The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback (Astra and Zayne) novel Chapter 170

The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback

should have. My breathing became shallow.

“What are you doing?”

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He didn’t answer. Instead, he drew a handgun from the duffel. My entire body froze. He held it loosely at his side-not pointing it at me, not yet, but close enough that there was no misunderstanding.

“We’re leaving.”

My mouth went dry. “W-where?”

He stepped closer.

“If you attempt to run…” He raised the pistol just enough for the barrel to hover inches from my face. “you’ll regret it.”

My heartbeat pounded so violently I thought I might faint. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a strip of black fabric.

“No…”

Before I could pull away, he tied the blindfold securely over my eyes.

Darkness swallowed the room and my breathing quickened.

I couldn’t see him anymore. All I could hear was my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.

Then I felt his hand close around the chain between the handcuffs.

“Walk.”

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I stumbled after him. The cool evening air struck my face as we stepped outside. Gravel crunched beneath my bare feet. A cay door opened and he guided my head down with one gloved hand.

“Mind your head.”

The strange politeness made my skin crawl. He helped-or rather forced-me into the passenger seat. I heard another metallic click as the handcuffs were secured to a solid metal anchor beneath the seat. I tested them instinctively. They didn’t

move.

The driver’s door opened then closed. A second later the engine rumbled to life.

My throat tightened. Every instinct screamed the same question.

Where was he taking me?

The car rolled forward.

And with every passing second, home felt farther away.

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The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback

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I crossed the room in two strides and picked it up before anyone could stop me. The fabric was soft between my fingers. Still carrying the faint smell of her skin and the perfume she had worn that night.

Footsteps pounded up the stairs behind me.

!.

“Ashton….put that down!”

Hayes entered first, followed by two officers. His expression hardened the second he saw the dress in my hands.

“That’s evidence.”

I didn’t let go.

“She was here,” I said, my voice barely sounded like mine “Recently.”

Hayes stepped closer, eyes scanning the room, then the dress. “I need you to put it down. Now.”

One of the officers moved toward me.

I turned my head just enough to look at him. Whatever he saw in my face made him stop.

Hayes raised a hand, stopping the man. Then he looked back at me.

“Zane.” His voice was firm but not unkind. “I know what this means to you. But if you contaminate that dress, we lose whatever trace evidence might still be on it. Hair. Fibers. Skin cells. Anything that could help us track where he took her next.”

My grip tightened for one more second.

Then, slowly, I set the gown back on the bed.

Hayes exhaled and nodded to the forensic team waiting in the hallway.

“Bag it. Process the entire room. I want every surface checked.”

I stood there in the middle of the attic, staring at the empty bed.

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