Page 11 of Stalked By the Linebacker

“What did you want to do?” It was the last thing I’d expected her to ask, and I knew she caught my surprise.

“What?” I quickly cleared the thickness in my voice.

“You said you wanted to hang out, unless you changed your?—"

“Nope! I haven’t changed my mind.”Not even close.

I should have.

I should have not only quit but stopped watching her every chance I could. Following her around. But fuck me, whatever thing she’d brought to life wasn’t disappearing. Hell, it was growing. No matter what I discovered about Libby, it seemed to only pull me in further and tangle me up in a way I knew I would never be the same again.

I was obsessed with the girl.

She was my sister’s best friend. My mom loved her like one of her own. I knew better than to get involved there. If things didn’t work out, it could get messy.

But that’s not an option, a voice in the back of my head growled.

“Hector?” Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I leaned in closer. She gasped, making me realize just how close we were. I buckled her in, feeling her body heat radiate onto mine. We were close enough to share the same air.

“Safety first,” I roughly whispered. My eyes dropped to her lips and the way her cheeks tinged the prettiest shade of pink. “You’re coming home with me.”

“I am?” Her eyes widened, and she looked so fucking adorable all I wanted to do was kiss her. “Wait—” she started to say, but I shrugged and ignored her. If I let her talk, I knew she would find a way to convince me to let her back out.

And I even though I should let her, I wasn’t going to.

“You are.” I winked.

Instead of pressing my mouth to hers like I wanted and suspected she wanted, too, I kissed the top of her forehead before pulling away then shutting the door and made my way to the driver’s seat. I had no idea what the hell I was doing. She hadn’t agreed to hang out with me outside of work from that very first day I dropped by to check on her.

At the beginning, I’d tried to tell myself it was the thrill of the chase that drew me into her. But it wasn’t. It was simply Libby.

Libby and her angelic, almost princess-like face. Libby and her soft smiles and wicked sense of humor she let you see when she was comfortable around you. I got a job at the burger joint and had started to follow her around school when she kept refusing to hang out. I made sure she ate because I noticed she hardly ever did.

Then I understood why.

She didn’t have the money.

She made every dollar stretch, and fuck if I was just going to sit around and watch. Being an athlete, a star one at that, I had an unlimited meal plan. One I made sure would feed her.

Then it was following her around campus. I’d been like a lost puppy, keeping just enough distance between us so she couldn’t spot me, but I could reach her in case of an emergency. Or for it to seem like it was a coincidence when we bumped into one another. For the first couple of weeks, it was innocent enough.

But last week, I crossed a line I couldn’t come back from. I had gone to her dorm with good intentions, but the road to hell was paved with them.

I ‘d gone to see if I could walk her to her shift at the library. Instead, I’d found her dorm room door open. Well, not really. I’d knocked, and when no one answered, I turned the knob to find it unlocked. The usually busy co-ed build was empty. With no one in sight, I slipped in and shut the door behind me.

When I turned and faced the space, I didn’t have to think too hard to know what side of the shared room was hers. One side was empty. Her two roommates had gone home for the summer. Hers, on the other hand, was cozy with just the right amount of color that made it indescribably her.

If I tried hard enough, I could almost taste the way her dorm smelled. I slipped into the truck, and when she glanced over at me and smiled, my hands tightened around the steering wheel.

“Hector, I should probably go to my dorm.”

“Maybe.” Fuck me running, I could have sworn a flash of disappointment skated across her delicate features. “But you’re coming back with me.”

I wasn’t budging. I was determined. I knew exactly how much like an asshole I sounded. I started the truck without taking my eyes off her. Libby’s fair-colored brows bunched, and then she looked forward. We drove in silence, just the soft whisper of the pop singer I knew she loved playing quietly in the background. I pulled in and parked in my spot.

“Stay there,” I ordered, and those cute little brows of hers bunched again.

“I’m not a dog,” she murmured under her breath, and my lips twitched.There is my girl.

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