Page 32 of Tangled in His Game

Wow, so he’s really stalking me again.

Great.

I check the photo I took, but of course Victor got lucky and it’s blurry. The shape is there, but I’d never in a billion years prove that it was him.

I push the cart, trying to catch him by surprise, but I can’t find him. Somehow, he’s amazing at avoiding me.

I don’t know what he’s trying to achieve, but I’m mad. I’m so furious I want to punch him. Maybe I should leave the store and wait for him outside. But I doubt he’d give me an explanation. Actually, he’d probably ask someone to let him out through another exit.

But maybe there’s something I can do. This is my neighborhood, not his. I know how to move around better than him.

But first I need to grab some more things, and then I can put my plan into action.

***

MY BAGS ARE HEAVY,and I grunt as I carry them. Walking slower would make things easier for me, especially if I rested, but I need to be fast. Victor is right behind me. I can feel his gaze on me.

The street is only lit up with dim lights and there aren’t many people. It’s exactly what I need. I round the corner and press myself against the wall. The streetlight above me doesn’t work, like always, and it’s perfect. Victor won’t see me.

I take a quick peek around the corner. He’s striding right toward me. I take a deep breath. It’s a good thing there aren’t any cars because I can hear Victor’s steady footsteps coming closer.

Before he can round the corner or see me, I jump out in front of him and throw my bags at him. He yelps, his hood falling off his head as he ends up on the ground. The cans I bought clatter. A glass bottle breaks, its contents spilling everywhere. Some oranges roll over the ground.

“Fuck!” Victor shouts, reaching out for his ankle. “What the fuck did you do?”

He glares at me, but there’s absolute panic in his eyes, and I love it.

I don’t say anything, just start collecting my groceries that survived and are still usable.

“I twisted my fucking ankle because of you.” Victor winces as he tries to stand up.

“Good.” I give him a wide smile. “Now stop following me and leave me the fuck alone.”

I grab my bags and walk away from him. As I glance over my shoulder, I see him grimacing and limping.

My plan worked better than I’d expected. I didn’t mean to hurt him, just confront him. But if his ankle is really twisted, then he won’t be able to follow me easily, unless he sends someone else after me.

He won’t be playing hockey either. If he’s smart enough, he’ll leave me alone. I can’t stop grinning on my way home. It feels so damn good to finally make him pay for everything.

Missing out on his precious hockey games will hurt him the most. I hope he’ll realize that chasing and terrorizing a random girl is a waste of time when he has more important things to worry about.

Even if he gets mad at me and wants revenge, I don’t see how it’ll be different from anything he’s already been doing to me. Maybe he snaps in front of everyone, and it’ll be easier for me to report him because there’ll be plenty of witnesses.

I don’t know if things will go in my favor, but someone needs to tell Victor to stop messing with me. If he thinks he’s the only one who can do damage, he’s wrong. I can hurt him too.

***

IWAIT FOR THE NEWSof Victor’s injury to break all over social media, but there’s nothing. Huh. I’m pretty sure Victor couldn’t walk, and judging by the look in his eyes, he wasn’t pretending to be in pain.

Usually, guys who play sports like he does can tell when their pain is probably something minor and when it’s serious, or at least that’s what my dad told me. He used to play soccer all the way through college until he started having some serious trouble with his knee.

Is it possible that I’m so unlucky that Victor is perfectly fine? I can’t believe it. Unless Emberwell doesn’t want everyone to know that their main star is injured because they want people to come to the game anyway.

But people talk about Victor all the time. Someone would find out about his injury, or maybe not. Maybe no one knows except his closest friends, and they’re not going to tell anyone yet.

I scroll through some more posts. The team even posted a list of available players for the next game, and Victor is on it.

I huff as I lean back in my chair. That guy is undefeatable, isn’t he? Or maybe he’s really that good of an actor and he made me believe he was hurt. Maybe he expected I’d be worried about him or try to help him, and then he planned to do who knows what.

---