Page 103 of Secret Shifters Next Door

The tone of his voice made it sound like he thought I was being unreasonable. I wondered how he’d feel if a fucking bullhorn woke him up an hour early every day. I’d bet his ass would be as angry as I was.

“I don’t know, Steff. Maybe his routine can change. Ever heard of training? Train him to go out later. Hell, at least wait until the sun is fully up.”

“That’s not possible. You see, unlike you, I have a job, and I have to be there early.”

Had that been a jab? It felt like a jab. Who the fuck did he think he was?

“Maybe earplugs would be a good investment,” Steff said as he pulled his shirt over his head.

“Oh my god,” I shouted, throwing my hands into the air. “You know, I don’t remember you being such an asshole. What the hell happened to you?”

My words had no effect on him. I shook my head. “I really wonder what I saw in you all those years ago.”

Without waiting for him to say anything, I clutched my robe and turned to leave. I felt his eyes on me as I left, and I had to suppress the urge to flip him off. It took everything I had not to slam the door as I went inside. That would have given him the satisfaction of knowing he’d really gotten to me. Instead, I closed it slowly, latched it, and leaned my back on the door. Why couldn’t he be reasonable?

An hour later, Steff pulled out of his driveway and disappeared down the road. Now that there was no chance of me running into him, I got ready and headed out for the day. I’d been cooped up in the house all week because I’d wanted to get settled into my new place, but by now I was going stir crazy. The first strands of depression were starting to worm their way into my mind. Plus, all I had for company was Barkey McBarker and Asshole McDouchebag. I needed to get out. Plus, as much as I hated to admit it, the earplugs Steff had casually suggested actually sounded like a good idea.

Once I was ready, I made my way into my new rental car. Larry had had it delivered a day or two before so I could have a way to get around without calling one of my brothers for a ride. After pulling out of my driveway, the first thing I noticed was a black sedan that appeared behind me. It seemed to come from nowhere. Frowning, I turned onto the main street, and the sedan matched me. The first hints of fear had started to bloom in my chest when my phone rang. It was Larry.

“How are you doing, April?”

“Uh… fine, what’s up?”

“The bodyguards told me you’d finally left the house. I wanted to check on you.”

“Bodyguards? What bodyguards?”

“The black car following you. I flew out some guys who’d been on your security detail before. They’ve been watching over your house. I told them to keep tabs on you if you left. Make sure no weirdos were bothering you.”

After the morning I’d had, this was more irritating than it normally would have been. “Larry, don’t you think that’s something you should have told me about? I freaked out when I noticed a car tailing me.”

The silence on the other end of the phone told me Larry hadn’t even considered the possibility that I would have gotten scared of an unknown car following me around town.

“Oh, geez, April, I didn’t think. It’s okay. I’ll contact them, make sure they pull back a little. Give you some room. We’ve always done this in the past, and I never passed it by you. So, I just scheduled it.”

I couldn’t argue with that. For years, there’d been a security team around me day and night, and he’d never run it by me. It had become standard operating procedure. Larry didn’t see anything between long nights of fashion shows and partying in Vegas and lazy days reading books on my porch in Lilly Valley.

I sighed. “It’s fine, Larry. But yeah, if you could have them give me a bit of breathing room that would be nice.”

“You got it, sweetheart. On it.”

Less than a minute after hanging up, the car in my rearview dropped way back. They were still there, and I’m sure the guys still had eyes on me, but I felt much less suffocated. I took a breath and continued on my way.

I passed the elementary school and the high school on my way out of town. There was a department store right outside town. Lilly Valley was too small to support it on its own, so thestore had been built between the three nearest towns, and still only a twenty-minute drive from my new house.

Once inside, I made my way to the back of the store. Earplugs would work, or maybe noise-canceling headphones. Either would do, but I thought music might drown out the sound better. I was right in the middle of comparing two different brands of headphones when I bumped into someone who was browsing behind me.

“Oh, crap, I’m sorry I wasn’t?—”

“April?”

I blinked and smiled. It was the guy from the bar. Ryland. This was the thing about living in small towns—in LA, I never would have bumped into him by chance.

I shook my head in an effort to suppress my surprise. “Ryland? Hey, uh, how are you?”

“I’m good. Weird running into you here.”

“Same. Isn’t it a school day?”

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