Page 105 of Dangerous Men

Sebastian watches me closely, eyes narrowing behind his glasses.

I wait for him to ask me why, and truthfully, I’m not sure what to tell him. But if just hearing that I had an ex was enough for Alec to buy his company and threaten to fire him, what would he do if he thought I had one stalking me? One that would, maybe, try to hurt me?

To my surprise, Sebastian agrees.

“Okay,” he says. “I won’t tell him.”

My heart skips.

“Really? You’ll keep this between just the two of us?”

He nods, slowly. “On one condition.”

“Sure, anything,” I tell him.

“If he does anything like this again, I need you to call me. No matter what time it is, no matter what you think I’m doing, I want to know. Immediately, Sydney. Can you do that?”

I nod.

“Where’s your phone?” he asks.

I reach into my pocket and hand it over.

He takes it with his left hand, fingers flying over the screen as he unlocksit.

“How did you know my passcode?” I ask.

“It’s the same as the bathroom code in your shop,” Sebastian answers, sounding almost amused that I would ask. “It wasn’t hard to guess.”

He pulls up the contacts and enters his information, sending a text to the new number. A second later, a phone buzzes in his pocket.

“I mean it, Sydney,” he says, handing my phone back to me. The look in his icy blue eyes is so intense, so fixated on me, it makes me feel a little lightheaded. “You call me, day or night, okay?”

“And you’ll break his nose again?” I joke.

Sebastian’s eyelid twitches.

“Something like that,” he says.

36

SYDNEY

Kids are fun.I really do mean that.

But I’d be lying if I said watching four kids systematically dismantle our children’s section—pulling nearly every book out of the cubbies and upending two different toy displays—didn’t make me just a little relieved that I don’t have any of my own.

The dad who brought them in had been sincerely apologetic for their behavior, rushing along behind them to clean up as best he could. And hehadbought each of his kids a book and a toy, more than making up for the chaos they’d brought to our store for the twenty minutes they’d been there.

It’s still a relief when they finally leave.

I’ve just finished restoring the children’s section to its former condition when my phone buzzes. I fish it out of my pocket and feel an instant tightening in my chest when I see Katie’s name flashing on the display. Shit.

I’m not sure I have the energy to deal with her right now. I debate just ignoring it and letting it go to voicemail, but I need to make more of an effort with my other friends. Unless I really do plan on running off to the woods with Jade,leaving humanity behind like we always joked, I probably shouldn’t just ignore everyone else in my life.

I’ve had a lot of time to think about my friendships since running into the group at the club all those weeks ago. To think about why it’s been so hard to maintain that friendship group. Jade has always been more than just a friend—she’s been my only family for a long time now. When everyone else has come and gone, she’s been my constant.

I’ve always had to try so hard to fit in with everyone besides her. It feels like I’m constantly wearing a mask, trying to be the person I want them to see me as. Maybe it’s how I grew up, never having a settled childhood. Feeling like one mistake will take everything from me again. I love my friends, but there’s always been an undercurrent of not feeling fully accepted by them. Not feeling like they really know the real me.