After the email, I settled in for a long night of studying, only checking the app that monitored Ethan’s blood sugar every hour. Okay, maybe every half hour.
By the time I woke in the morning I was feeling optimistic about life. My phone and email revealed no response from Bryce, but I knew he’d read the email. He wouldn’t ever let an email from me go unread, but I’d also checked the “read request” notification box and was now one-hundred-percent certain he had got my message.
I was free of him, and if he tried anything again, it looked like I had good grounds for getting a restraining order with stalking charges.
As I padded out to the kitchen, I smiled at the array of fresh fruits and yogurt Ethan had laid on the table. “I missed you last night,” he told me while scrambling eggs.
I came up behind him and let my hands stroke his chest, kissing him on the neck.
“Cram session for school.” I’d slept in my she-cave.
“Over Christmas break?” he queried, scooping the eggs onto his plate and then some for me.
I nodded, popping a grape into my mouth. “Nursing students don’t sleep. Get used to it.” I winked.
He chuckled and then put his hand on a package that sat at the window sill.
“What’s that?” I chewed a chunk of cantaloupe.
He tapped the box. “James dropped it off. It’s a magnetic GPS tracking device for a car.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Are you going to put it on my bike or something?”
He laughed. “That’s a good idea. But no. I’m going to put it on Bryce’s car. If he knows where we are, why shouldn’t we always know where he is?”
Chills ran down my back. “Ethan…” I’d just declared myself done with Bryce drama.
“I just need you to tell me his license plate number and where he works.” He asked casually, but there was nothing casual in his body language. He was filled with rage, muscles taut, gorilla ready to pounce.
“This doesn’t sound legal and I don’t want you and the guys jumping him and ending up in jail.”
He put his hands up in a defensive gesture. “As long as he stays away from you and me, I’m not going to do anything to him. I promise.”
I sighed, putting my head in my hands. Track Bryce? That might actually be a good idea. The next time we wanted to go skiing I wouldn’t need to worry about Bryce following us.
I didn’t know where he was living, but I knew where he was working, and I was pretty sure he was still driving his beloved Range Rover.
I told Ethan about the PR firm and what their address was and then the make, model, and color of his car.
Ethan nodded curtly. “And do you know the license plate?”
I cringed a little. “HAILEY.”
Ethan nearly choked on his eggs. “HAILEY?”
I nodded my head. “He made me get BRYCE as my plate. He’s completely obsessed with me. I see that now.”
Ethan didn’t say anything, he just sighed and kissed the top of my forehead before going back to eating his breakfast.
The Christmas holidaypassed in a state of pure bliss. No school, extra hours at work, and tons and tons of sexy time with Ethan.
By the time class was back in session, I was ready to rock and roll.
“Here’s rent.” I laid the crisp two hundred dollars on Ethan’s workbench. He was hunched over a motorcycle. His leg was healing well; he was going to physical therapy like he should, and all that mess was behind us.
“Rent? You’re my girlfriend now. That means we live together. I’m not collecting rent from you.”
He looked shocked, shoving the money back at me.
