CHAPTER 3
THURSDAY CAME FASTER than I thought, mainly because I barely stopped working, and my enthusiasm at seeing Joe was tempered with anxiety. Not over my art class—I felt perfectly safe there—but because I’d finally found the inspiration to start exercising and every single time I’d gone to use the gym, Dane had turned up too. He hadn’t done anything beyond being slightly irritating and overly helpful, but in a windowless basement, his very presence gave me the creeps.
This morning, I’d given in to my discomfort and gone for a walk instead, only for him to catch up to me halfway across the local park and offer to buy me coffee.
“I’m in the middle of a walk.”
“There’s a Starbucks on the corner near our building. We can stop off on the way back.”
“I’m late for work.”
“Another time
