Chastity, Madison, and I snuck off to a conference room with the biggest glass table I’d ever seen. It looked like the sort of table I’d try to stupidly hide behind. Chastity pulled the blinds closed and locked the door. “Tell us everything. And don’t you dare leave out any details. Single Girl Rule #9: If you hear about a well-hung man, share the news.”
I told them every detail of my evening, rating the men on the app as I described each apartment. Chastity agreed Ocelot looked gay, and Madison made some comment reminding us that it was totally okay to be gay. The rest of the guys were a mixed bag. The gym bro was good-looking, but as soon as I described how douchey he was, their opinions of him quickly changed. Chastity was particularly interested in the two well-endowed men that almost double-teamed me.
Anyway, I didn’t really care about all that. I couldn’t wait to show them my stalker.
“So that part of the date was okay,” I said, “but the last part was amazing. I met my stalker!”
“And this was the same guy who you threw the pie at?” asked Chastity. “The one that you’re stalking.”
How many times did we need to go over this? “I’m not stalking him. And I didn’t throw it at him. I accidentally nudged it onto him. But yes, him. His apartment was everything. I wish you could have seen it.” I started describing the furniture and the kitchen and the great room. And then I told them about the FBI raid and the zipline and the gyros. And how the FBI was fake and that Ryder was really bad at segues but how we kept almost kissing and he liked weird movies and gah! It had been the perfect night.
“So wait…you didn’t bang him?” asked Chastity when I was finished.
“Really?” I asked. “I tell you that I ziplined through the middle of the city and all you can ask is if I slept with him? I’m barely alive right now.”
Chastity shrugged. “I mean, clearly you survived so it couldn’t have been that eventful. You didn’t answer my question, though.”
“No, I didn’t bang him. He was a perfect gentleman. Well, except when he took that selfie of me with my boob out.”
“Can I see?” asked Madison.
“You want to see her boob selfie?” asked Chastity.
“What? No. I want to see the picture of him.”
Suuure.“It was on his phone. But here’s a pic of him.” I hit submit on my very unfavorable ratings of the rude Indian guy and waited for Ryder’s picture to pop up. But it didn’t. The app just went to a black screen that said, “Thank you for your ratings!” in big white letters. “What the hell? Why wasn’t I asked to rate Ryder?”
Stalker Problems - Chapter 22 - Tanner Rhodes
Wednesday – April 12, 2023
I stared at my phone in disbelief. Ryder’s picture should have popped up. Where the hell was it?!
Chastity and Madison both gave me a skeptical look.
“I swear I met him,” I said. “It must just be a weird glitch.”He is real, right? Or had all the stress about my new job made me hallucinate meeting my stalker?I had certainly imagined meeting him before, but it had never felt real like this.
“Honestly, your whole description of the date sounded really weird,” said Chastity. “And not sexually weird. Just plain weird. You made it all up, didn’t you? I mean, Single Girl Rule #7: Pics or it didn’t happen. And I see no pics.”
“But…” I was going to plead my case further when someone knocked on the door.
Chastity unlocked it and let the rest of the team in.
“All set for the presentation?” asked Bee.
Chastity nodded. “We are.”
“I knew you could do it. Good job.” She took a seat near the front of the room.
Her husband, Mason Caldwell, walked in a moment later. Yes, Caldwell. He was Matthew Caldwell’s older brother. And he looked so much like his younger brother. It gave me the heebie-jeebies. Not because he was ugly. In fact, he was scorching. But him looking so similar to Matthew reminded me ofthe incident. Luckily for me, though, I’d never set Mason’s dick on fire.Oh my God, don’t think about the incident at a time like this!
Mason gave us a nod and then pecked Bee on the cheek before sitting down beside her.
I began to wonder if Matt had told Mason what had happened. Hell, he might have even told Bee. How many people knew aboutthe incident?! I stared at the glass windows that encircled the whole conference room. I should just fling myself out of one…
But then Mr. Rhodes and his posse arrived. A fit woman in a pencil skirt came in first, then a few guys. And then someone who could only be Tanner Rhodes took a seat at the head of the table. Chastity was right. He was super-hot with his glasses and five o’clock shadow and longish hair pushed to one side with the sides buzzed. He was almost as hot as my stalker. In fact, he looked a lot like my stalker. Like…a lot a lot.Wait a second.I blinked and it felt like my throat was closing up. Hewasmy stalker. I immediately ducked to hide behind the table. The glass table. Again.Fuck my life.Why was I even hiding? It wasn’t like I had just thrown a blueberry pie in his face.
I tossed my pen on the ground and pretended like I was crouching down to pick it up. I snuck a glance at him through the glass table. Had he noticed me yet?
