember to bring a thicker jacket with me. When I decided to move to California, I’d assumed it would be summer weather all year round. My first winter had quickly dissuaded me of that idea.
Then again, I had a wonderful, thick leather jacket sitting in my nest that I could wear.
What would happen if the tall, handsome stranger recognized me wearing his jacket? Would he ask for it back? That idea made a small whine escape me.
On my phone, I casually answered a few tutoring inquiry emails as I made my way home. Keeping my mind distracted was for the best. Recently, I’d been imagining someone standing in every dark corner. It was foolish. Maybe Spencer had made the entire situation worse, but who would be after me? As far as I knew, I was pretty boring. All I did was study and sleep.
“Hey, princess,” a familiar voice called out.
My eyes closed, and I took a deep breath, praying I was wrong—that the voice didn’t belong to who I thought it did.
Unfortunately, Spencer appeared at my side moments later, throwing an arm around my shoulders, and I cursed internally.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I said.
“Just escorting you home.”
“I still have my taser.”
He nodded. “Good girl.”
Those two little words made my insides quiver, but I kept my face stony. Spencer was a royal pain in my ass, and I had no intention of letting him know his words had any impact on me whatsoever.
“You are aware this is stalking?”
Spencer shrugged. “I’m stalking the stalker who’s stalking the stalkee,” he replied casually.
That sentence didn’t even make sense. “Do you need to see a doctor with a head as big as yours? I wouldn’t be surprised if you ran into a wall and got a concussion without even realizing,” I growled, shrugging out of his embrace.
“Hate me as much as you want, trouble, but you’re being followed, so I’m sticking close by,” he muttered, keeping his voice low.
I turned to look at the street around us—the street that was undoubtedly empty.
“Well, fuck, am I being followed by a ghost? One who is obsessed with stealing chocolate and replacing it with vegetables?” I huffed, lacing my voice with sarcasm.
“Just because they’re hanging back right now doesn’t mean they aren’t there,” he pointed out. “The food was for your own good. You eat like an unsupervised toddler.”
Holy hell, this man was insufferable. While I did think I’d been followed a few nights ago, I doubted it was happening again. I hadn’t noticed anyone. The only person who’d been following me recently was Spencer.
“I’ll have you know, my diet is perfectly fine!” I snapped. It was a lie; my diet was terrible, but I wasn’t going to admit that to him. I should have been terrified; this alpha had been in my apartment and taken my food—I had point-blank refused to eat anything he had left me. I hadn’t totally lost my mind yet. Still, there was something magnetic about him. Drawing me to him. Deep down, I was actually inclined to believe him that he wasn’t my stalker.
Well, myoriginalstalker. There was no question that he was now a stalker. A highly irritating one.
He raised his brow at me. “When did you last eat a vegetable? I said you needed a keeper.”
