Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 61576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
I feel like I’m starting to spiral. I knew my feelings for her were intense and only growing steadily with each day, but I didn’t realize just how intense they were until she was out of reach.
Ryan and Logan are still playing darts back at the bar, but I left early. I went out to get my mind off Sadie, and it worked for a bit, but I was still too distracted. I just feel like I have to do something. I don’t know what that something is, though.
Part of me wants to do some big dramatic gesture and just go over to her work and surprise her. But I’m not even sure she would like that, and I don’t want to push her any further away than she already is.
With a heavy sigh, I turn to go inside, but that’s when I see it: a man creeping around the front lawn of Sadie’s house.
He’s moving like he definitely doesn’t belong there, and he’s dressed like he doesn’t even belong in this town. His jeans are all full of holes, and he’s wearing a ratty old sweatshirt with the words Las Vegas printed on the front. When he sees me, he immediately turns away and pretends to walk away down the sidewalk.
“Hey!” I call out, walking quickly after him. He glances back at me over his shoulder. I can see his brain working, debating whether he should run or talk to me. Thankfully for him, he chooses not to run. Because if he had, he’d have been in a world of trouble.
“Yeah? Hi?” He sounds nervous as hell. “How are you?”
“Me?” I almost laugh. “I’m fine. How are you?”
He shrugs and scratches the back of his head. “Fine, ya know. I’m fine. Good.”
He’s trying to play it cool, but even the most naïve person in the world could see this guy is up to something.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“My name?” he asks slowly, as if he needs some time to think on that one. “Uh, H-Howard.”
“Howard, huh? Well, Howard, what are you doing here?”
Howard sort of shrugs. “I used to live here, actually. This used to be my house.”
Yeah, this guy’s full of shit. He looks like he’s somewhere in his 30s but has been doing some very hard living. There’s no way this guy used to live here unless this is Sadie’s ex-husband, and I just can’t picture her with this guy at all.
He must be a junkie, either from the city or from downtown, who’s wandered into the neighborhood.
“Sure you did, pal,” I scoff.
“I did,” he protests. “Sadie lives here, right?”
My chest instantly goes tight, and my fists clench up at my sides.
“What did you just say?” I ask, my voice low.
“I need to talk to Sadie,” he says.
Who the hell is this guy? Some kind of stalker or something?
He takes a few steps forward, angling to get around me and up to the house. I immediately step in front of him, blocking his path.
“You’re not going up there, pal,” I snarl, ready to react at a moment’s notice.
Howard takes a step back. He must see in my eyes that I’m not fucking around, because I can see him contemplating his options once again.
Every instinct I have in me is telling me to subdue this creep, to grab him, pin his arms behind his back, incapacitate him, and turn him over to law enforcement. The only problem is there’s really nothing to suspect him of right now other than being a creeper.
“Wh-who do you think you are, man?” he asks, raising his voice at me. “I used to live there!” He points over my shoulder at Sadie’s house and puffs up his chest. I guess he’s trying to be threatening, but it’s not working.
“I’m the guy who’s telling you how it is,” I reply. “So you can either walk away now, or you can find out what happens when you don’t. I would highly suggest option one.”
My protective instincts are at an all-time high. Sadie may be at work right now, but I still don’t want this son of a bitch anywhere near her house. I don’t want him near anything associated with her.
His eyes flicker from the house to me then back again. Finally, he lowers his arm and nods, but I can still see a danger in his gaze.
“Okay, Mr. Bigshot,” he says. “I see Sadie’s gone and got herself a bodyguard. Well, you can tell her Howard says hi for me, okay? Tell her Howard and Tiffany say hi, and that Tiffany’s pussy is way tighter than hers ever was!”
And with that, Howard spins around and starts to sprint away down the sidewalk.
“What the fuck…?” I mutter.
I watch until he’s completely out of sight and wait several minutes to make sure he doesn’t come back before I go back to my car.