Page 21 of The Stalker Snafu

I snorted, keeping my focus on my new foe. “I would hardly classify this sad excuse of a writing tool as a pen. It’s more like a piece of plastic taking up space in my backpack until it ends up in a landfill someday.”

Someday very soon, now that I’d seen what real pens were like.

Noah’s answering sigh was one of resignation. “I had no idea Hannah would go to your head so radically.”

“Her name is Henrietta!”

“Right,” he muttered, brows raised. He gestured to our tree. “Can I help? I have a pocketknife.”

“Yes, please.” I scooted aside, brushing stray pieces of bark off my shorts. Noah expertly wielded his nifty little pocketknife as he carved out the rest of the lopsided heart I’d started.

Whoa, his knife sliced through bark so easily. Maybe he’d let me borrow it? Never mind that I still owed him a replacement pen.

Then Noah did one even better by carving N + E in the center of the heart.

It was a good thing I was already sitting, because I may have swooned just a teensy bit.

“Perfect.” I beamed, admiring our handiwork. “Take that, lovebirds.”

Noah looked sideways at me. “Do I want to know?”

“Probably not,” I admitted, scratching my nose. It’d been itching all day. “But at least other couples will think twice now before stealing our tree.”

I spared a glance around the quad, a habit after finding that potential hit man watching me. I still had no idea why he was stalking me of all people. Had I unknowingly gotten mixed up with the mob? Did he have the wrong person? I’d never gotten so much as a parking ticket before.

“Is something wrong? You seem distracted,” Noah said when I did another scan of the grounds. “You know you don’t need to worry about someone taking over our tree while we’re sitting here, right?”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not. I’m just checking if we’re being watched.”

Amusement lit Noah’s gaze when I glanced at him. “Watched?”

I leaned over the books between us and grabbed his cup of coffee. Sharing was caring, plus mine was already empty. “Yeah, something strange is going on. A guy was following me around campus on Wednesday.”

“Someone followed you?” Noah frowned as I tried to take a sip, but there were only a few precious drops left at the bottom of the cup. Probably for the best, since black coffee was still technically the devil.

“Yeah. Can we take a quick trip to the coffee cart? I’m thirsty.” I held up the empty cup and shook it. Noah’s frown didn’t let up, but he collected our bags, and we got to our feet. He even swung my backpack over his shoulder at the same time he took my hand, and the butterflies in my stomach might’ve melted just a little as I squeezed his back.

“What do you mean some guy followed you?” Noah asked again.

I shrugged, tugging him forward so we could at least start moving toward the delicious scent of coffee. “Well, I’ve noticed someone watching me a few times now, and I thought I was just paranoid. But then I tested him by walking around and switching directions. If I moved, he did too.”

Noah’s lips parted, but no words came out.

“I think he might be with the mob,” I added helpfully, just making sure he had all the facts as we walked. “Not sure, but he had the look.”

“And which look is that?”

“You know… dark and dangerous. Muscles. Tattoos. Big enough to be on the football team.”

Noah frowned, but otherwise didn’t seem too concerned as his thumb rubbed the back of my hand.

“I’m actually kind of surprised you aren’t freaking out more,” I admitted after a beat. “There could be a creepy stalker following us right this moment.”

“I’m concerned, but I want to make sure I’m understanding correctly,” Noah said slowly. “Any guesses why he was following you?”

I shrugged. “He didn’t speak English, so I have no clue.”

“Wait.” Noah stopped walking, and his grip on my hand pulled me to a halt beside him. His gaze sharpened. “How do you know he didn’t speak English?”