Page 58 of The Stalker Snafu

Exhale.

Don’t give in to the temptation to throw your Music Theory textbook out the window.

Just breathe.

Teresa hadn’t even been gone thirty seconds before a series of knocks rattled the door. I groaned, moving my arm and lifting my head high enough to spot her dorm key lying on her bed.

“Forgot it autolocked, you dork?” I called, rolling my eyes as I lugged myself off the bed. Everything hurt. “I thought I was supposed to be the blonde one.”

I swung the door open, freezing on the spot when I found a soaking wet Noah Kincaid hunched in the doorway. His chest heaved with labored breaths, hand braced against the doorjamb. Droplets of water fell from his drenched hair, clinging to thick lashes, and mud covered his nice leather shoes.

My eyes narrowed, and I brushed off the shock long enough to slam the door in his face⁠—

—but not quickly enough, because he wedged his foot between the door and its frame.

Noah grunted at the impact, grabbing the door. I pushed back, shoving with every bit of my noodle-armed strength, but it didn’t move an inch in his iron hold. “Just— Wait, Emma.”

I eyed his white-knuckled grip on the door. This was futile. Letting go of the knob, I backed off a step and crossed my arms.

Then I stared at Noah.

It rankled that just the sight of him made my heart do stupid things like pitter-patter. I didn’t even get to take petty vengeance in watching him catch his breath, because everything that had hurt a moment ago turned numb.

I waited as the seconds ticked by until Noah stood to his full height and tugged the knot of his bow tie until it pulled loose. The cold of the rain emanated from him. He took a measured breath, meeting my gaze. “I’m sorry.”

I blinked, not having expected a straight apology. Not that it did any good. “I really don’t want to see you right now.”

“I know, but there’s more going on here than you know⁠—”

“What exactly are you sorry for, then?” I asked, hearing the bite in my voice. “Lying? Or getting caught?”

He wiped his hair back from his forehead, and the solemn look in his eyes made my skin prickle. “I’m sorry I broke your trust.”

Yeah, that pretty much hit the nail on the head.

“I swear I only wanted to protect you,” he added, stepping closer. My lips twisted, and I barely held back a snort.

“Protect me?” I echoed, voice going high-pitched as I dug my feet into the carpet to stop myself from attacking his sorry face. “You lied to protect me? Bullshit.”

I hated the taste of the curse on my tongue, but I was struggling to express exactly how foolish he’d made me feel.

I caught the smallest flinch before Noah shook his head. His eyes hardened. “It’s true. You don’t know what type of people were at that party. They’re dangerous.”

I scoffed. He did not want to go there. “Really? Because I’ve got a different theory. It sounds more like you were too embarrassed of me to take me to a fancy party with you, so you lied and said you were on a business trip across the country. No need to make up more lies about dangerous people.”

His brow rose at that like I’d honestly surprised him. “Embarrassed of you…?”

Okay, maybe I’d been wrong. But I still didn’t want to talk to him.

“You should go,” I said, shifting my weight and nodding toward the hallway behind him.

“I’m not embarrassed of you, Emma. My job’s just not as simple as I said it was,” Noah said, very noticeably not leaving. He lowered his voice. “There are people involved—dangerous people—and if I told you the truth, it’d put you in danger. I won’t do that to you. I would never risk you.”

“Well, lying to me was a pretty big risk.” I shrugged. I didn’t know what to believe, but it felt like my sanity was barely holding on by a thread. Noah being here wasn’t helping. “I’d really like you to leave now.”

He watched me for a long moment before his lips thinned and he leaned closer.

“I’m not manipulating you. I’m not your parents.”