There were a few girlfriends in her pictures, all of them pretty and fit like her. Her profile stated she was a personal trainer, which explained why she was at the gym all the time. I looked up the place where she worked and found it wasn’t too far from my flat.
A crazy idea struck.
I could sign-up for a free pass and check her out in the flesh. See what kind of person Miss Annabelle was in real life. I entertained the thought for a few minutes. Annabelle might not be the perfect angel Neil imagined her to be, but I wasn’t going to discover the truth from a selectively curated social media grid. I had to see how she acted in real life. Doing some sleuthing could be fun. Then again, if Neil found out, he’d likely burst the blood vessel I had a knack for getting pumping in his forehead.
Unable to make a clear choice, I decided to sleep on it and decide for certain in the morning.
Neil
I shoved my phone in my pocket, unable to rid the visual of Afric licking my neck from my brain. Where the hell had that come from? Tingles skittered down my back at the imagery. I wasn’t sure what was going on with me lately, but somehow the content of our texts had caused my mind to wander to an unexpectedly sexy place.
And now, the image refused to leave.
It had clearly been way too long since I last had sex. Yes, that was why I was suddenly having erotic thoughts about Afric of all people. Not that she wasn’t attractive in her own unique way, but she certainly wasn’t my type.
We’d just reached the pizza place when my phone buzzed. I pulled it out, expecting another teasing message from Afric. Instead, I found a DM from Annabelle.
Hey stranger! How’s everything going with filming the new season? I’m so jealous you get to be in New York right now. x.
I scanned the message before doing something I’d never done to her before; I left her on read. I felt awful, but I just couldn’t interact with her right now. My head was too messed up, and pretending to be Callum was beginning to take its toll on me. I didn’t want to do it anymore, but unfortunately, it was a part of my job. And yes, okay, what Afric said to me about Annabelle pursuing Callum when he was in a relationship with Leanne had been bothering me a lot. I’d tried reasoning it out, telling myself she might not even know they were together, but the more I thought about it, the more unlikely that explanation seemed.
To be honest, I didn’t know how to feel about her anymore.
I decided not to think about the whole thing until I returned to London. There was way too much work to be done over here, and I didn’t have the headspace for anything else.
“You okay, Neil?” Leanne asked as she approached me.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Yeah, I’m just a little tired. Still adjusting to the time difference.”
“It’s rough, isn’t it,” she said with a sympathetic smile. “On our last trip, it took forever for my body clock to adjust.” She held out a slice of pizza. “Here, I got you a slice with vegan cheese since I know you can’t eat dairy.”
“Thanks,” I replied as I took the slice, touched by her thoughtfulness. I was so hungry I’d intended on eating the normal cheese, but at least this way, I could avoid a sick stomach later tonight.
I sat down at a table for two, and Leanne joined me. The rest of the cast and crew were sitting at tables nearby. We ate in silence for a minute or two before Leanne commented, “I saw you taking pictures of yourself earlier. What was that about? Have you started a new social media feed I’m not aware of or something?”
A small measure of embarrassment pinched at me as I cleared my throat. “No, uh, a friend back home challenged me to take a selfie every day while I’m here and send them to her. She thinks it’s a good confidence-building exercise.”
Leanne’s mouth curved into a smile. “She?”
“Yes, I have a female friend. Is that so shocking?”
“Of course not. Don’t be silly. At least now I know the reason why I’ve caught you grinning at your phone so often lately.”
“I haven’t been grinning at my phone,” I protested.
Leanne threw her hands up. “Okay, my mistake. You weren’t grinning. Maybe you were gurning, and I was just standing too far away to tell.”
“Funny,” I deadpanned.
We ate the rest of our pizza in quiet, but what she said stuck with me. Had I been grinning at my phone? I guess texting with Afric could be kind of amusing sometimes.