Culpability didn’t explain the timing of the latest message, though.How was that even possible?
How could anyone have known she was considering sending a reply before she’d even decided to do so?
But then, whoever it was had known her name, hadn’t they?They’d called her Kristina, even though she hadn’t introduced herself, plus they’d mentioned Shaun.
She couldn’t understand how any of those miracles were conceivable.One of them might have been considered a lucky coincidence, but all of them surely meant something more ominous.
“A real stalker.”She whispered the conclusion, glancing around suddenly as though there might be someone else in the room with her.
She’d never felt unsafe in the house before, appreciating the size of the bedrooms and its proximity to a bus stop, but feeling self-conscious after the peculiar exchange, she tugged the curtains closed and peered around her personal space.
Everything looked different somehow, as though someone had violated her room when she hadn’t been looking.
“Get a grip,” she mumbled, but started when the familiar sound echoed from the device on her knees.“Not again.”
Her heart was really racing then, sending adrenaline rushing around her system as she attempted to process what was happening.Trembling fingers opened her phone, dread stretching its icy tendrils across her lower abdomen as she checked to see who the latest message was from.She nearly cried with relief when Shaun’s name popped into her notifications.
“Fucker!”She sniffed, pressing into the exchange to see what he had to say for himself.
Hopefully, seeing his groveling apology would help ease some of the cramping stress in her stomach.She certainly hoped so.
Devouring his words, though, her brows knitted.To say they hadn’t been what she expected was an understatement.
Reverting to the start, she re-read his lines, sure she must have read them wrong the first time, but unfortunately, the second attempt only validated her angry disappointment.Shaun wasn’t even vaguely sorry.
Stop messaging me, Kris.
This was only ever a fling for me, and now you won’t leave me alone.
You’re bloody embarrassing.
Tossing the phone to one side, humiliated tears burned in Kris’ eyes.
She’d thought the time they’d spent together had been the start of something special, when clearly it had been nothing to Shaun but a quick fumble.How could she have been so stupid?
“Dinner’s ready!”
Tina’s holler permeated through Kris’ closed door, and sniffing back the crushing sense of rejection, she unhooked the towel and pulled on the hoodie and joggers waiting nearby.
“I’ll be right down!”she cried, trying to keep her voice upbeat while she dragged a brush through her hair and slipped her phone into her pocket.
Glancing back around the space, she flicked off the light in her room as the same two words resonated in her head.
Fucking men.
Chapter Five
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Tina put down her teacup, her expression concerned as Kris pushed the creamy mushroom pasta around her dish.It wasn’t the first time Tina had asked her, and Kris’ feigned excuses weren’t getting her very far.
“Yeah.”Kris forced a smile.“Just tired, I guess.Pine had a go at me earlier, and it’s playing on my mind.”
That wasn’t strictly true, of course.Her professor’s reaction to the way Kris had behaved in class had been reasonable under the circumstances, but she needed to give Tina a reason that didn’t include the creepy new stalker she had acquired or the way Shaun had just obliterated her confidence.
All the time she’d spent waiting for Shaun’s reply, and all along, she’d meant nothing to him.Less than nothing.What hurt even more than his rejection was the way she’d got it so wrong.That inaccuracy had taken root inside her somewhere, festering and growing with intent to fracture her already shallow self-belief.
For that, she loathed him and herself for giving him that power over her.
