Page 44 of Stalked By the Linebacker

“I was going to say weird, but stalkery works.”

“But I only stalk you, mi vida.”

“Good,” she giggled. I flipped her around, covering her body with mine. My princess didn’t try to push me away. If anything, her limbs wrapped around me like she had my insides wrapped around her little finger.

“You’re mine,” I growled.

She was still with me.

She knew everything about me. The deepest darkest shit, things I’d done that would have sent any other woman running, and she was still with me. The monster inside of me grinned cockily.Mine.

“I’ve been yours,” she whispered with so much love and understanding in her eyes, I had to blink away the emotion in mine.

I didn’t know what I’d done in a past life, but I would work tooth and nail to do anything to keep my girl happy and safe. She was my world, my life, my everything.

EPILOGUE

LIBBY

I wrappedmy arms around me and tried not to shiver. But between the cooler weather and the darkness, not to mention the windy night, I couldn’t help it. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I turned and glanced over my shoulder, squinting despite wearing my glasses, trying to make something out in the darkness.

But I couldn’t see anything.

Nothing or anyone was there. I turned and tried to shake off the feeling someone was following me.

Watching and waiting to pounce.

I knew the feeling, after all.

Hector had not been wrong.

When we returned to school, that first semester had been the hardest of our relationship. That first football season was brutal. Between classes and juggling two jobs and trying to make time for my very needy boyfriend, things had felt overwhelming by the time the season was over.

But not necessarily in a bad way.

There wasn’t a moment of the day when Hector didn’t know where I was, and I him. We tracked each other on our phones. Constantly texted random little things throughout the day. And other than the handful of away games I hadn’t been able to join him on, there hadn’t been a night we spent apart. By Valentine’s Day, we had moved out of the dorms and into our own little studio apartment. We not only didn’t need a lot of space, but we also always liked to be around one another. Plus, it helped us save money.

That was four years ago.

I pushed my glasses up and tried to walk a little faster without accidentally flashing anyone who might be walking, too. Why I’d worn a dress was beyond me. Especially one so short and flowy. Blanca had said it was sweet but had tried to persuade me into a slinkier, tighter body con dress. One I wished I had picked instead since the skirt of the one I was wearing felt like it was about to give me my very own Marylin Monroe moment.

My phone vibrated in the pocket of my cardigan, taking my attention from whatever my imagination was making me think was behind me. I saw who it was and smiled. I answered the phone and put it up to my face.

“Hello,” I said, slightly out of breath.

“You okay?” my husband’s deep voice rumbled on the other end.

“I’m good. Almost there.”

“I should have picked you up,” he complained. I rolled my eyes. Some things never changed. I glanced over my shoulder, but again, nothing was there.

“Libby? Mi vida, you there?”

“Yeah, sorry. The office was so close. A walk is always good.”

“But late at night?” he asked. “Anyone could be following you. Watching you look over your shoulder like you’re scared.” I shivered.

“Hector?” I whispered. The pulse point at my neck picked up speed. I glanced behind me again, but there was nothing but rustling trees in the wind and darkness. I’d cut through the park that lay between the office I worked from and our place.

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