CHAPTER 21
VALERIO“It’s a dollar fifty to ride the bus, buddy,” the bus driver said to me.
I tossed a twenty dollar bill in his direction, told him to keep the extra as a tip, and strolled to the back of the empty bus, where Mae glared out the window. Instead of sitting in the seat across from her or a couple of seats back, I sat right beside her and stared ahead.
She hiccuped and looked over at me with furrowed brows, her teary eyes widening when she saw me. “You’re the waiter from Tangled Orchard Winery. I’ve been seeing you everywhere. Are-are you stalking me?”
My orders were to watch Mae, not to engage with her. But after what had happened at Oasis, I needed to make sure that she was okay. She was mine to watch and to protect, and I couldn’t stand to see her this upset.
“No,” I sa
