Page 93 of Flipping the Script

“Why?” I asked. “Were you trying to get pictures of me to sell to some gossip rag?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I mean, I thought of it after I figured out who you are.” His eyes widened in shock. “But I wouldn’t. I couldn’t! The picture I took at the club didn’t show your face. I promise.”

“Wait. You said you were followinghim. Who are you talking about?”

Had he been following Jesse, and I got mixed up in this by accident?

“Matthew.” He flushed.

“Matthew?” Who the fuck was he talking about?

“That’s his online name. You know him as Jesse. We… He was… We kinda…”

Now that I was confident I didn’t need to worry about being outed online, my anger cooled into confusion.

Whatever the fuck was going on wasn’t about me, and I needed to know why he was stalking Jesse. Needed to make sure he was safe.

“What do you mean his online name? How do you know him?”

The guy looked around nervously.

“What’s your name?” I asked, trying another tactic.

“Why?” he asked suspiciously.

“Because it’s nice to know who I’m speaking with, considering you already know all about me.”

“Oh, right.” He cleared his throat. “It’s Carl.”

I didn’t bother asking if that was his real name or not. I wasn’t trying to figure out who he was, I just needed him to tell me what the hell was going on.

“And I guess I don’t have to tell you that I’m Sebastian.” I made a “come here” motion. “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”

He stepped closer but stayed out of reach.

“How do you know Jesse?” I asked again.

“He helped me out with something.” He fiddled with the sleeves of his sweater, his eyes flitting around and looking everywhere but at me.

“Gonna need more than that, Carl.”

He stared at the ground between us. “I hired him off a website.”

“Okay.” Hired him? What did that mean?

“And we fell in love.”

“You did?” I tried to keep my shock off my face but wasn’t so sure I pulled it off.

That was pretty much the last thing I expected to hear, and it didn’t even have anything to do with Carl and his stalker habits. Jesse wasn’t the settling type, and I would have heard from Adam or my sister if he’d dated someone recently.

Carl nodded. “But then he told me we couldn’t see each other anymore. So I started following him to make sure he was okay. So I could see him, even if he doesn’t want to see me. Then I saw you with him.” His voice went sullen, almost petulant. “And you didn’t look like you were one of his clients, so I needed to know who you are. Make sure you weren’t hurting him or taking him away from me.”

Client? What the hell was he talking about?

“I’m not taking him away from anyone,” I said carefully. “It’s not like that between us.”

Carl might not be a threat now, but he could be. Obsessive stalkers were the most dangerous kind out there, and Jesse had no idea he was being watched. What would Carl do to him if he thought Jesse was moving on or replacing him?

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