Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
I sent him a text after he’d left that read: coward.
He hadn’t responded, but I hadn’t needed him to.
Instead, I’d called some movers and then pulled Dima’s credit card out of the kitchen drawer and used it to pay for them.
All of my shit would be packed up and moved for me by the end of the week.
All in all, by the time I hit the pet store, I was feeling accomplished.
I left the cats in the car with it running as I headed inside, my gaze instantly finding all the cat toys and collars.
I thought about getting them a collar, but then decided against it since I’d watched a video on social media last week on cats that pretty much pronounced that cats hated to be ‘heard’ when they were going places. And it was annoying to them to have bells and jingling collars around their throats.
Skipping the collars, I headed for the wet food and found a huge box of it on sale for an “Easter special.”
I grabbed one in each hand and headed for the checkout, startling slightly when I saw the same man from the sleep center that’d given me the creeps not too long ago.
I dropped my gaze and kept walking, heading straight for the checkout.
When I got there, I placed both boxes on the counter and called out, “Hello.”
The bored looking teen smiled at me, but didn’t otherwise comment as she checked me out.
I used my phone to pay, then surreptitiously glanced behind me to see if the weirdo from the sleep center was still there.
He was.
Right behind me, looking at the engraving machine.
I got a weird sense of unease and asked, “Hey, do you mind if I leave these boxes here? I want to keep looking.”
The teen nodded and pulled both boxes behind the counter and stacked them on the ground by her feet.
I headed back to the cat aisle and pulled out my phone.
Me:
Hey, where are you?
Dima:
I clicked on it and it pulled up my Find My app on my phone.
It went straight to Dima’s location and I breathed a sigh of relief.
He was close.
Me:
Will you come to the pet store on Newton? I see that you’re about ten minutes away.
Dima:
I’m in a meeting…but yeah. You’re gonna have to tell Shasha why I left, though. He’s glaring hard at me right now.
I grinned and switched text messages to the thread that I’ d been added to just this morning between Maven, Nastya, Dima, Shasha and all of their significant others.
Me:
Strange man is following me around the store and making me feel uncomfortable. I’m sorry that I made Dima leave.
My phone immediately started to vibrate and I answered Dima’s call.
“What’s going on?” he questioned in a deathly calm voice.
I explained quietly, knowing the man wasn’t far from earshot.
Dima’s growl was ferocious as he said, “I’ll be there in five.”
“I thought you said that you were ten minutes away?” I asked.
“I’ll be there in five,” he promised as his engine revved. “It’s gonna switch to my helmet and may sound weird, but don’t hang up.”
I didn’t, and then I heard the sound of his bike going full throttle.
My phone continued to vibrate the five minutes it took Dima to get there.
“Where are you?” he asked.
I swallowed hard and said, “I’m gonna meet you in the parking lot.”
Before he could reply, I stuffed my phone, still connected, into my purse and headed to the counter.
I smiled at the teen and said, “Thanks!”
She didn’t reply, already checking out another customer.
I glanced over my shoulder to see the man following me, but the nerves didn’t hit me as they did earlier because I could hear the whine of the bike heading toward me.
It was coming fast, and the smile couldn’t be helped as I started into the parking lot.
The bike came up from my left and then pulled in directly behind me.
I kept walking, even though I knew that the bike had stopped.
I put the cans of food into the trunk and only then looked over my shoulder to see Dima off his bike, helmet still in place, poking the man in the chest.
I got into my car to wait.
It took ten whole minutes, but then Dima joined me at my car.
I got out and looked around, then practically buried my face into Dima’s chest.
His very hard, very broad, very yummy chest.
He wrapped his arms around me and said, “You know who that guy was?”
“Actually, I have no idea,” I admitted. “Other than I know that he was a patient at the sleep center a few weeks ago.”
He stilled. “What?”
I explained everything, ending with, “That’s the first time I’ve seen him outside of the sleep center, though.”
“That’s the same guy that cleaned your windows that one time we…” he hesitated, but he didn’t need to say. “You told me his name was Cornelius Stone, though.”