Free The Last Husband by J. S. Cooper

stalked you, Lucky.”
    “I
know about the party and Evan.” I stared him down, and if it wasn’t for the
slightest flinch, I would have thought I was wrong. Zane looked at me calmly and
didn’t say a word.
    “Hey,
guys, I think that is my invitation to leave.” Leo jumped up and walked over to
me and gave me a hug. “It was great meeting you. Thank you for a lovely dinner,
and maybe we can hang out again soon?”
    “Thanks.”
I smiled at him weakly, slightly embarrassed. “And sure.”
    “Awesome.”
He kissed my cheek and then turned to Zane. “Remember what I said, man.”
    “I’ll
call you tomorrow.” Zane spoke to him, but his eyes never left mine.
    “Bye,
guys.” Leo walked to the front door and let himself out. I heard the door close
behind him, but still we both remained silent.
    “That
was rude of you.” I couldn’t help myself. “You should have seen Leo to the
door.”
    “He’ll
live.” Zane didn’t blink.
    “Typical
response.” I rolled my eyes. “What do you have to say about the fact that you
were stalking me?”
    “I
didn’t stalk you,” Zane sighed and I watched as he swallowed.
    “Explain
it to me then. I’m extremely curious.” My cheeks were heated and I stood there
staring at him with wide eyes. Tears were threatening to fall and I wanted to
turn away from him, because I didn’t want him to see how he had affected me.
    “Lucky,
I …” He sighed again and stood up and walked over to me. He made a gesture to
bring me into his arms and I pushed him away.
    “No.”
    “I
don’t understand why you’re mad at me.” He pursed his lips.
    “Because
you’re a creeper!” I shouted at him and his eyes darkened. “Are you going to
explain to me what happened or not?”
    “I
didn’t stalk you.” He sighed. “I was hanging out with some friends and your
roommate was there.”
    “Are
you sure you didn’t plan that?”
    “I
didn’t even know she was your roommate.” He looked at me pleadingly. “But she
made some comment about having a roommate named Lucky who worked in a diner,
and I figured out that it was you. She said she didn’t think you’d go to the
party. And I wanted you to go.”
    “I
see.” I continued frowning at him, but I was starting to relax inside.
    “So
I asked Evan to convince her to invite you and bring you to the party.”
    “How
did you know Evan could convince her?”
    “He
has powers of persuasion.” He laughed.
    I
shook my head. “So what was in it for Evan?”
    “An
audition for a movie if you made it to the party.” He smiled.
    “I
did wonder why Evan didn’t seem that interested when Leeza dragged me up
there.” I frowned. “But you never said much to me. Not really.”
    “Evan
texted me when you got to the room, but two things happened.” Zane sighed.
“Angelique wouldn’t leave my side, and you ended up talking to Braydon.”
    “So
you just left me?” For some reason I felt sad.
    “I
watched you like a hawk the whole night.” His voice was hard. “I wanted to
punch Braydon so hard, but I didn’t want to do anything that would make him
suspicious and think that I liked you. So I just watched to make sure nothing
bad happened.”
    “So
you followed me home?” I already knew the answer.
    “I
wanted to make sure Braydon wasn’t following you.” He frowned. “I had no idea
your car was going to break down. I was so angry at you. I kept thinking, what
if Braydon had been there? What if it was him you had to depend on? I wanted to
throttle you.”
    “Yeah,
I could tell you were pissed.” I laughed at him, and I saw him smile back at
me.
    “I
was more than pissed.” He replied. “I was angry that you had spent the whole
night dancing with Braydon and then you gave him your phone number. It should
have been me.”
    “But
we were talking when I first got there, you had your chance.”
    “But
then your friend Leeza came and dragged you away.” He sighed. “And I had to
play along so it didn’t look so obvious.