Page 17 of Rivals Next Door

“Thanks. May I get you something to drink?” Our dinner date just ended, and he’d had plenty to drink, but still…

“Water.”

I nodded, hating the awkwardness that had crept in since I invited him inside. Things had been going smoothly for weeks, and we’d been on five dates so far. I liked Alex a lot, but I worried that he was getting bored with me because I got the feeling that I wasn’t his usual type. He had to be unimpressed by me because he’d yet to even kiss me.

“Coming right up,” I said as I shoved aside my disappointing thoughts.

When I got back to the living room, I found Alex lounging on a sofa. He had my laptop balanced on one knee and his fingers flew over the keyboard. Simultaneously, he tapped away on his phone, which was in his other hand. A look of concentration was etched on his face.

I took a moment to be impressed by the way he coordinated both hands on different devices before I asked, “What are you doing?”

As if snapping out of a different zone, he looked up. “I’m not snooping on your laptop, I swear. It was on and a message came in. I glimpsed the name you mentioned at dinner.”

Right. I’d left my laptop on because I’d been reading another threatening email before our date. I’d run out as soon as Alex arrived. I told him about the troubling emails and texts I’d been getting for weeks. I ignored them at first because I assumed it was some jerk with nothing better to do than prank me. However, the content had started to get troubling. Since I lived under a microscope, I hadn’t mentioned it to my dad or thought of going to the police. I just hoped whoever it was would get bored and stop.

“I can help,” Alex said.

Interested, I placed the bottle of water on the coffee table and sat beside him. “How?”

“By tracking down who’s behind it.”

“But all the messages are anonymous.”

“Nothing is anonymous in cyberspace unless you’re really good at covering your tracks.”

I took in his sly smirk. “Like you?”

He just grinned harder and went back to tapping on the keyboard. I leaned closer as he spouted a bunch of technical stuff that I didn’t understand. I was a biology major, minoring in business.

I missed some of the things he said because I was distracted by how amazing he smelled and how his long, lean fingers agilely moved with familiarity over the keyboard. He had nice hands. I bet they’d feel good on me…

“The IP address is the key…”

His voice pulled me out of my lustful haze. A bunch of data and codes moved on my laptop screen. “Looks like Mr. Anonymous is sending those messages right from campus. Amateur,” he grunted.

“And you’re an expert?” I asked.

Alex paused to look at me. “Tech is my thing. I’m good with computers and… other stuff.”

“Yet you’re enrolled in Harvard business,” I noted.

He smiled and my heart flipped. That mischievous grin of his just did something to me…

“If I already know tech, why would I waste time studying it?”

“Good point. The other stuff you mentioned… what are they?”

His hesitation made me frown. Instead of answering, he continued to type. Finally, he said, “Looks like the culprit is the Ken doll…”

“Who?”

He gave me a sheepish look. “Bryce.”

I scoffed. That immature asshole. He was probably pissed that I was dating someone else so soon after our breakup. Alex was twice the man he was…

“Of course, it’s him,” I muttered. “I’ll deal with him later. Right now, I want you to answer my question.”

Suddenly, he got tense. However, he put the laptop down and turned to face me. “I’m not like you, Olivia.”

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