Not only had Aly not done any of those things, but she hadn’t even told me to stop spying on her.
I palmed my erection through my shorts. She was into it. She might still be trying to convince herself she wasn’t or shouldn’t be, but she was. I just knew it. Somehow, I’d find a way to get her to accept it about herself.
She leaned in again and sent me a wink through the camera that had me gripping the base of my dick so hard it almost hurt. “See you soon,” she threatened before lifting the tape.
Sooner than you think, baby, I thought as the screen went dark. Last night, I’d formulated another plan for breaking into her house, but now I had a better idea, where she’d have just as much control as I would.
I slid my hand beneath my waistband and idly stroked my dick, tipping back in my chair. Aly might have temporarily blocked me from looking at her, but I still had a window open that mirrored her computer screen. Her next Google search was for how to turn off her camera entirely. I followed along as she went through the steps, letting out an exhale when she was finished. She’d killed the video feed but hadn’t disabled the microphone. I heard rustling through it, wondering what she was doing before the quiet sound of a phone ringing hit my ears.
Who was she calling?
An all too familiar voice picked up. “Aly?”
I yanked my hand away from my dick. She’d called Tyler? What the fuck?
And why did I suddenly want to drive to his office and punch him in the face?
Get ahold of yourself, I thought. He’s your best friend.
“Tyler, hi,” Aly said. “Sorry for calling you out of nowhere. I’m not about to beg you to reconsider breaking things off or anything, but I have sort of a weird favor, and if this is crossing a line, feel free to tell me to fuck off.”
“Okaaay?” Tyler said. I recognized that tone of voice. He didn’t believe her. He totally thought she was about to proposition him.
Aly took a deep breath. “I feel like I remember you saying your roommate was good with computers?”
Oh.
Fuck.
No.
She wasn’t about to…
She couldn’t really be…
Tyler blew out a laugh, sounding relieved. “He is. Why?”
“Could he find someone for me? Online? I have a bit of a situation here.”
Fuck!
I was a danger, after all. To Tyler. Because I was going to kill him for telling her that much about me.
The humor was gone from my roommate’s voice when he responded. “What kind of situation? Are you okay?”
“Uh…” Aly said, and I wished I could see her face. “I think so? Actually, I’d know for sure if your roommate could find this person.”
I jerked to my feet and threaded my hands behind my head. This was bad. This was sooo bad.
“Aly. Seriously,” Tyler said. “If someone threatened you or something, you should go to the cops, not my roommate.”
“I haven’t been threatened.” A long pause. “I don’t think.”
Goddamnit. If I knew Tyler, he was about to offer to handle things himself.
Right on cue, he said, “Just tell me what you need, and Josh and I will take care of it. Between the two of us, we’ll make whoever it is regret being born.”
“I can handle this,” Aly said, a hint of annoyance creeping into her tone. “I just need to find the person. That’s all. Can Josh help me or not? I’ll pay him.”
There went my dick, tenting up my shorts again the second she said my name.
“Save your money,” Tyler said. “I’m sure he’ll do it for free.”
I nearly flipped my fucking desk. Great. There was no getting out of helping Aly now. At least not without seeming like a monumental asshole and making Tyler question why I’d turn her down. It would look suspicious as fuck if I said no.
Aly let out a sigh. “Thank you. Just let me know a good time to come over.”
Come over? Come over here?
I whipped my head to the left, toward the distinctive couch along the far wall that I heavily featured in my videos, then to my bed and the stupid fucking custom headboard I just had to commission because I couldn’t go to Ikea like everyone else on the goddamn planet. No, I had to be special. Unique.
Aly was smart. She’d probably worked out that I lived nearby. The second she stepped inside my room, I’d be fucked.
“I’ll talk to him after work and let you know,” Tyler said.
“Okay. Thank you for this.”
They got off the phone, and I started pacing, feeling like a caged animal. No need to panic. I could figure this out. For starters, Aly couldn’t come in here. That much was obvious. Nor could she get a good look at my hands. My tattoos were just as distinctive as my furniture choices, and they crawled all the way down to my knuckles. Thankfully, I had a pair of fingerless gloves. I’d chuck them on before she arrived, and if she asked why I was wearing them, I’d tell her I was cold.
I paused in my pacing and grabbed my phone to start planning everything I’d need to do to avoid detection.
I’d have to turn the thermostat down to sell the lie about being chilly. I’d need to move my laptop into the living room and work from there instead of on my desktop. And I’d definitely need to swap the Utah dad I’d framed for someone within driving distance if I was going to pretend to track myself down.
My fingers flew over my phone as I made a list in the note app. I was nothing if not organized.
By the time I had it all written out in front of me, I felt marginally better. This wasn’t a total disaster, and on the plus side, I’d have a reason to spend time with Aly, learn more about her, and get a better read on what she thought about the situation I’d dragged her into.
I slipped my phone into my pocket when I was done, still feeling jittery. I had to get out of there and clear my head.
A glance at my computer showed me the sound monitor tied to Aly’s laptop was still measuring noise, so she hadn’t closed it. I sent the feed to my tablet, grabbed that along with my keys and wallet, pulled on sweatpants and a jacket, and headed out.
I connected the tablet to my car speakers through Bluetooth as the engine roared to life and I waited for the heat to kick on, listening in as Aly moved about her house. Just in case she walked into her bedroom, I set my phone in its dashboard holder and pulled up the feed for the hidden camera.
Mobile stalking unit: activated.
I felt proud of myself for all of a second before I realized what a creep this probably made me. Despite knowing I should feel guilty and wrong for what I was doing, I didn’t. All I could drum up was a slight hint of regret, but even that didn’t make me want to stop. At this point, only law enforcement or Aly telling me to fuck off would be enough to put an end to my behavior.
I hoped.
Twenty minutes later, I was driving past Aly’s house for the second time, laughing to myself as she spammed my DMs. My first present had arrived, and she was not amused.
Flowers? she asked. You bought me fucking flowers after breaking into my house?
Also, what the hell am I supposed to do with an entire floral shop???
These delivery men are telling me that it’s against policy for them to take them back since they’ve been paid for.
If you meant this as an apology, you failed.
I’m madder at you now than I was last night.
That last statement piqued my interest. She was more annoyed by flowers than a home invasion? Yup, Aly was fucked up, and she probably didn’t even realize how much her comments revealed because she was still trying to convince herself she didn’t want this.