Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
“Can you watch the cart while I use the bathroom?” I ask before we leave.
Caz looks from me to the cart. “Surely, no one will take it while I’m here.”
Oh, Lord. I refrain from rolling my eyes and enter the bathroom as Caz stands guard by the cart like his life depends on it. When I walk back out, I catch someone across the way and my heart sinks to my stomach. I freeze, focusing on the man in the navy-blue tracksuit. His curly hair is disheveled beneath a black cap, his lips pinched together tightly. Garrett.
My eyes shift to Caz, who has his back to me so he can’t see me. However, I believe he senses my panic because his head turns a fraction, and his gaze is over his shoulder to find me.
“Willow?” Caz calls, turning fully to face me.
I look from Caz to Garrett again, who is looking Caz up and down, then he shakes his head and leaves the store. Caz studies me a moment, then turns again to figure out what I’ve been staring at. When he doesn’t see anything, he marches my way.
“Everything all right?” he asks.
“I—I’m fine. Let’s go.” I grab his hand and rush for the cart. The sooner we pack and get our shit together to see Phil Patterson, the less I’ll have to deal with Garrett and his weird ass stalking. I really need to call the police or file a report. If Faye saw him last night, and he’s here today, he’s definitely stalking me. But why? All because I don’t want to be with him anymore? He’s so damn childish and ridiculous.
I leave the store, surveilling my surroundings. I don’t see Garrett or his car anywhere nearby, so I hustle to my car with Caz. I dump the items in the backseat as Caz climbs into the passenger, and when I’m behind the wheel, I start the engine and leave the parking lot.
“I just need to make one more stop,” I murmur, checking the rearview mirror. No familiar cars are following me that I can see. That’s good.
“You sure you’re all right?” I look to my right, and Caz is eyeing me suspiciously.
I force a smile. “I’m fine.”
“You look worried. And I feel it too. What did you see in that shop?”
I contemplate telling him the truth. But then I remember what he said at the apartment. If he sees Garrett, he’ll kill him. If I tell him Garrett is possibly stalking me, he’ll find him and kill him. Oddly enough, I have no doubt Caz will find a way to do it. One thing I will never do is underestimate him. I refuse to let him get into trouble in my world. It’s my turn to protect him now, so I say, “All good. You hungry?”
He still stares. “Not really.”
“Kay.” I turn up the music, and Frank Ocean sings about getting lost. I turn onto a single-laned street, following the directions my GPS provides that lead me to the nearest ATM. Caz watches my phone as it sits on the dashboard on a phone stand, in a perpetual state of awe as the arrow of the GPS guides us.
“I still don’t understand that thing,” he mumbles. When I’m at a red light, I show him how I made it work. He seems to grasp some of the concept, but not entirely because one of his brows puckers with confusion.
When I park and collect my wallet from my purse, I say, “Wait here.”
I don’t wait for Caz to speak as I hop out and run to the machine, shoving my card into the slot, and entering my PIN. I peer around at the cars passing by and the vacant lots of nearby buildings. No one around. Just us.
I take out some cash, and as I stuff the money into my wallet, headlights flash in my direction. A navy car pulls into the vacant lot with us, and for a split second it just sits there. Through the window I see the silhouette of a hat and curly hair beneath. Oh my God, that’s Garrett’s car. The tires of the car screech, and my mouth goes bone dry as the vehicle accelerates toward us.
Chapter 21
WILLOW
I gasp as Garrett drives the car full speed into the passenger side of my car, right where Caz is sitting, then reverses just as quickly.
He turns rapidly, veering around the back of my car, but he doesn’t get far. In his haste, he ends up crashing into a cement pole. Through the rear window, I watch his head hit the steering wheel from the impact. Still, I can’t find it in me to move from where I stand. I’m frozen in a state of pure shock.
Caz stumbles out of the driver’s side of my car, eyes wide and full of fury. There’s a cut on his cheekbone, and it’s dripping blood. That’s when the shock wears off and I realize what Garrett was trying to do. He was trying to hurt Caz.