Page 65 of EverGreene
“Maybe a week or two. Why do you ask?”
Well, I guess I’m going with the lie.It wasn’t totally unbelievable. I’d had those shoes for roughly three months and had worn them only occasionally. They could have passed for brand new.
“No reason.” She hesitated, her thoughts most likely traveling a mile a minute. “I’ll see you at the office.”Before leaving, she spared one last glance down at the shoes on the floor as though committing them to memory.
“I’m washing my hands of this whole thing,” Nix said, holding his hands up for dramatic effect as soon as Ever left. “You’re a lot of things, Loche Greene, but a liar has never been one of them. Until now.”
“What’s going on?” Mom joined the glaring war going on between Nix and me by firing a missile of her own my way.
“It’s a long story, Mom, but I promise you I have the best of intentions.”
She studied me, lines of concern etching her face, making her look older than her age. “Well, whatever is happening between the two of you, you need to run after that girl and chase her down. Don’t let that one get away. If you do, you’re going to regret it.”
“Don’t go giving him any more ideas,” Nix grumbled under his breath.
Ignoring Nix, I answered her. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of letting her get away from me.
Chapter 17
Ever
Droplets of water slid down the length of my leg, starting at my knee and moving gently down my thigh before diving back down into the bathtub where I lay soaking my body. Visions of red tennis shoes danced through my head, attached to a masked man whose face I may never see. Try as I may, I couldn’t think of anything else. How common were red shoes? Surely, they couldn’t be that distinct. I mean, look at Bozo the Clown, Ronald McDonald, or basically any other clown in the history of clowns. Actually, they seemed to be a pretty popular choice among men who hid behind a mask.
I reached over the edge of the bathtub and grabbed my phone from the bathmat, opening the screen and navigating to a search engine to research red shoes.
Well, I’ll be damned, it actually is a popular color right now.
Leave it to my stalker to keep up on trends. He, along with thousands of other men in this town, probably had the same pair in their closets, which meant I was back to the drawing board. Still, it had been jarring to see the crimson footwear inLoche’s apartment as though they were a piece to the puzzle needed to find out V’s identity. My thoughts drifted back to Loche and our conversation on the balcony.
Loche. Loche Greene had murdered someone. No, not just someone. His own father. Granted, the bastard deserved it, but it was still so much to take in. I should have been shocked, maybe even hesitant to be near him, but instead, I found myself wanting to be closer to him; to find out more about the brooding man I thought I’d hated. I’d been suddenly consumed by a need that could only be classified as lust, and had he not interrupted me, I may even have kissed him, royally complicating my life further.
Was it possible to cheat on someone whose real name I didn’t know and who had basically been a booty call? Technically, no, but that didn’t make me feel any less guilty.
Still clutched in my hand, my phone pinged, signaling activity picked up by the camera at my door. I hated to admit it, but I was happy V had been so insistent on having one installed.
Speak of the devil.
V stood at my door, getting ready to ring the bell, before he was interrupted by me talking through the speaker via the app.
“None shall pass.” I recited one of the many one-liners fromMonty PythonI know, which had no use other than for useless trivia, but which would either translate over to being a huge turn on to him, or if he was boring, the exact opposite.
V laughed. “Cute.”
“I like to think so, too. Is that a modulator I hear?”
“I bought my own.”
“For someone who claims he’s going to let me see what’s under that mask someday, you sure are making quite the investment in the most deranged game of Guess Who I’ve ever played.”
“It was actually buy one, get one half off.”
“A BOGO deal on stalker gear? I guess I can’t fault you for being frugal.”
“So, can I come in?”
“I don’t know,canyou?”
He grumbled something under his breath. “May I come in?”
