Page 64 of Stay With Me

“Yes,” Shayna says. “Well, Trina hates him. We don’t think Ben hates her. Right, Em?”

Our eyes are still glued to the situation playing out on Annie’s sidewalk. Trina and Ben, squaring off in what appears to be a heated disagreement. And a random woman standing off to the side.

“Yeah. Except I didn’t tell you guys, but they actually showed up at my house together a few weeks ago.”

Shayna whips around to face me. “What?” Her eyes look like they’re going to bulge out of her head.

I shrug. “I had a lot going on with getting the house on the market and everything else. I forgot. But something weird is definitely going on.”

Apparently, Janie—Annie’s best friend and maid of honor—has had enough because she sticks her head out of the party bus and yells, “Let’s go. We’re gonna be late to our first stop if you continue this lovers’ quarrel.”

Trina turns her head to glare at Janie so fast, I swear she looks possessed.

“You don’t scare me, Trina. Move it,” Janie sasses.

“Damn, she’s so brave.” I can’t help but laugh.

A minute later, a very pissed off Trina, her lips curled and her facial expression tight, stomps her way onto the bus, followed by the woman who was standing with her and Ben.

“Everyone, this is Rachel. She’s an off-duty police officer. Because apparently Ben Donley is bossy as shit and thinks we need a protective detail tonight.”

Poor Rachel just nods her head and gives a half wave to everyone before she sits down.

Trina makes her way to where Annie, Shayna, and I are sitting and plants herself in a seat. She pulls out her phone and types, her fingertips pounding into the screen so hard that I’m surprised she doesn’t crack it.

I assume she’s sending a text message, and she mutters to herself while jerking her head angrily side to side. I can’t quite make out what she’s saying, but whoever is on the receiving end of that text—Ben, I would guess—is likely getting reamed.

Annie, Shayna, and I look at each other, and I shrug. None of us are saying anything. Shayna mouthsask herto me.

I clear my throat. “Tri? This is weird. What’s going on? First, you show up at my house with Ben. Now he shows up here with a police escort for us.”

“Yeah, and Finn said there are some additional security measures being taken at the fire station,” Shayna chimes in.

I didn’t know that, and it escalates my worry rather than appeases it.

Trina huffs and puts down her phone, then turns to us.

“Don’t freak out,” she warns. She looks at me as if she’s waiting for me to agree before continuing.

“Um, okay. But telling me not to freak out is exactly the kind of thing that makes me think you’re gonna tell me something I should freak out about.”

She rolls her eyes at me. “It’s nothing, really. Just some weirdo who I must have run into on a call or something and now he’s acting a little obsessed.”

“What? You have a stalker?” Shayna hisses.

Trina sighs. “I do not have a stalker. More like a secret admirer.”

I hear Rachel snort from her seat and if Trina could do it, I swear her glare at the back of Rachel’s head would catch the woman’s hair on fire.

“Okay, fine. Whoever it is has gotten a bit more… aggressive and explicit in the messages they’ve been sending. So, Ben is working the case and just trying to do one more thing to annoy me, as per usual.” As an afterthought, she looks over at Shayna. “No offense. I know he’s your brother.”

“None taken. Both my brothers can be annoying,” Shayna responds.

“Hey. One of those annoying brothers is my fiancé,” Annie protests.

“Excuse me!” They stop their back and forth and look at me. “Can we please get back to the part where my sister said she has an ‘aggressive and explicit’ creeper after her to where Ben is worried enough to send a police officer with us?” The fear in my voice is palpable.

Trina sighs deeply. “This is exactly why I told him Rachel shouldn’t come. It would just make everyone nervous. Em, I promise you I’m fine. I’m being safe and I’m sure the guy is some harmless weirdo living in his mom’s basement and he’ll never actually seek me out. Now, please, can we just enjoy the night?”

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