Page 50 of The Chad Next Door
“Oh, she’s pretty new in town. I’m running late, though, so I should get to the diner. She’s probably waiting for me. You sure you don’t need anything? I’ll need to lock up before I go.”
“No, I was just checking something on my phone. Enjoy your lunch.”
Chad clears his throat, making me jump as June heads off. “Remember how I can’t see anything that’s happening? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. June just left, and it looks like he’s following her now.”
“Which way did Todd go?”
I hold out my hand in front of me. “Left. Wait, no. Yeah, left.”
As if he can see me, he sighs heavily. “How do you not know left from right? Are you seven?”
“No, I am not. And I’ll have you know Zelda is excellent with directions.”
“So what’syourproblem?”
I roll my eyes, feeling the sting of his words even though I know he doesn’t mean them. At least, I hope he doesn’t. “Your foot is really hurting you, isn’t it?”
“No.” Then he lets out another sigh. The man is the king of sighing. “Yes. But I’m more worried about you at the moment. I’d feel better if you just came home. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be short with you. I hate being stuck here and not being able to keep you safe. It’s a lot harder to be rational when you’re so far away.”
“It’s, like, ten minutes into town, Chad.”
“I said what I said. I feel better when you’re close.”
I feel better when I’m close to him too. “So what should I do now? June locked me in.”
“Back door will take you to an alley. Take a right, and you can get all the way to the diner and figure out if he’s trying to find you there. He won’t take long to figure out he’s been tricked, so he’ll circle back to the hardware store soon.”
It’s not that I don’t believe him, but he sounds so confident for a guy currently stuck on the couch because he got in a fight with a bear trap. “How can you be sure that’s what he’ll do?” I ask, slipping out into the alley and double checking with my thumbs that I actually go right. I don’t know how, but Chad would know if I went the wrong direction.
He seems to debate answering my question until I’ve almost reached the diner. “Because, in my experience, people are predictable. Especially when they’re scared.”
“Do you think I’m predictable?” I poke my head around the corner, grinning when I see Todd peering into the diner with increasing frustration on his face, like he’s starting to figure out that he’s been duped.
Again, Chad takes a while to answer. “No.” I don’t miss the clear and unsaid “but” at the end of that.
Because so far in this relationship, I haven’t been scared. And who knows what might happen if I ever hit that point? He seems to think it won’t work in his favor, so I’d better make sure I’m never scared.
“Hey, Chad?”
“Yeah?”
“How bad is it if I need to make a pit stop and use the bathroom?”
He groans. “Really?”
“Maybe.”Definitely. Apparently I’m not all that good at this whole tailing thing. Or maybe my bladder just didn’t get the memo that we were on a time-sensitive stealth mission.
Chad lets out a sigh. “Despite your name, you are truly hopeless.”
I can’t help but laugh.
Chapter Nineteen
Chad
October 25
