Page 27 of Death and Do-Overs

“Why are you following me?” I asked.

“I could ask you the same question. I take a train to a different state, and you take the one right after. Doesn’t seem like chance.” He slipped his hands into his pockets. “If this is an elaborate ploy to get my phone number, you could have asked this morning.”

I narrowed my gaze at him. Hehadbeen here before me, which was a check in his favor.

He pushed off the wall and offered me his hand. “Levi Rivers.”

I crossed my arms rather than accept his handshake.

He dropped his hand and narrowed his eyes with curiosity. “You prefer to skip past the social niceties. Interesting.”

“Like you don’t already know my name.”

“I don’t,” he said with the tilt of his head and a heavy dose of faux innocence.

“You stole my wallet and didn’t take anything, which means you were looking for information. So, I repeat, you already know who I am, where I live, and how much I weigh,Levi Rivers.”His name tasted like dirt on my tongue.

“I swear to you, I’m innocent.” He flashed a smile he clearly believed was charming.

I would not be charmed.

I dug my fingers into my upper arms. “Where did you find my wallet then?”

“On the ground by Kernel of Truth.”

That was the only possible answer that I could possibly consider believing, since that’s where I’d taken my wallet out.

“Did you buy popcorn, too?” I asked.

“I did. You think I’d go to the midnight market and not claim my kernel of truth? I’m not a monster.”

“What did it say?”

He waggled his finger. “Too personal. Would you want to share yours with me?”

Of course not. I clenched my jaw.

“I didn’t think so.” He smiled again.

And yeah, okay, he was charming. Also maybe not a thief.

I dropped my arms. “My name is Mar.”

If he was offended that I didn’t offer my last name, he didn’t show it.

“If you don’t tell me what Mar’s short for, I’m going to have to assume it’s Marshmallow,” he said.

A joke, cute. I wouldn’t laugh.

“Fine with me,” I told him flatly. It didn’t matter what he thought of me.

“All right then. What brings you to Nevermore, Marshmallow? If not to follow me.”

Like I’d divulge more than the minimum information to this suspicious stranger. I settled on sharing a benign piece of the truth. “I’m meeting a friend.”

I wasn’t sure which of us started walking first, but it seemed we’d both decided on taking this conversation on the road. Apparently, we’d also both decided on heading in the same direction.

“You know someone who lives here?” Levi’s tone suggested that was improbable.

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