Zoey“Mate.”It slid under my skin and hit some fuse I did not order off the menu. Heat flared low and sharp, my knees turned into unreliable narrators, and my brain flailed for the emergency lever labeled DEFLECT WITH HUMOR.“Hard pass,” I blurted, backing into the nearest tree so I could pretend I’d meant to stop. “Look, congratulations on your vocabulary. But ‘mate’ is a lot for a first conversation. I usually prefer to start with ‘hi, I’m Zoey’ and work slowly up to ‘what are your thoughts on pineapple on pizza.’”His gaze flicked down my body and back up, not leer-y, just… assessing. The way a general might look at a battlefield. “Zoey,” he said, tasting the vowels like he’d owned them longer than I had.Wait… did I just tell him my name?“Great,” I said, breathless. “Add ‘stalker’ to your resume.”He came one step closer. He didn’t crowd me. He let the air do that for him, which felt both polite and like a trap.“You don’t belong here,” he said quietly.“Finally,” I exhaled. “So
Last Updated : 2025-09-11 Read more