Page 32 of Jett in Jeopardy

Ididn’tgostraightback to Brody’s after class. Instead, I stopped by the cafe where Grier worked. I knew he had a shift tonight, and if I was going to stay at Brody’s for the next few… Days? Weeks? Honestly, I did not know how long I would be there. Brody and I hadn’t discussed an end date. For now, the plan was that I’d be staying with him until we figured out who the hell was stalking me, which Brody seemed confident we would. I hoped he was right. In the meantime, I still had to let Grier and Sawyer know what was going on and where I would be for the foreseeable future.

With my car out of commission, I had a ride-hailing service drop me off in front of the cafe. A cold, damp wind whipped up The Square from the ocean, and the dark, low-hanging clouds overhead looked like they were ready to burst at any moment. I jammed my hands in my pockets and hunched my shoulders nearly to my ears against the cold.

As I hurried to the cafe door, I glanced across the street at the property where our house used to be. Longing pulled low inside me, and I wished we could go back to how things were just a few months ago, before everything turned so crazy.

Inside the cafe, warm air, fragrant with the scents of fresh coffee and baked goods, wrapped around me, chasing away the chill from outside. It was fairly busy, most of the tables taken and a short line at the counter.

Grier was serving customers at the cash register while Bailey, one of the owners, prepared the drinks. Normally, Grier would have handled both, but with his dominant hand still in a cast, Bailey had taken on the barista duties and left Grier to handle the customer service aspect.

While he still had a limited range of motion, Grier had definitely grown more adept with his cast, using the fingers on his right hand to punch buttons into the register.

Grier grinned when he saw me join the line, and when it was my turn, I ordered an espresso.

“How was your night?” He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Are you and Brody together? I can’tbelieveyou didn’t say anything.”

“Together might be a little ambitious,” I said. Of course, when I explained I would be living with the man for the foreseeable future, it wouldn’t exactly help my argument.

“Congrats, Ahab,” Bailey said, setting my coffee down on the counter with a smirk. “I heard you finally landed your white whale.”

Between being our neighbors for the last few years and Grier working for Bailey and their partner, Lana, since his first year at the university, they’d both become good friends to Grier, Alistair and me. Still, something about their words bothered me.

I knew they were just kidding, but I didn’t like the idea that my friends thought of me hunting Brody so that I could sleep with him and carve another proverbial notch into the proverbial bedpost. I mean, yeah, I’d had a thing for Brody for over three years, but not just because I thought he was hot and wanted to fuck him. Okay, admittedly, that was how it started, but I did genuinely like him. Under the gruff exterior and hard scowls, he was actually kind of sweet and considerate, smart and surprisingly easy to talk to.

“Can I talk to you? Can you take a break?” There was so much to tell Grier. I didn’t want to explain everything that had happened in the last few days, standing in front of the counter while the line behind me grew longer.

Grier turned to Bailey. “Is it okay?”

“Sure. Go ahead. I can manage.” I followed Grier to a table in the back corner and set my coffee down before sitting down. Grier sat opposite me.

“What’s going on?” he asked, frowning. “Are things not going well between you and Brody already?”

“No, things are fine. We’re not serious. He’s doing me a favor by helping me out of a strange situation.”

Grier’s frown deepened. “Whatkindof situation?”

I drew a deep breath, then launched into everything that had happened over the last few days. He knew about the photos, but I told him about the car following me home from Brody’s and then nearly being struck by a car the night before, and even our less than successful visit to the police.

“What the hell, Jett?” Grier leaned closer, worry etched into his features. “Who would do that?”

I took a sip of my coffee, the hot, bitter liquid oddly soothing given the seriousness of our conversation. It was probably a mistake drinking this so late in the afternoon. I’d end up wired tonight, unable to sleep and probably getting on Brody’s nerves.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I think it’s been going on longer than I realized.” I shared my belief that the person who tried to run me over was responsible for the break-ins, the fire, and the injuries to Alistair and him.

“You don’t think this isyourfault, do you?” Grier asked.

I didn’t think, Iknewit was my fault, but I wasn’t going to get hung up on that right now.

“For the next few weeks, I’m going to stay at Brody’s,” I mentioned. Hopefully, it wouldn’t really be that long. “Brody’s going to swing by tonight to pick up some of my things. If you could throw some clothes in a bag for me, that would be great.”

“Wait, what? Why would you move in with Brody? Don’t you think you would be better off with us at the house? Wejusthad that alarm system put in.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to you or Sawyer because of me. I mean, first the fire, then you fall down the stairs. You could have broken your neck.”

Grier leaned closer, his gaze narrowing. “Noneof those things are your fault. Whoever is doing this to you is responsible for what happened. Hell, who could have guessed Alistair would run into a burning building for his cat? Or that I would forget there were stairs behind me when I surprised an intruder? Not your fault in any way.”

“But none of those things would have happened to you or Alistair if some crazy stalker wasn’t slinking around our house or lighting it on fire.”

He rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed. “How long are you going to stay at Brody’s?”

---