Anonymous(12)

Owen leans against the wall with his arms crossed, obviously staying out of the way for right now.

“I should’ve told you,” I say softly. “It’s just I knew you’d get all alpha male, and I didn’t think it was a big deal at first, just someone playing games. Then things started getting weird. That’s why I joined the gym. I started getting feelings of being watched when I was out on my runs. It scared me.”

His eyes blaze. “And you didn’t think to tell me this? I’m your fucking husband, Ellie. I’m supposed to know this shit.”

“Calm down, man. This is exactly what she wanted to avoid. Ellie didn’t know it was going to lead to this,” Owen says, trying to smooth things over. Instead, I think it pisses Jake off more.

“What can you do to find this bastard?” Jake demands. “He was at your fucking house and he touched my wife. I’ll kill whoever he is if he so much as comes near her again.”

Owen walks over and sets my phone on the coffee table. Jake picks it up and looks through the last set of text messages, his face clenching as he reads them. Luckily, I haven’t deleted them yet. Maybe they’ll help Owen figure out who it is.

Owen grabs a pen and pad from the kitchen and sits down on the couch. “So, you say this started happening a few months ago?”

I nod. “The first time was back in August. I deleted the first round of texts and blocked the number. Ninety days later, I get more. Those are the ones that are still in my messages. That same day, I went to the cell store and asked them to permanently block it. I tried searching the number myself and it came up as an old, closed down paint store.”

Jake paces the floor. “It has to be one of your exes.”

Owen writes down a few notes and lifts his serious eyes to mine. “The question is . . . which one? I’ve met several of your college boyfriends, just not your high school ones. Are there a couple who really stand out?”

Jake grabs my wrist and turns me to face him. “You have to have an idea of who it is. Didn’t you date a guy who called you non-stop and showed up at your work to follow you home?”

The thought makes me cringe. The girls I worked with even told me he was psycho. “I think Owen remembers that guy. And he does have the same build as the man who bumped into me at the party.”

Owen scoffs. “Who could forget that fucktard. Name’s Travis. I’ll see what I can find out on him.” He writes some more down and looks up. “There are two others though that come to mind, both with the same kind of body type. Can you guess who I’m thinking?”

My chest tightens and I feel sick. Groaning, I fall into my favorite brown leather chair. “Tripp and Bryan. Tripp stalked me until I threatened to put a restraining order on him, and he also threatened to commit suicide unless I stayed with him.”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Jake growls. “What kind of psychotic pieces of shit did you date?”

Owen holds up a hand. “He backed off shortly after that, once I got done with him. Now Bryan, on the other hand, was a different story. She dated him off and on for a while, and ended up staying friends for years after that. Right up until you two started getting serious.”

Jake looks at me and I nod. “You know who Bryan is.”

His jaw clenches. “How can I forget? You used to go out to lunch with him every week, until I told you I didn’t like it. Then the week of our wedding, he tried to get you to leave me.”

Imagine my surprise when I’d opened my emails three days before our wedding, only to find messages from him, declaring his love for me. It’d been a mess. “There was nothing romantic between me and Bryan when I met you,” I say truthfully. “It was all in the past at that point.”

Jake huffs. “Maybe on your end.”

“Bryan was a good guy, but he had his demons. He liked to drink a lot.”

Owen sighs. “He would drunk-dial her all the time. There wasn’t a weekend that went by when she didn’t have a message on her phone from him. He used to always say that they were meant to be together.”

“He did,” I agree, “but he was never aggressive. The text today doesn’t sound like him. It’s something Travis would say.”

“A pussified momma’s boy is what that piece of shit is,” Owen mumbles, before getting up to his feet. He rips his notes off the pad. “Then again, it’s best to research them all. I’ll trace the numbers and see what I can find. I’ll come over this weekend and give you an update.”

“Goddammit!” Jake grumbles. “I’m supposed to fly out to Arizona tomorrow.” He pulls out his phone. “They’re just going to have to deal without me for a while.”

“No.” I rush over and grab his phone. “You can’t do that, Jake. I’ll be fine here for a couple of days. I can always stay with my parents.”

“And I’ll be around too,” Owen offers. “I might even take her to the gun range, so she can practice.”

I glance at Owen and then back to Jake. “See? I’ll be fine.”

Jake doesn’t look convinced. Releasing a heavy breath, he pulls me into his arms. “After this weekend, I’m not going back to Arizona until this is figured out. Promise me, you’ll be safe.”

With tears streaming down my face, I nod and kiss him. “I promise. You know I’m tougher than I look. Whoever this guy is, he’s just playing mind games. I’m not going to let him control my life.”