Page 19 of Unmasking Her Shadow

“Hun.” She hesitates. “Do you think you have a stalker?” Concern washing over her features with the question.

“No, it’s not like that. I’m sorry for bothering you. Just being curious, that’s all.”

I laugh and rise slowly, despite my heart chugging like a train in my chest, so as not to give anything away. I don’t want to put Shadow on their radar. He’s a fun stalker. A very giving stalker. I just want to know who is lurking in my shadows—not remove them.

“Think like one of us. Gather a list of suspects and narrow it down. Who is new to your life, who from your past would want to see you again, whose time frame and schedule correlates to when you see them? Ask yourself enough questions so that the pieces start fitting together.”

“Pretend to be a detective. I can do that.” She returns my smile, but her eyes are still trying to pick me apart. “I’ll be back tonight,” I tell her over my shoulder, running smack dab into Ryker’s chest on my way out.

“Sorry,” I apologize, but he grabs my arm, stopping me.

“What are you doing here?” His voice is sharp and demanding.

“I didn’t realize I needed your permission to go places, Ryker,” I reply sarcastically, tugging my arm from his grip.

Who is new in my life?

I look at the heel of his boots and back to his face and shake my head, having an entire silent conversation with myself while he stares at me. Ryker is too tall to be Shadow.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asks, tilting his head and smirking.

“Just wondering why you think I owe you an explanation of my whereabouts.”

He chuckles and dismisses me. “See you later, sunshine.” I watch him walk inside, admiring his backside. I wouldn’t necessarily mind if he were Shadow, but I don’t know if we would fit together outside of our made-up world. Where’s Ki? They normally stick close together.

I start my list of suspects on my way home, and when I pull into my driveway, Cole is walking down my steps. Shirtless and sweaty.

Fucking hell.

“Where have you been?” he demands before I’m even fully out of my car.

If one more person acts like they are my keeper, I’m going to lose it. The niceness inside me is dissipating with each one.

“Hi, Cole. Good morning, Cole,” I clip.

He smacks his forehead. “Good morning, beautiful…Where were you?”

“Away for a few days.” I walk past him as if he’s not even there.

“I have never once not seen you on your porch in the morning. I was worried.”

I take a calming breath and turn around to face him. “Cole, I’m flattered you noticed my absence. That will come in handy should I ever die in my house or go missing, but we are not a couple.” I point back and forth between us. “I don’t answer to you.”

“But we are friends, right?” he asks. “Friends can worry if the other randomly disappears for a couple of days.”

“Right,” I reply on a long exhale, feeling like an ass. “I’m home now, so you don’t need to worry anymore.”

He opens and closes his mouth as if he wants to say something else but chooses not to. “See you tomorrow,” he finally says, and retreats toward his house.

Crap. He’s someone new-ish. I should have stood close enough to him to check his height against Shadow. Cole is too gentle to be my masked stalker, though. I’m probably wasting my time. Shadow is more than likely just some unhinged man with a side of morals that stumbled across the same app that I did.

I go to my closet of forgotten craft supplies and gather random items to use for my stalker identification web. A triumphant “Ah-hah!” bursts out of me when I realize I’ve finally found a use for the mini clothespins I bought on clearance ages ago. Tossing my armful of goodies onto the floor, I get to work on my detective wall, and when I’m done, I realize just how ridiculous this is.

Twine is crisscrossed across the wall with colored papers clipped to it all over. Each colorful paper has a picture taped to it with random stickers all over because I thought they were too cute and fun not to use. I printed off pictures of every single person I could think of who is in my life right now. Some of them have big red X’s on them with a thumbs-down sticker if they were too short, tall, large, or petite. I chuckle when I scan across my suspects and glance over Emily’s picture. I drew a silly mask on her face and added a knife sticker to her hand. Ryker has on a sticker bikini, Captain Pike is wearing a cowboy hat, and Ki has a warrior’s shield and sword because she’s a total badass. If anything, this was fun.

The only picture I didn’t alter is Tyler’s. I remove the puking emoji sticker from the sheet in my hands and slap it over his face. My ex, who took my requests a bit too seriously and turned it from fun to gross and unfulfilling when it became about his selfish desires. He stopped even trying to get me off, leaving me hurt, sexually frustrated, and disgusted with myself for even allowing him to touch me one more time. There’s no way he could be Shadow because he would never have stopped even if I screamed red until my throat bled. Or maybe he changed because I’m the only person who would allow him to do such depraved things without calling the police.

I slap a big arrow on his picture, and when I do, I glimpse the tattoo on his finger that I had forgotten about. Shadow always wears gloves even though it would be impossible to identify who someone is by their hands…unless they have an identifying feature like a tattoo. The next time I see my masked orgasm supplier, I’ll somehow get him to take his gloves off. That would be the dead giveaway if Shadow is Tyler. My stomach churns at the thought of seeing the black serpent when his glove is ripped off. I’d much rather it be Cole. At least he isn’t a huge douchebag. Just super persistent that I give his boring cock another go around. He could learn. Maybe brushing him off so many times made him do some research.