Page 25

I’m not inviting her as some favor, I want to hang out with her. It’s an added bonus that this will be mutually beneficial. They’ll see this isn’t weird when the time comes. Well, until they notice I’m not drinking. I have no idea what made me tell Anna I was sober. I think I was so focused on removing any reservations she had to attend that I panicked and said it. Whoops.

“Wait a minute . . .” Logan says.

Shit, now what?

“Uh-huh.” Thor agrees with Logan, nodding, then adds, “How do you know she needs to get out of the house?”

We set the wooden slab down and I shrug. “She told me.”

“She told you,” Logan deadpans back to me.

Maybe not verbally, but with her actions and color-coordinated calendar she did.

Thor huffs out a laugh, breaking the silence. “He’s totally stalking her.”

“‘Stalking’ is such a dirty word,” I say, and this time I climb into the truck bed first and help unload the tabletop. If they’re going to be dicks about it, then they can carry the next one. “I’m providing a vital service that identifies weak spots in her home security.”

“Ah yes, your specialty,” Thor says. “I don’t have the energy to make sense of that.”

Probably a good idea. “Then don’t.”

“No, I’m curious,” Logan says, shaking his head. “Are you putting up cameras?”

I give him a pointed look. “God, no! That would be a huge invasion of privacy.”

Thor barks out a laugh.

“So what, you’re breaking and entering?” Logan continues.

Technically, I don’t need to enter her quarters anymore—at least not now that I have a viewing window . . . “No.”

“That was too long a pause, it must be bad.” Logan sets the heavy piece down and points a judgmental finger at me. “Stop being fuckin’ weird.”

“Whoa. First of all, this is starting to feel like an attack on my protective instincts for others,” I say. “Second, the world needs more weird. The war on weird has gone on long enough.”

Thor’s brows furrow. “Why stalk her, though?”

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I told you, it’s not stalking.”

“Are you tracking her?” Logan asks.

“Tracking her what?” Her location? Her calendar? Her jogging route? Her period? He’s going to need to be more specific if he wants me to answer that.

“Are you watching her without her knowing? Are you concealing yourself?” Logan asks. I can tell he’s growing tired of me, but he’s the one conducting this interrogation.

“Of course I am, I don’t want to scare her. Do you want her scared? That’s sick, dude.”

“You’re sick.”

“It’s only stalking if she finds out,” I reply defensively.

They both shake their heads.

“He’s tracking her,” Thor mutters.

“I’m observant,” I clarify. “It’s not my fault we have similar hobbies!”

“Such as?” Logan prods.