Until May (Until Her/Him #11)(67)

“So three hours.”

“What?” She tips her head to the side.

“I have to keep my hands off you for three hours.”

“Yes.” She shifts on her heels while her pupils dilate, and I take a step toward her but stop when her cell rings in the bedroom.

“If that’s someone calling to make plans for tomorrow, tell them we’re busy.”

“I will.” She laughs, walking past me, and I follow her into the room and watch her pick up her phone. “It’s Kenton.” Her worried eyes meet mine.

“Answer it, baby,” I tell her gently.

“Hey, Uncle Kenton.” She takes a seat on the side of the bed and drops her eyes to the floor. “What does that mean?” she asks, then she lifts her chin, meeting my gaze. “Is he sure the IP address is connected to the school?” She bites her lip. “No, no one; it doesn’t even make sense. Okay, sure, thank you. I’ll talk to you soon.” Her shoulders sag as she hangs up the call, and I squat in front of her, taking her hands in mine. “Justin was able to finally trace the IP address that the person used to sign up for the dating site, and whoever it was used the school’s network.” Her head comes up. “So Mike is someone I know… or someone who knows me.”

“Is he sure?”

“He wouldn’t have called to tell me unless he was sure,” she whispers, and my jaw clenches as rage floods my veins. For weeks, she’s unknowingly come into contact with someone who is very obviously obsessed with her.

“You need to call and tell your boss you can’t help out tonight.”

“I can’t do that. She’s already short-staffed.” She shakes her head as I push up to stand. “And Kenton is calling the detective on our case to give him the information, so hopefully he’ll find the person.”

“That’s all great, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re in danger now.”

“No, you’re in danger.” She gets up and walks out of the room and my fists clench.

“This person might want to hurt me, but who the fuck knows what they want to do to you? You’re not going.”

“I’m going. There will be lots of people there tonight. I won’t be alone.”

“Do you honestly think that I’m letting you go without me?”

“Yes, because you are the one he wants to hurt.” She grabs her bag, then turns to face me, crossing her arms over her chest.

“No fucking way. Either I go with you as planned, or we both stay here.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m being ridiculous?” I bark out a humorless laugh. “Doll, we just found out that the person stalking you works at your school, and you’re fighting with me, because you want to go to the fucking school.”

“Nothing is going to happen.” She spins on her heels and heads out the door, leaving me no choice but to follow.

“If something happens tonight, I’m going to lose my shit,” I growl, opening the passenger door of my truck for her to climb in.

“Nothing is going to happen.” She looks down at me, and I see something working behind her eyes that sets me on edge.

“What are you up to?”

“Nothing.” She turns, placing her feet in the car. “We really need to go before we’re late.”

“Right.” I press the button on the key fob that will arm the alarm while we are away, then get in behind the wheel and drive us to the high school, wondering what the fuck is wrong with me.

_______________

“WHAT DO YOU think the chances are they’d notice if we took off?” Tony asks, and I drag my eyes off May and Toya, who got roped into doing some dance with a group of girls, to look at him.

“They’d spot us before we even made it to the door.”

“That’s what I figured,” he grumbles, and I grin as I scan the room, not sure what I’m looking for. When we arrived, May introduced me to the teachers who were helping out this evening, four women and three men who all seemed nice enough.

“So you’ve known May for a while. Can you think of anyone who’s had a crush on her?” I ask Tony, and he frowns.

“You mean besides Zach, who you met.”

“Yeah, besides him.”

“I don’t know. She’s a cute girl, so I imagine that list is pretty long.”

“That’s what I figured,” I mutter, scanning the dance floor for May when I notice she’s no longer with Toya.

“Why do you ask?” he questions as I spot her across the room, disappearing out one of the side doors.

“Fuck, I’ll be back.” I take off across the gym and shove open the door she just left out of, finding the hallway empty. When I hear a door shut to the right, I head that direction and look into each classroom as I pass, searching for any sign of her.

“Hey, is everything okay?” I turn at that question and find a kid standing at the end of the hall wearing a tux and recognize him from May pointing him out earlier in the evening and explaining he’s one of the seniors who helps her out in the library.

“Have you seen Ms. Mayson?”

He looks around, then shakes his head. “No, wasn’t she in the gym?”