I rolled my eyes at him, mainly because he wasn’t wrong. Ihadbeen staring at that corner since I’d come out of the office with Janette, but my attention had nothing to do with Drew. As much as he was on my mind, he wasn’t why my attention was so fixed on that one spot in the diner. No. I was still getting the heebies, and it was coming from that direction. The discomfort felt like someone was watching me, not unlike Drew did, but this was with much more malice. I could feel the intent behind the stare, and it had been making me uncomfortable as I attempted to work. The vile feeling wasalso drawing my gaze every time I stopped for so much as a second.
“I’m—”
“If you say fine again, kid, I’m going to chase you with a serving spoon.”
“Stop flirting with her, Rusty.” Sam giggled from beside me, earning herself a scowl and a wave of the soup ladle.
“Go. Home.”
“Fine.” I finally relented and capped the huge salt dispenser I’d been holding onto for the last twenty minutes.
I gazed at Sam, who only nodded that she was okay with my taking off, and headed back to my locker. It probably should have worried me that my first instinct was to reach into the bag and make sure the gun was still there. The sensation of being watched hadn’t followed me into the back, but that didn’t mean the impression wasn’t resonating like a ghost under my skin and keeping the hairs on my arms at attention. Then again, maybe I was just losing my mind.
I pulled my jeans on under my uniform dress, attaching the concealed holster to my belt and tucking the soft leather inside against my hip. Pulling myBersa Thunder .380from my bag, I slid the gun into the holster before pulling off my uniform and replacing it with a gray T-shirt and my leather jacket. As ridiculous as it sounded, the act of arming myself made me feel safe. Feeling the gun bite into my flesh felt reassuring, especially when I was going to walk home. I figured the exercise would do me good.
I stuffed everything else I needed into the backpack I kept in the locker and slung it over my back. I pulled my hair free from its tail and slipped my feet into the combat boots Tate had bought me for Christmas. The ritual was as good as it wasgoing to get, and I couldn’t put off leaving work any longer now I was standing there staring at my reflection with an overly critical eye. I knew I was being ridiculous. I’d never in my life put something off that could be achieved today, even when I was the one in the wrong, so why was I so hesitant to leave now? Was it facing Drew I was trying to avoid? Or was it facing that creepy feeling of being watched, alone?
There was only one way to find out...
“See you guys next week,” I called out as I pushed through the swinging doors and headed to the front of the diner. I smiled at some of the regulars as I went, acting as casually as I could, even when I was freaking out enough to want to grip my stomach and calm the squeezing of uncertainty there.
“Text me when you get home, kid,” Rusty huffed, and the only response I gave him was a wave over my shoulder.
The warm sun beat down on me the moment I passed through the doors, and with my eyes closed, I turned my face to it, basking in the heat for just for a moment so I could collect myself. I could hear insects chirping in the long grass bordering the diner, like they did most warm days. I could hear the traffic steadily streaming by on the freeway and the shout of children from somewhere in the huddle of the houses just beyond the feeder road. My surroundings were all so normal it should have put me at ease, but it didn’t. The feeling of being studied like something in a petri dish came back and made my skin crawl.
The smart thing to do would be calling Drew and letting him know what was going on. It didn’t matter if we’d just screamed at one another in the depth of a battle of wills. I knew if I called him he’d be here with no questions asked. Ifhe was extra pissed at me, he might send one of the Hounds, but he would still be there for me. Unfortunately, calling him about a feeling of being watched felt a little like emotional blackmail. I could almost see how the conversation would go:Hey, it feels like I’m being watched. It’s been creeping me out since you left.
I’ll be right there.
He’d arrive, stand there next to me and not feel a damn thing. Then he’d look at me like I’d tied his junk in a knot and just glower in my general direction because I’d called him out there for nothing other than to make up—in his mind. Even though that wasn’t my intention at all.
So I started walking.
If the feeling got worse, or if I felt as though I was in danger in any way, I would call the emergency line and get a message to him quickly. I’d learned my lesson. No more lies, but that didn’t mean I was going to call him out on a gut feeling. I had a gun at my hip, two working feet and a couple of miles to eat up and formulate a real apology for my misgivings.
I didn’t rush, even with that weird feeling haunting my every step. I took my time. My boots scuffed the small dirt clots that lined the side of the county road as I made my way closer to The Hut. I was nearly halfway there when I heard the rumble of aHemiscreaming up the two-lane highway. I wandered deeper into the knee-length grass and ran my hands over the tops of the blades, rolling my eyes as the engine downshifted and the vehicle slowed.
“Ayda Hanagan?”
I turned at the sound of my name and the strange familiarity of the voice. There, with his free arm hangingfrom the window of an aged blueChevy Dually, was my ex-boyfriend Jacob fucking Hove.
“Hey, itisyou,” he shouted, slowing to a complete stop so he could turn fully and let both arms hang out as he grinned at me. “Damn, you’re looking good.”
I stared at him. It felt like I’d known Jacob in another life. I couldn’t reconcile this man with the boy I’d once known, and I sure as shit couldn’t place him in the world I was living in now. I remembered him as the sweet-faced boy who’d broken my heart with an unfriendly email—and a slew of rumors—when my drama had become too much for him. He hadn’t so much as called me since my parents had died. The pang of disgust in my chest made me shove my hands into my jacket pockets and narrow my eyes at him. All the hate that had been stored came rushing to the surface as the memories crowded me, and my walls of defense rose.
“You always did wear your emotions on your sleeve,” he said, shaking his head as if I’d just given him a big smile and stuck my ass out like a dog in heat. He always had a way of ignoring what you were really trying to say and jumping straight into charming his way into your favor. The only problem being, I wasn’t that young girl with a head full of dreams anymore. I didn’t want to be, and I certainly didn’t want him in my life.
I didn’t respond to his goading. I just stared back at him for a moment longer before exaggerating a turn and continuing to walk.
“Ouch. You grew some sharp edges, A. I remember you being much more pliable.” He bit his bottom lip suggestively when I glanced back at him briefly. The gesture made my stomach roll with nausea.
“Fuck you.” I continued walking at the same pace as before he’d interrupted me, and I heard the growl of his truck when he closed the distance again.
“You’ve been in Babylon too long. You’re starting to sound like all the lifers.”
“What do you want, Jake?” I snapped, rotating on the heels of my boots and pulling my hands from my pockets. There was a time in my life I would have lapped up his attention like a starving dog. When I longed to hear his truck pull up outside my house and take me away for the night so I could lose myself in him. There was a time I’d believed I loved Jacob, but it turned out I’d had no idea what love was.
“Just saying hello.”
