Page 69 of The Stalker Snafu

“I didn’t tell you to swipe,” I grumbled. Adrian’s answering grin told me he was fully aware. And despite them being twins, I couldn’t help but notice how much nicer his smile was to look at than Rafe’s stupid face.

I tucked the phone back into my bag with a sigh. This was not going at all how I’d imagined meeting Noah’s friends.

I’d thought the photo evidence would clear things up, but Rafe was already shaking his head. “I don’t buy it. How do we know you aren’t a plant from the FBI?”

I could only stare back at him. Where had that question even come from? He sounded like a conspiracy theorist. “What are you talking about? Why the heck would I be with the FBI? I’m a college student.”

“You could’ve been sent to get more information. To find Kincaid.”

My mouth opened and closed as I searched for words. Was he on drugs? “Are you calling me a spy?”

“She’s not a spy,” Julian said in exasperation. “She’s telling the truth. You saw the pictures, and I can verify she’s dating Kincaid.”

“You can?” Adrian and Rafe both echoed doubtfully.

“I’ve seen them here together,” Julian confirmed, but I was still a little stuck on being accused of both stalking and spying on them. Was this an everyday occurrence for these guys, or was it just the male ego talking? “I don’t know why he was trying to hide her from us, but⁠—”

“Wait a second. You knew about her, and you didn’t tell the rest of us?” Rafe asked with a bite to his tone. The scowl returned with a vengeance. “What the hell, Julian?”

Julian pursed his lips, giving Rafe the telltale look to cool his jets. “Kincaid swore me to secrecy, and you know how big of a deal that is to him. It seemed important.”

“I don’t buy it,” Rafe argued, something I was beginning to find quite predictable. “Why would he keep her a secret? He must’ve been suspicious of her. She could be a job.”

I scowled. Who the heck would call a girlfriend a job?

“She’s not a spy,” Julian repeated louder. “Or a job.”

Rafe refused to budge. “We don’t know that yet.”

“We do,” Julian assured him just as stubbornly.

“How?” I asked, not wanting to push the subject but also confused on how Julian could be so sure. Unless he could read minds.

Julian paused for a moment before answering, but his face didn’t betray any of his thoughts. “Remember the night we met? When you and Kincaid were here watching that panda documentary or whatever?”

I nodded as Rafe shook his head.

“Kincaid watched a panda documentary?” he muttered under his breath.

I wasn’t about to tell him we’d been making out during most of it.

“I ran a background check on you that night right after I left,” Julian admitted, completely unapologetic.

I blinked, not understanding. “You what?”

“I did it to be safe,” he answered quickly, not looking the least bit troubled that he’d invaded my privacy in a really major way. “It’s not like Kincaid to hide things from us, and I was worried about my friend.”

“What right do you have to run a background check on me?” I asked, having trouble keeping my jaw off the floor. “You’re not my employer! You’re not my landlord. That can’t be legal. What the heck?”

Julian frowned, which I mimicked when he shared an uneasy glance with Adrian.

“Emma, what did Kincaid tell you he does for a living?” Adrian asked me.

I hesitated, looking around the room at their wary faces. “Oh, no. No, no, no. I’m not falling for that. You tell me what he does, then I’ll tell you what he told me.”

Julian sighed and rubbed his jaw. “I can’t do that.”

“But you’re saying he does something where it’s normal to run background checks on his girlfriends?” I asked pointedly. “And you said you ran it, not the police.”