I met his gaze, my heart flip-flopping inside my chest cavity. “You really mean that?”
He squeezed my hand. “Yes. I hate being away from you. It’s torture. I would gladly live on the shelf in your bedroom if you let me.”
I gave a watery laugh. “Even with all the neon lamps glaring at you?”
“Even with them,” Neil replied.
I sent him a sincere look. “Ever since I woke up this morning, I’ve been letting my worries take over. I should’ve just talked to you. I’m sorry.”
“Yes, you should have, but there’s no need to apologise. I understand why you freaked out. The kiss was a big deal,” Neil said, his eyes so soft with understanding and empathy that I thought I might melt. “You shouldn’t ever feel the need to run from me, Afric. I’m not some arsehole who won’t listen.”
“Okay,” I said, my cheeks heating. “That’s good to know.” I studied him again, curious as to what had made him look so stressed and dishevelled. “So, tell me what happened with Annabelle.”
Neil ran a hand through his hair. “Christ, don’t remind me. The woman is psychotic. It was really bizarre. When I told her I didn’t want to see her anymore, her attitude changed completely. It was like an angel turning into a devil. Now, she’s blackmailing me into setting up a group night out so that she can get to know Callum better in a casual setting.”
I gaped at him. “What the actual fuck?”
“My sentiments exactly. She’s so bloody shady I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.”
“Why don’t you just tell Callum the truth? Beat her to the punch. If she’s as nutty as you say, then she’ll end up telling him eventually. Going along with her blackmail will only make things worse in the long run.”
“I was going to, but now she’s threatening to publish screenshots of our chats to the internet. Those screenshots make it look like Callum was genuinely flirting with her behind Leanne’s back. It could ruin his reputation. I need to keep her sweet for a little while until I can figure out the best course of action. I know Leanne will believe me when I tell her it was me behind the messages, but their relationship has already suffered enough public scrutiny. I can’t be the reason it’s put under further strain. I have to think of some way to fix this without it affecting Callum and Leanne.”
His features were overwrought, and I hated what all the stress of this was doing to him. I sat back, my thoughts racing as I tried to come up with an idea. I couldn’t just sit there and allow Annabelle to blackmail Neil like this.
“Perhaps I should just tell Callum. Like you said, keeping him in the dark will only make things worse in the long run,” Neil sighed.
I held a hand up. “Shush for a second. I’m thinking.”
“What are you thinking?”
I lifted my gaze to his. “Adam is an incredible hacker. So is my other online friend, Winona. There could be a way for them to hack Annabelle’s computer and phone and wherever else she’s saved copies of the screenshots and delete them. Then, she’d have no evidence. It’d be her word against yours.”
Neil didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know. It seems risky. And illegal. And what if she has them backed up on a USB or a separate hard drive?”
“Okay, true,” I said, pretty sure neither of us was prepared to break into her home and steal this hypothetical hard drive.
Neil blew out an exhausted breath. “I don’t want to break the law anyway. If it weren’t for what she could do to Callum, I’d end this right now. I hate that I was too weak to resist messaging with her. I never should’ve entertained it for a single moment. Fuck, I’m such an idiot.”
I reached out to soothingly rub his arm. “We all have moments of weakness. Don’t beat yourself up. It’s counterproductive at this point.”
“I guess.” He blew out a breath, his eyes yet again running over my outfit. “You look amazing, by the way.” A pause as he frowned. “Why exactly do you look amazing?”
Damn. I was hoping he wouldn’t go back to this. My stomach tensed. “Um … Don’t I always look amazing?”
“Yes, but not like this.”
My throat ran dry.
“Afric?” Neil’s eyes were questioning, and my belly flooded with guilt.
“So,” I said, my voice meek. “I was really mad at you. I thought you’d chosen Annabelle over me, so I was going to …” I couldn’t finish. I already hated the flicker of betrayal in his eyes.
“You were going to what?” he asked, jaw tight.
“I was going to go out to a bar and try to flirt with a random stranger to get back at you,” I blurted rapidly, throwing my hands out. “It was a stupid idea. I already decided against it before you even arrived.”