Page 34 of Stalked

Shannon signaled for me to move my knees over to the side so she could reach for her purse on the hook to grab her fake ID.

The bartender poured me another Moscow Mule and slid it over. Shannon gave me that blank stare she often did when she wanted to judge me but didn’t want to sound like a bitchy parent. I had finished my first drink quickly to soothe my nerves and loosen up after that fight with Caleb.

“Come on, Mercy. We’re not repeating what happened before summer break, are we?” Shannon asked, quirking a dark eyebrow.

I let out a hard chuckle, remembering the party where I had humiliated myself.It seemed so long ago now, but the embarrassment was still there.

“God, no,” I said. “But this is helping me have fun and not give a shit about the rest. This drinkand maybe one more glass before we catch a Lyft home.”

“I like it!” Shannon said, clinking her glass with mine. “While on the subject of feeling free.” She licked her lips and pressed her back into the chair. “So, from what you’ve told me so far, you’ve been followed the last few months by a guy named Caleb and keeping this information from us? You gotta fill me with more information than this, babes.”

I nodded, feeling my cheeks warm from shame and how it wasn’t the entire truth. There was so much more to that than Shannon knew.

“But you know him?” she added.

“Yeah,” I said, wanting desperately to tell her how and the secrets I knew I couldn’t share with her. Not Shannon. Not Cami. They were too worrisome of me to handle something I couldn’t even bring myself to accept.

“Is he dangerous or something?”

“No,” I answered a little too quickly. “I mean, he’s intense and nothing like Riley. Caleb’s kind of an asshole, actually.” My thoughts played out the story I had rehearsed in my mind earlier. “We met through a dating app, but I was too embarrassed to say anything because of Riley. You know?”

“Did you—” She brought her voice to a mere whisper, “Did you cheat on Riley with him? Is that why the two of you broke up?”

“Oh, God, no,” I said, realizing I hadn’t quite thought through my story of lies.

Her expression reminded me I needed to brush up on my line of storytelling if I was going to keep all this from her.

“Caleb wanted to ask me out, but I said no. Then, after Riley and I officially called it quits four months ago, I reached out to him.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” she asked. “It’s not like we’d judge you for wanting to get laid after a breakup.”

I rolled my eyes at her brazen remark.

“I was too embarrassed, to be honest,” I lied. “Riley is your friend too, and I didn’t want it to accidentally slip and get back to him. I’ve hurt him enough as it is.”

“Chicks over dicks, babe,” she said, taking a sip of her cocktail.

I chuckled at her remark. “Anyway, Caleb knew someone was following me because I confided in him about it. He thought he’d keep an eye out.”

“By stalking you too?”

“Well, if you put it that way.”

She huffed. “Sounds like a creep to me.”

The worry in her eyes made me feel like shit for leaving out the most important parts. The last thing I needed was Shannon calling the cops on Caleb to protect me, then him using his powers to escape.

No one needed to get hurt on my behalf.

Then again, she might think I’m crazy if I mention the witch stuff.

I nodded. “Honestly, I’m more worried about Cami than I am about the Caleb situation. I haven’t seen her since I was in the hospital.”

She tapped her fingers on the bar. “At least she texted us back, finally,” she said, waving down the bartender.

As she waited for her drink, she shifted back to me.

“Well, what does this guy look like? Hot, ugly, mediocre looking?” she asked, drawing the topic back to the mystery guy. She wasn’t going to let up.

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