Page 86 of Hayden's Stalker

My stomach flips, and I remind myself that we’re friends who don’t want to fuck each other.

“Cool. There’s a television near the sofa we can watch it on.”

“Okay, let me get changed and I’ll see you there.”

My cock jerks as I imagine her ‘slipping into something a little more comfortable’…and then into my bed after that, but I manage to keep my shit together as she leaves my room.

I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth, but as I walk back into my bedroom, Tati’s entering it wearing the same outfit she was a few minutes ago.

“You haven’t changed yet?” I smile at her.

“No dice on the movie. Jesse wants to go to sleep,” Tatiana tells me.

Fuck my life.

I realize we’d be free to use the sofa if it weren’t for my screw-up.

“Damn. It’s my fault we can’t watch it, too.”

“I could offer him the bed, but I’d feel like a complete dick telling him that we want to watch a film. It would also meanasking him to sleep in my room when that’s the whole reason he’s on the sofa to begin with,” Tatiana cringes.

I give her a cheeky grin and suggest, “I do have a TV right here if you want to spend some time in my bed.”

“I think you know what I’m going to say to that,” she laughs.

“That you’ll slip into something a little more comfortable and be right back?” I say hopefully.

“That’s what I like about you, Hayden Vega—you’re an optimist at heart. But no, that’s not what I was going to say.”

“Ah, well. It was worth a try. Goodnight, Tati.” I smile at her, pick up my book, and lie back on the bed.

“Night, Hayden.”

I watch Tati leave, saddened that I won’t get to watch the movie with her. It’s more than that, though. It was going to be an opportunity to spend time with her without it being a work thing for her.

I’m getting into my book when my phone buzzes nearby. I ignore it as I finish the page and pick it up just as it buzzes with a reminder of the text. My heart races when I see that it’s a message from Tati.

Are you still awake?

I quickly write a reply, trying to be as casual as I can.

Yes. Why?

I stare at the screen, watching the three dots that show she’s typing, and I smile when her message comes up.

You didn’t send me the pics of April and me.

I flick out of the messages app and go into my photos. I look through them and pick out the ones where she looks the best with April and the ones where I look the best in the pics Heather took of us. I grin as I type out the message to her because I can’t resist teasing her about the fact she only asked for the pics of her and April.

I sent the ones with me in them, even though you didn’t ask for them. I see how it is. You only care about April. You don’t care about me at all.

I’ve been sitting up this whole time, and I relax back against the pillows as I wait to see what she responds with.

I didn’t say that. You know what pic you didn’t send me, though? The one of us twinning.

I go back into my photos and find the picture I took on Friday. She’s so beautiful, and I love our inside joke. My heart pounds even faster as I write a message to send with the photo.

Good times. If you’re still awake, you should come watch the movie with me.

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