Page 47 of The Chad Next Door
“Why do you think he’s here? Todd?”
He groans as if he knows the real reason behind my question. “You are trouble, you know that?”
“That’s my middle name.”
“It’s really not.”
“If I go out the front door, do you think Todd will follow me?”
Another groan has me imagining him sitting on the couch now, knuckles white as he grips his phone and contemplates the best way to murder me when I get back. At the very least, he’s going to try to keep me from leaving the house again. Surprisingly, he answers my question. “Probably.”
“Do you think there’s a way I could double around and start following him once he thinks he’s lost me?”
“This is a bad idea, Trouble.”
Hmm, so he’s come up with a new name for me, has he? Thinks he’s so clever? Honestly, I kind of love the nickname, and a thrill runs through me at the thought of playing private investigator for a day.
Still, I’m not going to be stupid about this. “Would there be any benefit to following him?” I ask.
Chad hums. Is he really considering letting me do this? “Maybe. If we can figure out where he’s staying, maybe I can figure out a way to figure out what his plan is.”
“How do you figure?”
He groans yet again. “How in the world are you this annoying yet so completely intoxicating?”
“Aww, you sure know the way to a woman’s heart.”
“If you’re going to do this, you have to do everything I say. Do you understand? Hope, I need verbal confirmation that you will do everything in your power to be safe and careful and be back in my arms in less than an hour. Okay? Say it.”
“It.”
He swears under his breath, though I’ll allow this one. He might be a little too fun to mess with, especially when he’s stuck in a place where he can’t distract me with his delicious kisses.
“Karen Hope Duncan, you are going to be the death of me. Forget it. Sneak out the back door and come back so I can make sure you’re never out of my sight again.”
What is it about a man using my full name that has me hearing wedding bells? What has my life come to? “You know,” I say as I start searching the shelves for a set of Bluetooth headphones I can use—remarkably, I find some in a random corner of travel trinkets. “Two months ago, the weirdest thing to happen during my day was running into my roommate Freddie trying to perfect his smokey cat eye while listening to a podcast that described the origin of dank memes.”
I don’t blame Chad for failing to come up with a response to that. “I literally have no idea what you just said,” he says eventually. “None of those things are real things, right?”
“Get with the times, old man. It’s not important anyway.” I place the headphones on the counter, chuckling when the old clerk doesn’t seem at all surprised to see that I haven’t left yet as he rings me up.
“Are you trying to stall so Todd will get frustrated and leave?”
“Do you think he would?” I peek out the window as I crack open the package on the headphones. He’s still standing outside, though he has his eyes on his phone now like he’s just trying to kill time. Hmm, he’s more patient than Chad would like. “This guy isn’t dangerous, is he? I don’t think you would let me anywhere close to him if he was.”
“I don’t think so, but I’m still not comfortable with you deliberately putting yourself anywhere that he is.”
“Hang on a second.” Thankfully the headphones are partially charged, and they connect to my phone easily enough. I put them on, wondering if Todd will notice them or if he wasn’t paying that much attention. “Can you hear me?”
“Bluetooth?” He must have heard the sound quality change, which reminds me that he’s the kind of guy who notices details and makes exit strategies. “Smart. Are you going to tell me why you brought up your weird roommate that I am definitely going to do a background check on?”
I snicker. “He’s not my roommate anymore, genius.”
“Don’t care.”
“I was just trying to say that I never thought my life would go this direction, you know? Before Bailey gave me the kids, my biggest worry was getting a paper turned in on time and doing my equations right. Now look at me.”
“I would if I could. Are you going to come back home so I can?” He’s used that word a couple of times now—home—and it’s starting to sound familiar in the best way.
