“Rom-coms arenotstupid,” I say. “They’re a staple of modern entertainment, and if you don’t see that, maybeyou’restupid.”
Tessa laughs. In the background, I can tell she’s turned on the TV. It sounds like she’s watching yet another horror flick. What she sees in those, I’ll never understand.
“All right, well I’ll be back in less than five,” I say. “So turn off your Frankenstein movie and pull upLegally Blonde. It’s time for you?—”
I cut off.
I have the inexplicable sensation that I'm being watched. I tighten my hold on the takeout bags before doing a slow rotation, taking in the streets around me. Winters in Aberlena are bleak and dreary, so it’s not unusual for it to be dark at five fifteen in the evening.
Itisunusual for me to feel unsettled by that. Aberlena is a small town, and though I haven’t checked, I bet it’s got one of the lowest crime rates in Washington.
I study the shadows of the nearby subdivision. There’s no one here, and certainly no one who’s watching me. I’m completely alone.
“Hello? Grace?” Tessa asks. “Did you hang up on me? Because if you did, that’s a real bitch?—”
“I’m still here,” I say. My voice shakes, and it’s honestly embarrassing. If Tessa knew I was out here freaking out overnothing, she’d roast me. And yet, I still find myself saying, “I thought I heard something. Stay on the phone with me until I get back. Okay?”
“Heard something?” Tessa repeats, her voice drawling. “You’re literally outside, Grace. You’re probably hearing all sorts of new sounds. Cars and birds…maybe even people.”
I tune her out and start walking again, keeping the bags close at my sides. The apartment building is visible. Less than three minutes, and I’ll be home. Tessa will make fun of me for being scared by the outside world. She’ll tell me I gotsomething about her order wrong. We’ll watch Legally Blonde, and everything will be fine.
My heart thumps harder, faster. The hairs on my arms and neck prickle, until I stop walking again. No one there.
Of course no one’s there. I’m just freaking crazy.
“If I have to stay on the phone, you at least have to entertain me,” Tessa goes on. “Otherwise?—”
I don’t hear the rest of what she’s saying. One moment, I’m clutching my phone and these stupid bags of takeout, and the next, I’m empty handed.
The Chinese food splatters across the sidewalk, and my phone is simplygone. I stare at my hands in shock, blinking rapidly from my trembling fingers to the broken boxes at my feet.
I lift my gaze.
Sebastian stands five feet from me, his handsome face tilted in a mix of frustration and amusement. He holds my phone in his hand, and with a taunting grin, he hangs up on Tessa.
“What—”
That’s as far as I get. The word hangs in the air and silence swells around me. Sebastian, the random hot guy—theasshole—from Barco’s has my phone. He has my phone, and he just threw all my takeout food across the sidewalk.
“That was expensive,” I snap. It’s an instinctual response, but my confidence is fleeting. I take a small step backward, stomach dropping when Sebastian echoes the movement, only stepping closer. “Were you following me?”
He doesn’t immediately reply. He puts my phone in his pocket and again steps toward me, dodging the spilled Chinese food. His eyes are narrowed, calculating. He looks like an animal, like a starved predator who has stumbled upon vulnerable prey.
I swallow, and his gaze flickers to my throat, as if he’s heard it.
“What do you want?” I ask. I take slow steps backward, eyes flickering at my surroundings. We’re alone right now, but this isn’t an isolated area. Anyone could walk by, so he wouldn’t risk attacking me.
Right? Right. Absolutely.
I’m still searching for help, for an escape, for anything, when I step off the curb. I wasn’t paying close enough attention, and my entire body lurches. The heel of my shoe snaps and I flail for the ground.
Only I don’t hit it.
There’s a dizzying blur of movement. It’s too much for me to process. Sebastian. Wind. Flashing colors. A jolting drop in my stomach.
I don’t realize I’ve closed my eyes until I stop moving.
I blink, cracking one eye open before the other. My heart pinches as I take in my surroundings, which have inexplicably changed. Only moments ago, I was a few minutes from my apartment. And now, without taking a single step, I am blocks away. I can see the Chinese restaurant from here, its neon sign flickering against the dark sky. I’m almost back to the grocery store where I interviewed.
