I’m halfway through the first chapter when a text from Archer comes though Sam’s computer.
Dude you’re killing me over here. What did Chloe say??
I lean back, teeth sinking into my lip. What? I need to—no. I’m not going to snoop. I trust Sam and have no reason to go through and read his text. But—what? What did I say to what?
“It doesn’t matter,” I mumble out loud and hold up my hand, shielding the messages from view. I change the settings on his iMessages, making it so I won’t see the preview of a message on the right-hand side of the screen, and then try to get back to work.
“Dammit,” I grumble at myself. Sam probably didn’t think about me being able to see his messages like this. I’m not going to do it. Nope. Not snooping. I let out a breath once I successfully get it so his iMessages won’t show up on his computer, and bury myself back into edits, wishing I had a glass of red wine. It’s my go-to when I’m editing, making me feel sophisticated, which I know is silly. But hey, it helps me get the job done.
I’m feeling sleepy again after another hour, and wanting to stay true to my word, I close my laptop and lay back down on the couch. Fifteen or so minutes later, I’m still awake, so I turn on the TV and try to relax. Not even ten minutes later, my phone rings.
“Ugh,” I complain out loud as I slowly sit up. Farisha is calling me, and my annoyance instantly disappears.
“Hello?” I answer.
“Instagram just notified me you posted,” Farisha starts. “Which prompted me take a look at some of the comments, and why are people asking if you’re still in the hospital?”
“Ohhhh, right.”
“Why are they asking you that?”
“Because I was.” I wince even though she can’t see me.
“The fuck? You didn’t think to tell me?”
“I didn’t want to tell anyone,” I confess. “I wouldn’t have even told my dad if Sam didn’t think I should let him know what was going on.”
“Sam knew?”
“Uh, yeah,” I chuckle. “He’s the one who insisted I was so sick I needed medical attention. Which I didn’t.”
“Obviously you did if you were admitted to the hospital!”
“Well, maybe. Technically, I was admitted due to a bad reaction to medication that made my blood pressure go so low I could have been mistaken for a corpse. But I’m better now. Almost. I’m still a little tired, but Sam is forcing me to take it easy.”
“Chloe!” Farisha exclaims. “Oh my god! You had an allergic reaction that bad? Fuck you again for not telling me!”
“You know I don’t like making people worry.”
“I do. So…what the hell happened?”
“I had the flu, which caused a high fever and then a migraine. But I promise I’m fine now. I’m back at Sam’s apartment in Chicago and I’ve hardly done shit all day so I’m fine, trust me.”
“Is Sam with you?” Farisha asks, and I roll my eyes.
“He’s at work, and my dad already called and demanded answers from him. He’ll tell you the same thing: I’m doing really well.”
“My goodness, Chloe. That’s good to hear. Still, I don’t like having to find out my BFF is super sick from a social media post.”
“I’m sorry. It’s…it’s weird to me to send out a massive text or whatever. And the only reason I posed on Instagram at all is because I had to cancel a live interview last minute and I had my assistant tell everyone I canceled because I was sick.”
“Fair enough. You’re in Chicago?”
“Yes. I’m sitting on Sam’s couch as I speak.”
“And he’s at work?”
“Until seven PM, yes,” I reply.
“You’re really okay? I don’t just mean physically.”
“I’m fine,” I rush out. “And if you were wondering about Sam, he’s been very attentive. And yes, I do mean sexually.”
“You’re so good at deflecting legitimate issues, it’s concerning.”
I let my eyes fall shut. “I know. Really, though, I’m okay. The medicine they gave me for my headache made me sick. If I hadn’t had the bad reaction to that, I’d have been discharged that night. I’m still really tired, so I’ve been taking it easy today for real,” I press. “Sam has already called, texted, and left me a note this morning telling me to relax and rest.”
“Good. I hope you are, and holy shit, I’m behind on Sam details.”
I beam at the thought of him. “You really are.”
“Things are good between you?”
“Yes,” I answer right away and then feel a nagging on my heart. “But…he’s been acting kinda weird lately.”
“Weird how?”
“Like he’s nervous yet really affectionate. A few times he said he wanted to be alone, like so he could talk to me, and things didn’t go as planned.” I inhale as I blink. “And today I was using his computer and a text came through from his friend that said what did Chloe say?” I sink my teeth into my bottom lip. “And no, I wasn’t being nosy. I asked him if he minded me using his computer so I could look back and forth between my document and the notes my editor sent me. I immediately disabled iMessages from popping up on the screen while I worked,” I rush out.