Page 96 of Lights Out

I grinned. That sounded like something Josh would do.

“You have no idea what kind of nightmare he escaped from,” Tyler said. “That he still lives. News agencies and media outlets are constantly trying to track him and Maria down for interviews. It’s made him a paranoid recluse, and it’s been evenworse since that documentary came out this summer. He barely left the house before you two started seeing each other.”

“Why?” I asked, confused.

“You really don’t like true crime, do you?” Tyler said, fishing his phone from his pocket. “Josh looks exactly like his dad.”

He pulled something up on his phone and slid it across the island toward me. I picked it up and, holy shit. He was right. Their hair might have been different, and Josh’s skin was darker, but aside from that, the men were identical.

No, wait.

I leaned in, studying the serial killer’s eyes. Those were different, too. They were that weird dead/alive combo, like the other killer I’d met, like Brad’s, with none of the warmth and humor I regularly saw from Josh. I scrolled down from the photo and quickly scanned the attached article. Josh’s dad was right up there with Bundy and Dahmer when it came to the horror of their crimes, and I could only imagine what life must have been like with him as a parent.

I handed the phone back to Tyler.

He slid it into his pocket and studied me over the top of his mug. “Josh has to know things, Aly. Feeling safe is important to him, and keeping the people he cares about safe is even more so. If you’re going to be with him, you’ll have to accept that he doesn’t give a shit about normal boundaries. My car has a GPS tracker that he put there the day I drove it off the lot. I have location data turned on in my phone so he can constantly check up on my whereabouts. If you were a true crime fan, I never would have invited you back here because they’re not allowed in the apartment.”

“That…weirdly doesn’t bother me,” I admitted.

Tyler nodded. “Yeah, me neither. It’s nice having someone always looking out for you. Like your own personal guardian angel.”

“It sounds like you look out for him too, though,” I said. He frowned, and I motioned toward the apartment. “The not bringing people here who might recognize him thing, taking time to explain this to me, and being cool about us seeing each other.”

He huffed a laugh. “If I’d known you two were a possibility, I would have immediately ended things between us and shoved you at him. No offense.”

“None taken,” I said, waving him off.

He leaned back against the counter. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but Josh is the most trustworthy, loyal person I know. Does he have his quirks? Yes. Will you get annoyed at the way he turns everything into a joke? Sooner than you expect. But Josh is the kind of ride-or-die you could go to with a body, and he’d help you hide it.”

I choked on my coffee. If only Tyler knew how true that statement was.

He spun and grabbed me a wad of napkins.

“Thanks,” I managed in between bouts of hacking. “Swallowed it the wrong way.”

“No problem,” he said. “And look, if you don’t think you can deal with Josh’s baggage, you should back out now. He lets so few people in that if you drag it out, you’ll only hurt him more.”

I nodded. “I get that. I don’t let people in either.”

Tyler raised his brows and gave me A Look. “Yeah. I know.”

I cringed. “Sorry.”

He waved me off. “No hard feelings. We obviously wouldn’t have worked out had we tried for anything serious.”

I nodded. Yes, Tyler was a douche, but somehow, I was starting to think he was a likable one. As in, I could see myself becoming friends with him if Josh and I stayed together for a while.

“What else should I know?” I asked.

“He’s vegan,” Tyler said.

I frowned. “But he made me bacon and eggs the other day.”

And now I knew why they’d been terrible. Because Josh probably had no idea how to cook them properly.

Tyler whistled. “He must have it bad. I’ve never been allowed to cook meat in here.”

“Why not?”

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