And the Bobcats won the American League Championship.
I was there for the celebration. My crutches were a thing of the past, and I’d even been able to do some easy warm-ups. My knee wasn’t up to playing yet, but I was getting close. I could feel it. Or maybe it was the Bobcat fever that had gripped Indianapolis. Everywhere I went, people recognized me. They asked about my rehab and how soon I could play.
“Soon,” was my answer, and I prayed it was true.
The night before the team left for the World Series against the Cardinals, we were at my place, grabbing a quick meal of coq au vin that I had made myself. I always cooked when I had time on my hands. Gia was deep into her fifth groan of foodgasm when her phone rang.
I couldn’t hear who was calling, but Gia’s look of alarm was enough to get me putting the food away. Especially when she spoke.
“Slow down, Cassie. Tell what happened.” Fear shot through me, then terror at her next words. “Call Campus Security. I’m on my way.”
Chapter Twenty
Gia
I hate secrets. They never help anyone, least of all the person holding something inside. It wasn’t just the big stuff—like how Connor kept his contract with Sophia secret from Cassie. Or the medium stuff—like Cassie’s stalker secret which was about to get exposed. But even Secret Santa shit and surprise birthday parties irritated me. If you wanted to exchange gifts, then you should just do it. Same with a birthday party. Don’t force people to keep secrets for you.
But I also respected that some things had to be dealt with without other people’s interference. And so, out of respect for Cassie’s secret, I tried to get Connor to stay home and let me deal with things.
“If she wanted you there, she would have called you directly,” I argued.
He’d already grabbed his jacket and was standing at the door. “Are you driving or am I?”
Like I needed him torqueing his bad knee driving at insane speeds. “I am,” I answered, surrendering to the inevitable. “And you will follow my lead. This is a delicate situation.”
“Just tell me what’s going on.” He was walking faster than I was and I had to jog to keep up. It wasn’t easy in my heels, but then again, I was as anxious as he was to get to Cassie. We made it to my car in record time.
I still tried to keep Cassie’s secret. “If she’d wanted you to know—”
“How long has this been going on?”
I winced. His jaw was clenched, his hands were fists, and he was barking questions at me like a drill sergeant.
“Just short of a couple months.”
“Months!”
I rolled my eyes. “You don’t even know whatthisis. It could be nothing.”
“My sister has been calling you for…” Understanding dawned in his eyes. “Girl stuff. This is what she called girl stuff.”
Well, I’d never said he was stupid. “Is that what she told you?”
“So what is it?”
I slowed down for a stop light, cursing the delay. But in the pause, I was able to spill it all.
“She had a stalker, and she thinks he’s back.”
“A what!”
I winced at the explosion of sound. “We’ve done all the right things. Campus Security knows all about it, as does her coach. She’s in a public place—”
“We’re going to her volleyball game?”
“Yeah. She finally managed to get a decent picture of him. Up until now, he’s made himself scarce. But he’s left messages taped to her dorm room door and dropped Bobcat paraphernalia off for her as gifts.”
“Who is it? Did she send you the picture?”
