Tyler pushed upright and snagged his mug from the counter. “Probably because he knew you’d try to bolt.”

“Hey,” I said. “Does it look like I’m bolting?”

He snorted. “From how pale you were when you came out here, I think it’s safe to say that you would have if I weren’t home to talk you down from the ledge.”

Okay, that was fair. But still. “Look, I had good reason to worry. Your roommate broke into my house and planted a camera there. And also hacked into my work to watch me.”

Instead of being appropriately horrified, Tyler laughed. “Finally, someone to take some of the burden of his love off my shoulders.” He reached over and grabbed my wrist, looking grateful. “Bless you.”

I jerked out of his grip. “I’m serious, Tyler.”

“So am I,” he said. “Those are the quirks I was talking about. Josh spent his childhood trapped beneath the thumb of a serial killer. Once he and his mom got away, he spent every second of free time ensuring they never ended up back there. Even as an adult, he needs to know everything about the people he cares for, where they are, and who they’re with. One time, I forgot to tell him I was staying out for the night, and he showed up at my hookup’s house at three o’clock in the morning to lecture me about it.”

I grinned. That sounded like something Josh would do.

“You have no idea what kind of nightmare he escaped from,” Tyler said. “That he still lives. News agencies and media outlets are constantly trying to track him and Maria down for interviews. It’s made him a paranoid recluse, and it’s been even worse since that documentary came out this summer. He barely left the house before you two started seeing each other.”

“Why?” I asked, confused.

“You really don’t like true crime, do you?” Tyler said, fishing his phone from his pocket. “Josh looks exactly like his dad.”

He pulled something up on his phone and slid it across the island toward me. I picked it up and, holy shit. He was right. Their hair might have been different, and Josh’s skin was darker, but aside from that, the men were identical.

No, wait.

I leaned in, studying the serial killer’s eyes. Those were different, too. They were that weird dead/alive combo, like the other killer I’d met, like Brad’s, with none of the warmth and humor I regularly saw from Josh. I scrolled down from the photo and quickly scanned the attached article. Josh’s dad was right up there with Bundy and Dahmer when it came to the horror of their crimes, and I could only imagine what life must have been like with him as a parent.

I handed the phone back to Tyler.

He slid it into his pocket and studied me over the top of his mug. “Josh has to know things, Aly. Feeling safe is important to him, and keeping the people he cares about safe is even more so. If you’re going to be with him, you’ll have to accept that he doesn’t give a shit about normal boundaries. My car has a GPS tracker that he put there the day I drove it off the lot. I have location data turned on in my phone so he can constantly check up on my whereabouts. If you were a true crime fan, I never would have invited you back here because they’re not allowed in the apartment.”

“That…weirdly doesn’t bother me,” I admitted.

Tyler nodded. “Yeah, me neither. It’s nice having someone always looking out for you. Like your own personal guardian angel.”

“It sounds like you look out for him too, though,” I said. He frowned, and I motioned toward the apartment. “The not bringing people here who might recognize him thing, taking time to explain this to me, and being cool about us seeing each other.”

He huffed a laugh. “If I’d known you two were a possibility, I would have immediately ended things between us and shoved you at him. No offense.”

“None taken,” I said, waving him off.

He leaned back against the counter. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but Josh is the most trustworthy, loyal person I know. Does he have his quirks? Yes. Will you get annoyed at the way he turns everything into a joke? Sooner than you expect. But Josh is the kind of ride-or-die you could go to with a body, and he’d help you hide it.”

I choked on my coffee. If only Tyler knew how true that statement was.

He spun and grabbed me a wad of napkins.

“Thanks,” I managed in between bouts of hacking. “Swallowed it the wrong way.”

“No problem,” he said. “And look, if you don’t think you can deal with Josh’s baggage, you should back out now. He lets so few people in that if you drag it out, you’ll only hurt him more.”

I nodded. “I get that. I don’t let people in either.”

Tyler raised his brows and gave me A Look. “Yeah. I know.”

I cringed. “Sorry.”

He waved me off. “No hard feelings. We obviously wouldn’t have worked out had we tried for anything serious.”

I nodded. Yes, Tyler was a douche, but somehow, I was starting to think he was a likable one. As in, I could see myself becoming friends with him if Josh and I stayed together for a while.

“What else should I know?” I asked.

“He’s vegan,” Tyler said.

I frowned. “But he made me bacon and eggs the other day.”

And now I knew why they’d been terrible. Because Josh probably had no idea how to cook them properly.

Tyler whistled. “He must have it bad. I’ve never been allowed to cook meat in here.”

“Why not?”

“Uh, how do I put this lightly?” Tyler said, tapping his chin. “His dad stirred one of his victims into hamburger patties and fed her to our entire neighborhood at a block party.”

I gagged. “What?!.”

“Yeah. That kind of thing sticks with most six-year-olds.”

I held up a hand. “Yup, I get it. No more details, please. Wait.” I narrowed my gaze at him. “How can you still eat meat?”

“I ate a hot dog instead of a burger that day.”

“Yeah, but you still smelled her being cooked.” Was a sentence I never thought would come out of my mouth.

Tyler shrugged. “Fair. But smelling and tasting are two different things.”

“Ew. Enough,” I said. Even for me, this conversation was too much, especially after I’d made that offhand comment about burning Brad’s body parts. Poor Josh. He must have been retraumatized when I said it.

I felt like such an asshole for my momentary freakout after Vern’s call. Thank fuck I’d always been a logical person and was able to come to my senses, even after all the shit I’d been through over the past 24 hours. Imagine if I’d stormed out of there without giving Josh a chance and let a misunderstanding potentially ruin our relationship. Unforgivable.

Josh and I were alike in so many ways, and the more I learned about his past, the more I was beginning to see that. Things were clicking into place about why Josh was the way he was and why he’d started his social media account. I just hoped he would listen to what I had to say about all this when he finally got home. I hated the idea that he still questioned himself, and if there was anything I could do to set his mind at ease once and for all, I would do it.

As if I’d summoned him, the front door opened, and Josh walked in. He was beautiful, even pale and exhausted, and wearing a stranger’s clothes that were obviously too small for him. The stubble on his chin was growing out, lending him a rough edge that wasn’t there when he was freshly shaven. I liked it. A lot.

All my earlier worries disappeared at seeing him unharmed, and I threw myself off the barstool to go to him. He scooped me up in his big arms and lifted me right off my feet, hugging me close.

“You’re safe,” we said at the same time.

“Glad you’re back, man,” Tyler said. “Oh, and Aly knows about your dad.” Josh went stiff in my arms. “I’ll kindly see myself out and let you two deal with this alone.”

I pulled back enough to glare at Tyler as he strolled past us with a shit-eating grin. “Turn me toward him.”

“Why?” Josh asked.