Page 151

Alice laughs. “She’s unraveling.”

I chuckle and nudge her. “She’s got it bad. Look at all of those exclamation marks.”

Alice gets another DM. This one is from Zach.

I grab Alice’s phone and type out a message for her.

“We’ll see how happy he is when he gets home.” Connor laughs, pulling me back against his side.

“He’ll be staying at Ashley’s. Now that we have sorted the sleeping arrangements, I think it’s time for bed, big guy. What do you think?”

Connor’s eyes darken and he springs up, grabbing my hand and pulling me up the stairs.

“Night then,” Alice calls after us, laughter in her voice.

I lay awake in Connor’s bed, staring up at the ceiling. He fell asleep a little over an hour ago, and he is snoring softly. I grab my phone and openNexus. Doom scrolling through socials isn’t quite as relaxing as it used to be before my stalker. A wave of anger washes over me when I notice I have an unread message from 1015.

I narrow my eyes at the message, at the suggestion in it. He’s crossing boundaries, and I’m going to nip it in the bud.

The reply comes almost instantly. He was obviously watching for my message.

I stare at my phone, reading the message over and over.

Tame? Something about the word sparks a heat low in my stomach, and I block him again before I reply with something stupid. There is no doubt he is powerful and dangerous. I don’t need to truly anger him.

Moments later, another message comes through.

I throw my phone aside, my breathing shallow. The fear is paralyzing me, but there is something else, too. Something deep and that I don’t dare name.

Could that be… something I want? Something I crave? Is that what’s missing? Is that why I’m… wrong?

61

Summer

The sun is still deep in slumber when I finally decide to stop trying to sleep. My brain is too active, and my body feels too restless. I climb out of bed and quietly creep out of the Morningstar House. The cool early morning air nips at my skin, and I pull the zip of my cropped hoodie up a little. As I push into a run, my frustration bubbles up, and I replay the conversation with the stranger. How I should have replied differently, how I need to find a way to keep him away permanently. By the time I get to the gym, I’m in a foul mood, which turns even more sour when Max’s stupid face is the first thing I see when I step into the establishment.

He smirks when he sees me. “I thought you’d have given up by now.”

“Leave me be, berserker.” I walk straight past him to the punching bag. The first hit sends a shock wave of pain along my forearm, but I do it again. The bag bobs a little from the force, but not enough that I feel like I’ve gotten a good hit. I try to punch it harder, but my strikes seem weak and ineffective.

Max walks over and stands behind the bag, holding it steady. “Come on, let’s fight,” he wheedles.

“Fuck off,” I growl, swinging my leg around to kick the bag. Max grabs my ankle in midair, my foot never meeting the bag.

“Come on, this is embarrassing.”

I snarl and hop in place, trying to free myself while also trying not to fall on my ass.

“I promise I’ll go easy on you,” Max says, finally releasing my ankle. I stumble a little but manage to stay on my feet.

I narrow my eyes at him. “Then you’ll leave me alone?”

He shrugs, that maddening smile tugging on his lips.

I turn on my heel, storming into the sparring room. “Hurry up.”

Max chuckles and follows me in, grabbing a set of boxing gloves from the wall and chucking them at me. I catch them easily and pull them on, wanting to get this over with.