Page 40 of The Write Stuff

“You too.” Wylie pasted what I knew to be a fake smile on her face and watched him go, not moving from my side until he’d disappeared down the hallway that led to the elevator. “Thank you,” she said in a low voice. “You didn’t have to do that, and yet you did.”

“Don’t thank me for doing the bare minimum, Wylie,” I replied in a low voice. “I noticed that guy watching you all through the event. I was already leery of him.”

“You were?” Her eyes were liquid and curious when she angled herself to look up at me. Whether she realized it or not, she hadn’t moved out from under my arm.

“I didn’t like the way he was looking at you,” I acknowledged. “I didn’t realize he’d followed you to the bar, though. I was distracted.”

“You still came.” She beamed at me as if I’d cured cancer or something. “Thanks.”

I held her gaze for a beat and hated the gust of cold that washed over me when she slid out from under my arm. She was going to leave, and this was going to be it. I wouldn’t be able to apologize. She would just go on with her life, on with hating me.

“Wylie,” I called out when she’d made it two steps away.

She looked back, her brow furrowing.

“I’m walking you home.” I didn’t phrase it as a question. I would not let her walk home alone with that guy hanging around. “When the event is over, meet me by the elevators, huh?”

For a moment, I thought she was going to argue with me. Instead, she nodded. “Thank you.” I almost couldn’t hear her when she said it.

“Again, don’t thank me for doing the bare minimum. Just don’t leave without me, okay? It’s important.”

“I won’t.” This time, when she flashed a smile in my direction, it was legitimate. “Thanks, Huxley.”

“You’re welcome.”

I WENT THROUGH THE MOTIONS for the remaining hour of the reader event. I didn’t ignore the readers who were present, but I didn’t go out of my way to engage either. The second the event was over, I hit the bathroom, then moved to the hallway, where I’d instructed Wylie to wait. I was relieved to find her waiting for me.

“Ready?” I asked, trying not to read too much into the relief flowing through me. I would have chased her on foot to get her home safely. She’d waited for me, though. That had to be a good sign, right?

She nodded. “Yes. Thanks again for doing this.”

I hated that she was making me sound like a hero for walking 20 blocks. “Do you need to go to the bathroom or anything?” I prodded, rather than comment on what she’d said.

“I already went.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

We didn’t say goodbye to the others. I had no idea if they’d already left or were watching us amble toward the elevator together. Frankly, I didn’t care. I kept my gaze peeled for Chad when we hit the street, and I was almost positive I saw him down the sidewalk, outside Saddlebags, where there was a line of people waiting to get in.

“Let’s walk down the riverwalk, huh?” I decided, making up my mind on the spot. If this guy was going to follow us, I wanted to be able to see him coming. Either way, I wanted to know.

“Sure.” Wylie’s smile was sweet. “They have an ice cream shop over there, at the hotel.”

That was enough to snap me out of my protective reverie. “What?”

“Ice cream,” she repeated. “I … you probably think ice cream is stupid.”

My heart squeezed at the sadness on her face. Why was I constantly such a dick to her? I couldn’t figure it out. “Ice cream sounds great.”

She perked up. “Really?”

“Really,” I agreed. “We’ll eat it on the riverwalk and talk.”

“You want to talk?” She looked dubious.

That made me grin. “Don’t you think we should?”

“Whenever we talk, it turns into us being mean to each other.”