Page 83 of Blindsided

I’m relaxed back on my couch, tracking her movements with suppressed amusement. She’s yelled at me once already for snickering at her distress.

I’ve told her she’s being ridiculous, and that got a pillow thrown at my head. After that, I decided to sit back and let her do her thing. Sergio sits next to me, his yellow eyes watching his mom as she walks back and forth.

Every few passes, she’ll walk up to the island in the kitchen, pause at her computer for a few seconds, then turn around and continue pacing.

“You’re going to wear a hole in the carpet if you keep walking the same path,” I say.

“I’ll buy you a new rug,” she grunts.

I bite the inside of my cheek to hold back my smile. She’s so fucking cute. I swear.

She’s been fretting over setting a preorder date for the last three months. It took about a month after everything happened with her stalker for her to get back into writing, and then something amazing happened. Once she started, she couldn’t stop writing. She finished the last half of the book in a matter of weeks, and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever read. I may be a smidge biased, but I also know books. Hers is incredible. But Tilly has a whole lot of doubt about it now that it’s complete.

Ignoring her threats of bodily harm, I stand from the couch and step into her path.

She startles out of her anxiety spiral, her worried brown eyes meeting mine. They narrow on my face as if my interrupting her pacing is going to ruin her day.

I squeeze her biceps in an effort to provide some comfort. “What are you truly worried about?”

“That I’ll miss the deadline.”

“Your manuscript is already done and edited. I’ll make sure it’s uploaded to all the retailers in time. What else?”

“That no one will buy it.”

“Do you plan on not following through on all the marketing videos you’ve been watching?”

“No, but just because I have the knowledge doesn’t mean it’ll work,” Tilly snips.

“And it may not, pretty girl. But you’re also incredibly intelligent and will adjust when it’s necessary,” I remind her.

Tilly wrings her hands together.

“What if people hate it?” she whispers. Vulnerability fills her eyes, making my heart squeeze.

“Some will, Tills. Do you love every book you read? How many of the books that you didn’t finish had people who loved them?”

“The majority of them, I’m sure.”

“Exactly. Your book won’t be for everyone, but on the flip side, there will be plenty of people who will devour it. Now, what needs to happen in order for people to read it?”

“I have to submit it,” she grumbles.

“Mm-hmm.” I turn her around by her shoulders and push her into the kitchen. She half-heartedly fights me until we get to the island. “Do you want me to do it for you?”

“Can we do it together?” She looks over her shoulder at me.

“Absolutely.” With Tilly’s hand on top of mine, I navigate the mouse to the little yellowSubmit for Preorderbutton on the site. I click the mouse, and aCongratulationswindow pops up.

“Holy shit, it’s happening,” Tilly says.

I chuckle, shaking my head at her. “You’re damn right, it’s happening. Now, we have dinner in twenty minutes at my parents’ house.”

“What?” Tilly screeches.

“Hey, you threw pillows at me when I tried to help move things along. Go get dressed.” I slap her on the ass, and she squeals as she races upstairs to get ready.

These past few months have been hard. Every time we think we’ve put the stalking behind us, something pops up like an evil clown. At first, it was continuous evidence being found on all the women Tag hurt while he waited to make his move on Tilly. Interviews with Tag led us to find out it took him about six months to find out where Tilly lived after Veronica forced him to leave. He told the police that he hacked into his mom’s emails to find out what her schedule would be, and it took another six months for him to make contact.

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