Page 20 of Peripheral Vision

He grins at me. “I promise, love. I’m never wrong.” He hangs up. “How was that?”

“Charming,” I say, releasing the laugh I was holding in. “Better get back out there.”

I return homeat around two-thirty a.m., utterly exhausted from the day I had, but sleep seems to evade me even in my tired state. Callum had lived up to his charm, making me laugh the hardest I had in a long time, and I can’t deny that I wouldn’t be interested in seeing where things went with him. If that was something he wanted from me, which, he had said he would like to go out more and get to know me better. I hadn’t even been here a few days and already it seemed like things were looking up for me. A welcome feeling. Until I remember my stranger. He hasn’t done anything to harm or threaten me, so going to the cops would be pointless. But just in case, I pull my firearm from where it’s stored in my closet and set it on my nightstand by my bed—offering me a bit more comfort in my unease.

I don’t know when I finally start falling asleep, but I suppose it doesn’t matter because I have nowhere to be tomorrow. It’s Saturday. But as I drift off, the feeling of the air getting heavier surrounds me, and I know that can only mean one thing.

I wake in a panic some hours later, the sun shining through my curtain once more, my hair plastered to my forehead with sweat. I don’t know what I dreamt about, but it had me writhing in my sheets. There’s a slow pulsing between my thighs that tells me it wasn’t just any dream either. I’m glad I sleep and live alone, otherwise I might just die of embarrassment. I had asexdream.

Rolling out of bed, I pad to the bathroom and do my business before pulling my brush through my hair and throwing it on top of my head in a messy bun. I return to my bedroom to pull on some cotton shorts over my panties and a light sweatshirt over the tanktop I had changed into when I got home. Alaska doesn’t greet me in my room this morning, which is strange considering the way she normally wakes me up.

“Alaska? Where are you, girl?” I call out as I walk down the hall and into the living room where I see her laying on her dog bed by the couch. “Are you hungry?”

Her eyes perk up at the word, but she continues laying down, uninterested. “Come on. Let’s go eat.” I encourage her and walk to the kitchen where her dog food is stored in the cupboard. I pull out the exceptionally light bag, setting it on the counter before noticing a note.

You’re all out of dog food.

My whole body goes cold, like a freezing breeze is running over my skin in a gentle caress. Alaska walks up to me and sits by the sliding glass door. My eyes trail from her to the lock, and?—

“Oh my god,” I breathe.He was in my house.The door is not only unlocked but slightly cracked, the culprit for the cold that sweeps over my body. Stumbling over Alaska’s dog bowl, I slam the door shut and lock it, my hands trembling. I look at her with disbelief. “You’re the worst guard dog ever.” Running back to my room, I pick up my phone and dial Thea.

“Hey, babe!” she answers cheerfully. “How are you settling in? I want to come see the new place soon.”

“Thea, he was in my house.” I skip over the pleasantries.

“Well yeah, we already talked about that. Why are you freaking out? Why do you sound winded? Did you just come to some sort of realization?” She sounds puzzled.

“No, Thea. I mean he was inthishouse. As in my new rental. While I was sleeping.”

There’s a pause while I wait for her response. “Wait, what?” Her cheerful tone is now gone. “You’re telling me he’s now broken into your house not once, but twice?”

“Yes!” I hiss, walking back into the hallway and to the living room where I plop myself down onto my couch. “The sliding glass door was cracked open when I woke up and he had fed Alaska. He left a note telling me I was out of dog food. And the bitch couldn’t even alert me!”

“Have you called the cops again?” she asked.

“No, Thea. There’s no evidence that he took anything, and he hasn’t done anything to openly threaten me. In fact, he said hewantedme.” I swallow roughly, my throat dry.

“Hold up, youspoketo him? When was this?” she yells.

I try to pick my words carefully because if she knows that I didn’t do anything but stand there looking dumbfounded, I know she’d find a way to kick me into next year. “I was interviewing at a bar last night and the power went out and when I went to check the breaker box, he was in the alleyway. I couldn’t make out his features, but he knew my name. He said that he wanted to talk, to make it clear that I was his and essentially that there was nowhere I could go that he wouldn’t find me. He said that he would keep chasing me, but that eventually he wants to make sure I enjoy it too… I—I genuinely didn’t know what to make of it and before I could do anything, he had stalked off.”

“Sounds like you have an admirer.” Curiosity coats her tone.

“More like a madman whose obsession has gotten the best of him… This has fatal attraction written all over it,” I mutter.

“But it’s a damn good movie,” Thea retorts.

A scoff escapes me. “Yeah, except for the part where the obsessive lover tries to kill the wife.”

“Good point. But still, damn good movie. So what are you going to do?” she asks next, and I immediately remember the security system.

“I’ve got to go, Thea. I just remembered something. I love you and I’ll talk to you later. I expect to hear all about your anatomy scan!” She starts to say something, but I hang up before I have a chance to hear her protests. I quickly open the camera system app onmy phone and go to the history. I scroll until I find the time period after I got home this morning to when I woke up. Except, when I open up the video feed, a gray screen pops up saying there is no video available. I scroll to earlier in the morning when I got home and open the video feed of that. The video loads instantly. That can only mean one thing.

He hacked my security system.

Chapter

Fourteen

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