Page 52 of The Stalker

Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she couldn’t bear to look at him, but she couldn’t resist, either. She darted a glance in his direction and he was looking thoroughly amused.

“Yes. I suppose, objectively, my friends are ridiculously hot.” He seemed to be letting her off the hook.

Instead of being grateful and taking this win, Tatiana asked, “Which one is the hottest in your opinion?”

Hayden. Hands down. The others were all gorgeous, of course, but he was next level sexy with his amazing personality.

You’re not meant to be answering that question, Tatiana. If he asks, say Sebastian.

She realized with horror that she’d promised she would never lie to him. If he asked this question, she could not answer him.

“Well, I mean, Seb has that whole bad boy thing going on, right? Even now he’s settled down, he just looks like trouble, which we all know is because he is,” Hayden laughed.

“Definitely,” Tatiana agreed.

“Meanwhile, Harrison has that whole sweet puppy dog thing going on. Like, you could take that man home to meet mamá and she would start talking seating charts.”

Tatiana burst into laughter as she pulled up at a stop light.

She turned to Hayden and said, “Well shit, I’d never considered it, but yes. One thousand percent correct there.”

“But the hottest is definitely Gabriel. Hear me out. He has a man bun, yes, but I like long hair, and I’ve always been very partial to blondes.”

He was looking into her eyes, and Tatiana could’ve sworn that her heart stopped beating. She couldn’t breathe. Her mouth had gone completely dry, too. She knew that she should look away, like…yesterday. But she couldn’t. His gaze held her firm, and she was frozen and unable to respond as his words ricocheted through the air around them.

There was a loud honking from a car behind them, and Tatiana gasped before she looked forward to see that the light had turned green and there was a massive empty space between their car and the intersection.

She put the car into gear as she took off and finally managed to claw some words out of her brain to say to him. “Of course, that makes sense. Blake is blonde.”

-

Dear Hayden,

You are a beautiful soul. Your light brightens the world and you make people happy, most of all me. I could not ask for a better partner in life, my love. I am grateful that our hearts have chosen one another.

To find someone to be with in this life is such a rarity, and to be connected to someone who is as amazing as you is an honor.

Keep smiling and shine brightly.

XOXO

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