Texting Dr Stalker Read Online Pepper Winters

Categories Genre: Alpha Male, Angst, Contemporary, Dark, Erotic Tags Authors: Pepper Winters Advertisement

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Tears rolled down my cheeks as I typed faster and faster.

Me: I miss my cat. Can you believe that? I miss him so, so much. I know I’d be fine if he was in my arms. Why am I not over this? Why am I weak enough to have flashbacks like this? It doesn’t even make sense. Milton never hurt me at the movies. I have no reason for panicking when nothing bad happened here. God, I’m so stupid! I wasn’t even abused like other women. It just happened that one time!

My heart stopped flying and turned to palpitations instead. My entire body jittered and shuddered. The words on the screen melted with my tears.

Closing my eyes and holding the armrest of my chair, I focused on my breathing.

My phone vibrated in my lap.

I snatched it up.

Zander: Hey, Sailor? Are you free to talk? Can I call you?

I quaked as panic set fire to my limbs. Why had Zander messaged me instead of X? I didn’t want him right now. I didn’t need an exhausted doctor with a heart so sweet sugar ran in his veins. I needed a masked stalker who grabbed me with no apology and kissed me with exquisite possession.

Another text flashed.

Zander: Please, Sailor? It’s urgent. I need to talk to you.

I glared at my phone, daring, hoping, begging X to message.

And nothing.

I could barely see straight anymore.

My sniffles became too strong to choke down.

I needed to go somewhere I could huddle into a ball and sob.

But I couldn’t shed the guilt of leaving Zander hanging. What if he was dealing with his own stuff? What if whatever had hurt him today was hurting him now and he’d reached out for my help?

Using my last remaining strength, I sent a generic reply, hiding how badly I unravelled.

Me: Sorry, Zander. I’m at the movies. I can’t call. I hope you’re okay.

And that was it for my courage.

Closing Zander’s message, I opened X’s thread again.

Me: If you’re reading this and happen to be anywhere near the cinema tonight, I think…I think I might need help.

I pressed send.

Then lost myself to panic.

* 38 *

Zander

Breaking Every Limit

“IS THAT LILY? WHAT MOVIE THEATRE WERE you planning on going to with Sailor tonight?”

Lily cleared her throat. “Um, usually the polite etiquette when calling someone out of the blue is, ‘Hello, this is…’”

My fingers locked around my phone as I straddled my bike and prepared to fly out my garage. “Hello, this is Zander. Tell me where I can find Sailor.”

“What? Why? Has something happened?”

“What theatre, Lily?!”

“Um…uh, we’d agreed to go to the new complex just out of town. We said the eight fifteen showing of—”

I hung up, shoved my phone into my jeans pocket, then jammed the helmet on my head.

Gunning the engine, I roared out of the garage so fast I could’ve run over nosy Patricia and not known. Leaning into the corners, I drove far too fast, leaving a wake of deafening noise.

I’d dealt with all kinds of pressure in my profession. I’d learned how to compartmentalise emotion versus action and sometimes did my best work if something unforeseen happened in surgery.

But this was different.

This was her.

And I felt completely fucking helpless.

I second-guessed everything.

I should’ve replied as X when she messaged me asking for help.

I should’ve told her who I was so she felt safe to confide in Zander.

I should’ve done so goddamn many things, and now she was breaking on her own, and I wasn’t there, and fuck, I felt so responsible.

Streetlamps blurred past.

The bike vibrated beneath me.

I focused on one thing and one thing only, and that was finding Sailor before it was too late.

* 39 *

Sailor

Car Parks Are Dangerous

I STUMBLED OUT OF THE CINEMA AND staggered against the wall.

The huge car park held an ocean of vehicles but no people. Everyone was still inside, transfixed by loud, flashy movies, leaving me all alone in the dark.

I barely remembered how I’d managed to make my way down the row or trip my way through the foyer. A few moviegoers had given me side-eyes. One girl had even reached for me, clearly concerned, but I’d broken into a run and exploded through the double doors to freedom.

My car was out there somewhere.

Clouds covered the stars, threatening rain.

I felt very, very alone.

My phone had rung three times with Lily’s number, but I’d ignored them. I couldn’t pretend I was okay. I didn’t want her feeling bad that this was too much for me, too soon. I couldn’t have her feeling responsible for ditching when I completely understood work had to come first. For any ordinary person, that would’ve been fine.

But I’m not normal.

I’m—

“Hey, pretty lady! You waiting for someone?”

I froze into a chunk of ice as I looked through my tears and focused on a fairly tall man with a mop of dirty-blond hair. His saggy jeans and graffiti-designed t-shirt hinted he was in his late teens, but the sketchy look in his eyes and slight twitch to his fingers suggested he had habits of the adult variety.


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