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At her words, I paused. Before I could second-guess myself, I brought out my phone. Riley seemed to already know what I was going to ask, because she took my phone and added her number. I texted her with my name.
“Text me anytime. We will go out for coffee or something.”
CHAPTER 20
WREN
I walk outof Riley’s store and head to the parking lot where I parked my little teal Geo Metro.
I felt my phone ring in my pocket and pulled it out, answering.??
“Helloooo.”??
“Hey, where you been all day?” I could hear Alex’s smile over the phone.?
“My session went longer than normal.” It wasn’t a lie. “But it’s over now. What’s up?”?
“Pizza. Wanna bring some home for the party tonight?”??
“I’m not sure I would call moving places a ‘party.’” I laughed, setting the bags into the passenger side.??
“Oh no, it’s a party. Gavin and Troy are going to stop by too.” I could hear the guys say something in the background. “Troy says he wants anchovies.”??
“Ew. If he can have anchovies, I can have pineapple on my pizza.”??
“Wren, you can have whatever you want, except for that. That is disgusting.”?
“It’s a delicacy.” I started the car. “Okay, I’ll bring pizza and beer home. Anything else?”
“Nope, I think we are good. See you there.”??
I hung up the phone and plugged the aux cord in and started my playlist. I turned the music up louder. I rolled my dry lips and reached back to my bag to find my chap stick. Movement from the car next to me caught my attention. The tint was too dark to see who was in it, but I could faintly see the outline of someone sitting in the driver seat.??
A sliver of fear ran its way up my back, and I looked away, grabbing the steering wheel, forcing myself to take a deep breath.
The paranoia had started when I started at the community college. There were so many new faces that I didn’t know, and sometimes I would feel like someone was watching me. I had convinced myself that Kevin was following me again, that he was after me.??
There were times I thought I saw him in a store. Alex would walk up and down every aisle looking for him, and not once did he ever see him.
Alex never made me feel crazy. He would always be on the lookout for my boogeyman.
I opened my eyes and forced myself to put the Geo in reverse and drive slowly out of the parking lot. I focused on the music heading to our favorite pizza joint and, when I got there, I went inside and ordered three large pizzas. Troy and Gavin could eat anyone out of house and home.?
After I got the pizza, I ran to a convenience store, picked the guys up some beer, and finally was on my way home.??
I pulled up the alleyway into the driveway and parked in front of the detached garage at the back of the house. It was on a corner, so the property was larger than the neighbor’s house. Most of the houses on this block had been foreclosed on and no one was living in it, so for the most part, the neighborhood was quiet. Alex had talked about installing an automatic door opener on the garage so I could just hit a button and pull right in, then walk through the garage to get into the yard. As it was right now, I had to open the gate, bring all my stuff into the house, run back outside,and close the gate.?
Balancing the pizzas in one hand and the beer in the other, bags on my arms, I managed to get myself in through the backdoor and into the kitchen.??
“Honey, I’m home!” I hollered through the house.??
“Oh, darling!” Gavin’s voice rang through the house in a high-pitched tone.??
“Shove a sock in it, Gavin,” I could hear Alex say.?
“Yeah, Gavin, sock it.” Troy spoke up.?
“I’ll sock you!” Gavin retaliated.?
