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I sip my watery mocktail absently, the drink far too sweet without the burn of the liquor to be enjoyable. But I didn’t want to worry about impairing my senses when I’ll hopefully be driving soon. I only got it so it wouldn’t be weird for me to be sitting in a bar for an hour.

An interminable fifteen minutes later, I finally hear back from Noah. He’s not dead or ensnared by a murderer. He’s at home and he’s sorry he missed my texts, but has company tonight, so I can’t come over. When my relief that he’s alright wears off, disappointment follows quickly on its heels.

Guess I came all the way out here for nothing.Ugh.

I finish my water, then head to the bathroom before I hit the road for the long drive home. As I head back out into the main room of the bar, I freeze when I hear a deep, rumbling voice cut through the din.

It can’t be.

I stay still and wait, scanning the room as if I’ll see a giant with one eye casually sitting in the bar. Shit, maybe I am losing my mind.

I hear it again. Coming from the booth I recently vacated. Moving closer, I try not to draw attention to myself as I listen in. There’s a pair of men sitting there, a handsome pale redhead and a guy I can’t see much of because he’s turned away.

“So I had to run out into the hallway and try to explain, but she passed out.” The redhead laughs sheepishly.

“She saw you with your naked doppelganger?”

That’s the voice. It’s coming from him!

Something snaps in my brain, and I stride over to the booth.

The redhead raises a brow at the speed of my approach, but plasters on a polite smile a moment later. “Oh, sorry, did we take your booth? We can?—”

A choked sound from his companion cuts him off and I look over at the man across from him. He’s a big guy, broad with thick muscles and very tall, even sitting down. A lock of sandy brown with hangs in his face, obscuring one of his eyes, which are blown wide with shock.

Shock andrecognition. “H-how did you find me?” he gasps. This man isn’t the monster I saw last night, but his flabbergasted reaction indicates it’s still him.

“Ren?”

His stricken look confirms I’m right. “Tiffany…How?”

Holy shit. Out of all the places in the country, no, the world, that he could be, he’s here in this small bar in Moonvale. That’s not how the whole camming thing is supposed to work! Part of the appeal is that the odds of meeting someone in real life are slim to none. Yet, thesweet, shy guy who I’m crushing on is here, looking terrified of what I might do next.

In a flash, I step outside myself for a moment and see things from Ren’s perspective. The woman who sawwhateverhe is has shown up at a bar the following night to accost him.

“I didn’t know you’d be here!” I say defensively. “How could I possibly know that?”

“Whoa, is this the woman who you…?” I’d almost forgotten about the man sitting across from Ren.

“Y-yeah. Tiffany, I’m so sorry!”

“Emma,” I correct.

His brow furrows. “Huh?”

“My name is Emma, not Tiffany.” Shit, I don’t know why I’m telling him this, other than that my brain is short circuiting at this sudden turn of events.

“Oh!” Ren’s eyes go wide. “That’s a lovely name. Not that I didn’t like Tiffany! But it, uh, it suits you.” The enormous man’s cheeks flush as he speaks, and a swarm of butterflies takes flight inside me.

Fuck, he’s even cuter in person. Except why does he look human?

“You… you look different in person,” I say, not sure that it’s a good idea to accuse him of being a monster in front of his friend. I’ll look insane if I hallucinated what I saw last night, and even if he is a monster, the man with him might not know.

“I… uh, I….” Ren casts a pleading look for help over to his friend.

“Tell her if you want to. I promise you won’t get in trouble,” his friend says with a reassuring smile.

“So itwasreal,” I murmur, taking his words as all the confirmation I need.