Page 60 of Ruin Me Gently

I pulled my phone back out again, typing as I walked.

Silas

No.

She glanced at her screen, then right back at me. She didn’t believe me. Didn’t blame her, honestly.

She veered toward a convenience store without so much as a glance in my direction. I leaned back against another lamppost, settling in as she disappeared inside.

Patience. I had plenty of it.

A few minutes later, the door swung open, and she stepped back out with a bag in her hands. She took two steps before stopping dead in her tracks.

“Oh,come on!”she shouted, exasperation dripping from every syllable.

A couple of passersby glanced between us, but I didn’t move, didn’t react, just tilted my head slightly like I had no idea what she was talking about.

She groaned, shifting the bags, and picked up her pace.

I matched it.

She walked faster.

So did I.

Then, out of nowhere, she darted down a narrow side street.

My stomach dropped.

No. No, no, no.

My fingers fumbled with my phone, sweat slicking against the screen.

Silas

Don’t do that. It’s not safe.

For a beat, nothing. My nerves twisted, cold and tight.

Where the fuck did she go?

Then her figure reappeared at the corner, and my muscles uncoiled so quickly I almost fell flat on the concrete.

She was glaring at me, a solid scowl set firmly in place.

It was impressive really. If looks could kill, I’d be a headline.‘Local Man Stalks Wrong Woman, Mysteriously Disappears.’No headstone, no eulogy—just a cautionary tale about a guy who crossed the line and got exactly what was coming to him.

Despite that thought, I couldn’t stop. I arched a brow, half expecting her to hurl her bag across the road, right at my head. Frankly, I wouldn’t have blamed her.

She huffed and kept walking.

If she kept frowning like that, she was going to give herself permanent wrinkles. Not that she didn’t look cute pissed off. Not that I should be thinking that.

Shut the hell up, Silas.

I shouldn’t have been doing this though. I knew that. Knew it in the same way I knew that fire was hot and knives were sharp and gravity was just another force, indifferent to whether I landed gracefully or flat on my face.

But my body stayed level with hers as my feet kept moving.

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