Making my way along the sidewalk, passing numbered doors, I grew giddy with excitement. I almost jumped out of my skin when a figure stepped out of the darkness in front of me.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Stray’s low voice sent chills down my spine.
It took me a moment to recover and gather myself. He stood on the sidewalk in front of me, blocking my path. What was he even doing here?
“That’s none of your damn business. How did you find me? Are you following me?” I injected pure venom into my tone.
“Are you here to meet someone?” he asked, ignoring my questions.
The one flickering parking lot light slanted across his face, giving me a great view of the sinister expression he wore. My feelings were conflicted. Something about Stray following me, stalking me, pissed me off. What gave him the right? At the sametime, knowing that he’d been watching me fed my need for a dangerous high.
Still, this man didn’t own me. He needed to stop acting like he did.
“Maybe. Maybe you don’t need to know everything about me, Stray. I’m a grown ass woman. If I want to go out, I will. Go away.” I made as if to shove by him.
He moved with me, making sure to continuously block my forward progress. Finally, I grew frustrated and reached in my purse. Maybe a little pepper spray would chase him off.
“Don’t even think about it.” He caught my arm before I could withdraw the spray. “Today was nothing compared to how hard I’ll spank your ass if you spray that shit in my face. Who are you meeting, Codie?”
“Nobody. You don’t need to know. Leave me alone before I call the police.” An empty threat at best. The problem was that he knew it too.
“Go right ahead. I’m sure they would love to know who you’re meeting here as well.” Being the arrogant jerk he was, Stray pulled out his own phone and held it out to me.
“It’s not a crime for two consenting adults to meet at a motel,” I snapped. “Now get out of my way. You’re going to make me late.”
Stray’s amused chuckle angered me further. “All right. Let’s go see who’s waiting for you. Which room is it?”
He caught my wrist, dragging me along the sidewalk next to him. I did my best to resist. This egotistical asshole was going to ruin everything.
“I’m not telling you shit.” Wearing heels made it impossible to stop. I was forced to keep up with him so I didn’t trip and fall on my face.
“Then I guess I’ll have to try every door until we find our mystery guy.” Stray jerked to a stop at the next door we reached.
The thought of him banging on every single door until he found my hookup was horrifying. This was already embarrassing enough without him bringing the entire motel into it.
“Room twenty-one,” I spat. “You really have a lot of nerve coming here. I’m an adult. I don’t need your permission to meet someone for adult activity.”
Stray made a noise of disgust mixed with disbelief. “After what I caught you doing last weekend, I’d say you do. You’re reckless, strawberry. So reckless I’d almost think you had a death wish.”
“Oh please,” I scoffed. “That’s a bit extreme.”
“Everything about you is a bit extreme. I like it. But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to sit back and watch you do something stupid. Not when you could get your kicks with me.” Like a man on a mission, Stray kept going, stopping only when he reached room twenty-one.
He paused long enough to open the camera on his phone and start recording a video. Before I could speak or react in any way, he violently kicked open the motel room door.
My jaw dropped. Inside the room, spread out on the bed, was a naked man. A much older naked man. I wasn’t one to body shame though his appearance was less than attractive. Even more worrisome were the handcuffs on the bed next to him.
I’d known this was a chance I was taking which was why I’d come prepared with pepper spray. Something about having Stray witness this moment made it all come crashing down with startling clarity.
I had a problem. A problem that was spiraling out of control as it placed me in increasingly dangerous situations.
The man on the bed shouted in surprise. Stray entered the room with his phone held up to record. As the man leapt off the bed, Stray punched him hard in the face. The man went down, splayed out on the floor with his unmentionables on display.
“If I ever find you anywhere near this woman, I will fucking kill you.” Stray stood over the man, daring him to get up.
“I didn’t know she was with anyone,” the man shouted. “I don’t want any trouble.”
Absolutely humiliated, I turned around and ran back toward my car. I felt Stray behind me, quickly closing the distance between us. If I could get in the car and lock the door, I wouldn’t have to face him.
