THIEF: Part 3 by Kimberly Malone Read Free Book Online

Erin.”
                  “Me, too,” I smile.Great—I know what that means.No second date.I’ve heard it a million times.
                  “Do you…”He pauses.“Would you like to get lunch tomorrow?I don’t have any plans after I help my mom out.”
                  This lifts my spirits.I really like Alex.It’s not the heady rush from my first dates with Silas, that strange summer feeling where time somehow flies by even at a standstill, but it’s a nice feeling, the tingly beginnings of a crush—and I’m not ready to let it go yet.Not when it’s practically all I’ve got going on.
                  “Sure,” I tell him, trying not to sound too eager.I’ve still got to play the game, after all.“Call me when you get done.”
                  He nods, then opens his car door.I wave one last time and turn to head back towards my townhouse, when he calls out, “Erin, wait a sec.”
                  I turn back and stare at him, waiting.He fidgets a little.“Um…okay, so, it’s been a long time…since I’ve had a first date.”He steps closer, closing the gap between us.“I’m not exactly smooth when it comes to this…this, uh—”
                  I laugh and stand on my tiptoes, kissing him.His words get caught in his mouth, his lips relaxing against mine as he bends his head.Gently, he snakes his hands to my neck, his fingers in my hair as the kiss deepens.
                  When we pull apart, just a few centimeters, I whisper, “See you tomorrow.”
                  Alex smiles in a way that tells me he feels it too, the tingly, dizzy crush-beginning feeling.“Okay,” he says quietly.“Goodnight, Erin.”
                  “Goodnight, Alex.”
                  I wink as I turn around and head back to my townhouse.I watch him leave from the porch, his headlights blinking at me in the last few seconds before he’s out of sight, on the main road.
                  It’s when I open the door, one foot inside my home, that I hear it: the low rumble of an engine, just a few feet behind me.
                  When I turn to look, all I see is a car surrounded with exhaust, hanging low in the summer-to-fall heat, the driver a tall, broad-shouldered figure.I can’t tell, but it looks like they’re looking at me.Watching me.
                  Before I can see who it is, the car’s headlights turn on and blind me.Its engine revs, but the car stays put.
                  My first thought is Gordon.I wouldn’t put stalking past him, but I'm not eager to go and find out for sure, either.
                  I can feel my muscles tensing; suddenly, all I want to do is get inside my house, lock the doors, and feel safe under a blanket on the couch, a knife from the kitchen stashed under a magazine on the table.But I hold back, trying to enter as casually as I can.The deadbolt locks with an assuring click.
                  Still, the car doesn’t move.I see its headlights shining through the curtains, can hear the engine even when I take the TV off mute.
                  I’m not afraid of Gordon anymore.My words to Silas seemed so true at the time, but after seeing his face in the courtroom, I’m not so sure I shouldn’t be afraid.
                  Finally, the lights swing left, and the engine’s rumble fades.I go to the window and peer out through the tiniest gap in the curtain I can make.
                  The spot’s empty.
                  I go to my door and look through the peep hole: nothing.
                  For some reason, though, I don’t feel safe.I just feel more alone than ever—more than every night between Silas leaving and this one, combined.
                  Got a kiss, I text Fiona.She doesn’t text back.
     
     
     

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