Chapter 11
ELEVEN
Zara
I literally have no friends to call and discuss tonight’s happenings. Meanwhile, I am about to have a heart attack as I go over everything that went on with Kyle.
First, we had a very enjoyable dinner. He seemed normal, albeit a bit of a bum. I didn’t get to ask him what he does for a living, but based on the things he shared with me over our meal, I came to the conclusion that ambition is not his number one trait.
I can’t say that I am actually bothered by that considering I only have to see him a handful of times. Besides, it’s not like my brother and his friends are going to grill him over what his occupation is or why he doesn’t want more out of life. They won’t care because this is only a dare.
I do however care about them believing I scored this date with Kyle on my own and not through some random fake dating site. It gives me the chills just thinking that I did such a thing. Never in a million years did I think that I’d ever get on dating site.
Fake dating site, Zara, I remind myself. It’s all fake.
I think about all this through my entire nightly routine of brushing my teeth, scrubbing my face clean and running a brush through my hair. I already took a shower as soon as I got home, foregoing washing my hair because I have a schedule for that, and tonight wasn’t a hair washing night.
After putting my flannel pajamas on, I walk back to the living room to make sure I plugged in my cell phone. I always make sure it’s actually charging because I find the cords to be unreliable. Just because you plug it in, it doesn’t automatically guarantee charging.
Just as I pick it up to check on the battery status, it starts ringing in my hand.
I am so startled by the sound that I drop it on the couch.
Since it landed face up, I can see the number on the screen, which I do not recognize.
It must be a robo-call, but then again, they never call this late at night.
I take a deep breath in, then let it out, bracing myself for impact. With trembling fingers, I pick up the phone and slide the bar over so I can answer the call.
“Hello?” I don’t sound confident at all.
“Zara,” a much stronger voice greets me. “This is Kyle. From earlier,” he explains when I don’t react. And like I wouldn’t know which Kyle it is. Like I know that many Kyles.
“Yes, how can I help you?”
I literally cringe at hearing my own voice. I sound bitchy and all hoity toity, as my mother would say. Fortunately, Kyle doesn’t seem to take it personally.
“Well, you said I could call you to further discuss our arrangement.”
“Yes…”
“So I’m calling,” he says in a very cheery tone.
This is throwing me for a loop. “I-I meant to call me sometime next week, maybe. Or, or…”
“I thought tonight would be good because all the information from earlier is still fresh in our minds,” he says.
“Oh, well…” I huff and look around in confusion. “Fresh is good.”
I want to slap myself for that line. He’s going to think I am stupid. Then again, I already gave him that impression when I froze with my tongue out earlier when we were kissing. So, we should be good on that front.
“Did you want to talk about anything specifically?”
“Yes,” comes his quick response. “And if you open the door, we can discuss it face to face.”
With the phone still glued to my ear, I turn around, expecting to see Kyle standing in my living room.
“What door?” I whisper, worried that someone outside will actually hear me.
“Your front door,” Kyle explains. “Unless there’s another Zara Bray attached to this address, which would make things uncomfortable if I am standing in front of someone else’s door right now.”
“You are at my front door?” I squeak. “Right now?”
There’s a long pause, which only serves to cause me more anxiety.
“Now that you mention it,” Kyle chuckles awkwardly. “This may not have been the best idea I’ve ever had. I just…” He sighs into the phone. “I hated seeing you leave earlier. You said I should call, so… I’m calling.”
I push a hand into my hair. “I meant for you to call me on my phone, Kyle. Not show up at my house late at night. Especially since I didn’t even give you my address. How did you know where I live?”
“Well…” He clears his throat a couple of times. “I know my way around a computer. And honestly, you were not hard to find, which should really concern you. All I had to do was enter your phone number, and I got all your information, down to your date of birth.”
“What?” The more he talks, the worse it gets.
“Yeah, it’s all public information. Unless you block it,” he adds.
“How do I block it?”
“Open the door and I’ll show you,” he teases.
I instinctively walk across the living room, and, before long, I find myself standing in front of the door. Apparently, Kyle is on the other side of it, and he’s expecting for me to let him in.
“Just so you know,” I tell him, hand on the door handle. “That my brother is a first responder, and he knows a lot of people. If you hurt me, he will find you. And he will make you regret it.”
“I swear I’m not here to hurt you,” he promises. The serious tone of his voice gives me no choice but to believe him. “I will give you my own address so you have it,” he continues. “And you can show up whenever you want to.”
Biting on my lower lip, I close my eyes and lower by head, unsure of what to do here. Why would I trust someone whom I just met for the first time earlier today?
With my hand wrapped around the doorknob, I take a deep breath, still hesitating about this.
Nothing good can come out of this, can it?
Besides, what kind of a person follows someone home like this?
He is a psychopath, and I will live to regret this.
If I come out of it alive, I will have to look up the odds of something like this happening to me.
Out of all the people in the world who are on this app, I end up with the crazy one. Why?
I yank the door open, like I am about to take him by surprise. Too late I realize that I should have texted Owen before opening the door, just to give him a heads-up and have him check in on me.
The breath gets knocked out of me when I see Kyle’s face. I don’t know how, but he looks more handsome now than he did earlier at the restaurant. As I run my eyes up and down his body, I notice that he’s still wearing the same clothes as before. So then, why is he looking so much better?
“I’m going to hang up now,” I say into the phone. When I bring it down to disconnect the call, I feel so silly.
I suddenly remember what I’m wearing, which only helps to add a new level of anxiety to this entire thing. Deciding that I will not show Kyle that, I cross my arms over my chest and stare him down.
“What is it that you need to discuss?” I ask.
Kyle, to his credit, looks away bashfully. His hair falls over his eyes, making me want to run my fingers through it as I push it away.
“Can I come in?”
My eyes widen in surprise. I guess I was expecting him to tell me what he wants from the doorway. Now he wants to come in. At least I don’t have to worry about my apartment looking messy because that never happens. I always put all my stuff away, and I vacuum twice a week.
I take a couple of steps to the side, allowing him to enter.
I just hope I won’t live to regret it. Seriously, I don’t know what I’m thinking letting him come into my house of my own free will.
When they find my body, they will do a special on Dateline where the narrator will be wondering out loud where my mind was when I did that.
“I know this is really weird,” Kyle says once he stepped inside, and I closed the door behind him. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
I am back to standing awkwardly with my arms over my chest. And, oh my God, I don’t have a bra on. That means I can’t move my arms. At all.
“The fact that you looked me up and found my address is freaking me out, Kyle.”
His face is a mask of surprise when he stares at me. “I swear that I didn’t have to do anything other than type your phone number into my browser.”
“And it gave you my address?” My eyebrow raises and the skepticism in my tone is real.
“Yes, I’ll show you!”
He taps on his phone, turning it around to show me while holding the business card I gave him earlier, as he enters my phone number.
“Whoa,” I murmur as soon as my name and address pops up. A couple of lines down, I also see my age. “This is freaky. What site did you go to?”
“No site, I swear.” He looks around as he tries to spot something. “I’ll show you. Where’s your phone?”
Since I don’t have a choice, I uncross my arms, hunching my shoulders over, hoping that he won’t notice my lack of undergarments under the flannel pajama top.
“Uh, I’m holding it.” I wave it to show him.
Kyle’s eyes widen in excitement. “Open your browser and put your number in.”
I do as directed, holding my breath while the little wheel is spinning. Once the page loads, I am shocked to see the same information that was showing on Kyle’s phone.
“This is crazy,” I gasp in shock. “Anyone could find me like this!”
Kyle shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Anyone with internet access,” he agrees.
I stare at him, feeling like my eyes are about to fall out of my head.
“This is terrifying, Kyle! I don’t want strangers to have access to my information like that!”
I continue staring at my phone as I try my hardest to process everything. I guess I’ve been too na?ve in thinking this was not a thing.
“What’s your phone number?” I ask him.
Kyle is a bit confused but there is no hesitation in his voice when he gives it to me. I wait for the page to load, but it is mostly full of random information when it does so.
“I must’ve missed a digit. What was it again?”
We repeat the process, and once again I get nothing.
“Are you giving me the wrong number on purpose?” I snap at him.
He snorts. “No. Call it.”
I switch to the screen that allows me to dial the number. First, I look at the number he called me from. It’s the same as what he just told me to look up. I press dial, then wait. The phone in Kyle’s hand starts buzzing.
“I wouldn’t give you a fake number, doll,” he smirks at me. “What would the point in that be?”
“Why are you not showing online like I do?” I sound as suspicious as I feel, and I’m not even trying to hide it.
“I hid all that.” He once again shrugs like it’s nothing. “I can hide yours, too, if you want. It’s actually really easy.”
I have no idea what to say to that. I stare at him, getting distracted by how handsome he is. Some would say he is even pretty. I still think he needs a haircut, I think that would enhance his handsomeness.
“Why did you follow me home, Kyle?”
Now that we got past the whole process of him finding where I live, I am back to being nervous about having him in my home. I haven’t even had time to process the events from dinner yet.
“I told you; I wanted us to talk.” He pushes his hair back. “You said we needed to talk. Why not tonight?”
“Because I wasn’t expecting you to show up at my house unannounced.”
He grins. “But I did announce myself. I called first.”
“From outside my front door!” I throw my arms out. “That’s not announcing yourself, Kyle!”
He watches me with a shit eating grin that suddenly disappears.
“I came looking for you because I had an incredible time at dinner tonight. And I didn’t want to give you any time to think things through and flake on me.”
“Flake on you?” I ask in disbelief. “What does that even mean?”
He chuckles. “It’s something my dad used to say when he thought I’d fail to follow through with something I’d committed to.”
My mouth drops open in shock. “You think I would flake on you?”
Kyle smiles, this time it’s a sweet smile, something I can’t even explain.
“No, I actually think you are a very responsible person. I think you’d follow through on your promise no matter what.”
“Damn right I would.” I bob my head up and down in agreement, realizing that I sound like my brother now.
“But…” Kyle takes three steps forward, just enough to get as close to me as he possible can without stepping on my bare toes.
He stares at me like he wants to kiss me, but I can’t be sure since I’ve never been in this type of a situation before. Worse yet, I think I want him to kiss me and I don’t know how to ask him to go for it.
I suddenly feel too hot in the flannel pajamas I got on. I don’t know what possessed me to put them on after my shower. Why couldn’t I be normal and throw a bra on, with a classy blouse and maybe even a skirt.
That would be weird though, wouldn’t it? It sounds too much like work attire, and there would be no reason for me to dress like that when I should be getting ready for bed.
“But what?” I finally ask, my mouth dry, to the point where my tongue feels like it could get stuck onto the roof of my mouth.
He brings a hand up and cups my right cheek, his thumb moving in a hypnotic move up and down before brushing slowly against my bottom lip.
I hold my breath as I watch his eyes getting dilated while he stares at my mouth. He has incredible eyes, so blue, I could lose myself in them. I have never felt like I would die if someone didn’t kiss me.
Kyle is not just some random someone. He is a man I felt an instant connection with the second we met, which was only a few hours ago. That’s probably why I am so discombobulated and unsure of what to say or do.
“But I didn’t want you to forget our kiss.”
I am so focused on everything that I am feeling in his presence that I almost miss his words.
“It was an okay kiss,” I whisper.
I try to be sarcastic and like I don’t know what he’s talking about, but he can see right through me. My response makes his eyes sparkle, like I’ve thrown down a challenge that he is totally up for.
“Allow me to remind you.”