Page 37 of Things I Read About

Sally: He is impossible to read.

Sally: And mostly, he tells me that if he were an assassin/kidnapper/serial killer, I’d be dead.

Sadie: Okay, I think keeping Suze out of this particular loop may have been a good call.

Out of the loop. Loop as in computer circuit. American 1970’s.I snort down at the screen.Yeah, you think, Sadie?I can already hear Susan using one million different phrases to communicate that I need to be careful.No thanks.

Skye: Well, if he doesn’t want a spring fling with you then he’s an idiot.

Sam: He’s the worst. I hate him.

Sally: LOL, thanks Sam

Sadie: Keep us posted. Maybe try to do a better job at NOT being kidnapped/killed/robbed.

Sally: Will do.

I put my phone in my outer backpack pocket and go back to my book. I’ve been trying to study but my mind keeps wandering. I’m trusting Lorelai’slatest thriller romance to keep me out of my head and in someone else’s crazy story. Because my head is fixating. Which is a step beyond spiraling. Maybe multiple steps.

Why would he whisper in my ear that I should make my bad decisions with him? He checked out my chest multiple times. He said he liked my combat boots in a way that felt as if he wasn’t talking about boots at all. So why wouldn’t he kiss me?

Focus, Sally. On your book.

I start skimming, looking for the next bit of sex, or bullets, or explosions. Maybe an emotional declaration would suck me in. Although, that may also make me sad. Still, I’ve got to try. I find some action and get lost for a while. Not like I normally can, but it’s a slight reprieve. Long enough that I wonder what the time is. I reach for my bag to dig out my phone.

But my bag isn’t there.

Adrenaline courses through my body, sparking that sickly surging feeling. I am immediately sweating. I look over at the next table, no bag. I look back over my shoulder, no bag. I look up and out, straight ahead and…

Nate.

Nate is standing at the railing with my backpack. I sigh with relief. Then I suck all that air back in as I realize he’s on his way to me, and I’m about to get another lecture.

“Twenty-three minutes. I’m long gone by now, in a car service I registered with your profile, buying everything I want from your Amazon account.” He sits beside me, taking up all the space on the whole patio, yet somehow fitting in the little metal seat. “And I’m eating food I bought with your credit card. Smoking weed I got with your cash.”

“I get it,” I snap. I’m embarrassed about the bag but more than that, I’m irritated. That he’s here and that this is what he wants to talk about.

“Do you? Next time, keep your bag on the floor, touching your leg so you notice if someone tries to walk off with it.”

“Okay, okay! Aren’t you supposed to be working? How did you even find me?”

He starts to grin, which makes me angrier. He has no right to look so hot and likable after being so cold and confusing. “I think astronauts on the space station could find you in that suit.”

“Ugh,” I groan. “It was my sister’s.”

“That tracks.”

I squint at him. “What does that mean?”

He lifts his hands. “No offense, I just meant that you said big family, I bet hand-me-downs are the norm. Plus, it doesn’t seem like what you’d pick.”

“What would I pick?”

He sits back, spreads his legs and steeples his hands at his middle like some kind of king. I love it. And I hate that I love it. “Knowing you, probably white. If you got lost or hurt, no one would ever find you, and you’d freeze to death. Hazard.”

I clench my teeth. I may have a white ski suit in my REI cart right this minute. However, he doesn’t need to know that.

“Well, thanks for the safety lesson. Have a great afternoon.” I wave at him and look back at my book.