Read Online Honored: An Alpha Mob Romance (City Series Book 4) by B. B. Hamel - Free Book Online

hard cash.”
    We both laughed, and I ate my ice cream, looking across the street at a small park. I wondered what Liam was up to, and if his emergency had been taken care of yet. I hadn’t seen him after school, though I had stayed late in my classroom talking to some parents, but I wished I had caught him. Even though he was a huge asshole for ditching me, I still liked to be close to him.
    I finished up my cone in silence as Chelsea went on a tirade about some older partner that was constantly borderline sexual harassing her. I felt bad that she had to deal with that stuff, although I was constantly ignoring iffy comments from married dads all the time. We stood up and began walking back toward our neighborhood as the sun slowly began to dip below the horizon.
    I felt better after talking to Chelsea. Although we had grown apart lately, despite her moving into my neighborhood, she was still my best and closest friend. The sting of Liam standing me up didn’t seem that bad after spending some time with her. Plus, she was all about calling him a dickhead, which I couldn’t disagree with. She was a no bullshit kind of person, and I loved that about her.
    As we turned into the few blocks that made up our tiny little section of the city, a car caught my eye. A block back, a van was crawling along the street, tailing us. I could have sworn it was the same van I had been seeing all over the place lately, though all creeper vans looked exactly the same.
    “What’s the matter?” Chelsea said, looking concerned.
    I caught myself and realized I had been staring behind us.
    “Oh, it’s nothing.”
    She looked down the street. “Are you staring at that van?”
    “It just looks familiar is all.”
    “It just looks creepy, you mean,” she said, turning away from it.
    I laughed and mentally kicked myself. I probably looked like an absolute crazy person. As we turned the corner, I watched the van glide past my block, heading south. I let out a huge breath. I was definitely overreacting to it. Something about the way the car was driving so slowly behind us made me feel paranoid, although I had no real reason to worry about it. I hadn’t thought much about vans and crazy guys dumping weird packages into the river lately, and I shouldn’t let myself get caught back up in that.
    “Okay, this is where I say goodbye,” Chelsea said, standing at the intersection of our streets.
    “We need to hang out more, Chels.”
    “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry I’ve been so lame.”
    “It’s not your fault. We’ve both been lazy.”
    “I know. And we live so close together now, too.”
    “Okay, promise right here that we’ll hang out soon?”
    “Sounds good.”
    We hugged and I smiled at her.
    “See you later,” she said, turning and heading toward her apartment.
    “Later,” I called after her.
    I stood at the corner for half a second, and then I turned and walked toward my apartment. Although it was dark already, I decided I’d give Petey another walk. I didn’t really feel like staying alone all night in my tiny apartment. For some reason, that van had me on edge, and I knew I needed to get out and get myself together before facing the quiet boredom of living alone.
    As I walked down my block, the sound of tires turning onto my street startled me. I half turned and saw it: that same black van coming slowly toward me. My heart started to race and sweat climbed onto my body. I knew it was the same one. I was absolutely positive. I definitely wasn’t making it up: the van was following me. I stopped and bent over, pretending to tie my shoe, and watched as the van slowly crawled down my street, going right by me. I watched as it made a left at the next street, disappearing around the corner.
    My heart was pounding as I quickly walked to the end of the block, crossed the street, and jogged over to my stoop. I climbed up the stairs and turned around, my back to the door, and watched down the street. I didn’t have to wait