Page 129 of Loved

“You’re kind of freaking me out. What’s going on? Are you having cold-feet about NYC?”

“No. Definitely not.”

“Okay…” she said again.

Fuck, how do I word this?

“James, just tell me.”

“Remember when I told you about how the elevator has a camera in it?”

“Yeah.”

Well…she didn’t seem upset when I’d first told her. And she didn’t seem upset now.Just rip the Band-Aid off!“The camera in the elevator wasn’t set up by the apartment.”

For a second she just looked confused. “Is there like a peeper problem in this apartment or something?”

Oh, fuck me. I’m the peeper problem.

Rob laughed.

Dude!I glared at him, but he was just looking at his phone, pretending not to listen.

“Should we call the cops or something?” Penny asked.

“Not unless you want me to go to jail.”

“Wait, what?”

“I put the camera in the elevator. They’re also all over the apartment. And a few scattered around campus. One might even be outside your dorm?” I said the last one like a question because each time I mentioned the location of cameras, her face looked paler and paler.

Rob laughed again.

Shut it, Rob!

Penny opened her mouth and then closed it again. “You’ve been watching me? The…the whole time?”

“No, not the whole time. It started at the country club…”

“You have cameras there too?!”

“For security reasons. I put them up purely for security reasons.”

“So you put a camera outside my dorm for security reasons?”

“We were on a break and I was worried about you.”

Her face softened. “James.”

“Yes?”

She gave an exasperated sigh. “What the hell?”

“You know I was tinkering with starting a new tech company. This technology is the start of it. The cameras are virtually undetectable, but the live feed is still really clear. It’s amazing quality.”

“So you’re watching me in high-def?”

“No. Well…yes.” This wasn’t coming out right. “Penny, I started working on it when we were dating. And then I got a little obsessed with it while we were on a break.”

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