Sidequest for Love

by L.H. Cosway

  I plastered what I hoped was an apologetic expression on my face. “I’m so sorry, Annabelle, but I can’t see you anymore.”

  Now, she frowned. That clearly wasn’t what she’d expected me to say. She looked vaguely hurt, and guilt nipped at me. “Why? I thought we were getting on well,” she said.

  I’m fairly certain I’m in love with someone else, my subconscious replied, but I sensed that wasn’t what Annabelle wanted to hear, and I didn’t want to discuss Afric with her. This thing between us was too new, too delicate to talk about with anyone else yet.

  “We were getting on well, but it’s not going to work between us. I’m not right for you.”

  She stared at me for a long moment, and just like that, the hurt expression vanished, replaced with a look of malice. “Well, that much is obvious.”

  “Pardon?”

  She gave a cruel scoff. “You pretended to be Callum Davidson to get with me. Obviously, I never would’ve looked twice at you if it weren’t for that.”

  “Yes, but you did say you were willing to give things a shot anyway.”

  Annabelle rolled her eyes, and I suddenly felt quite ill. It was like in the movies when a nice character reveals they’re the villain. It’s shocking, but on some level, it makes sense. You see their previous behaviour more clearly. Not that I didn’t already suspect she was using me.

  “Come on, Neil, let’s be real here. I was never and could never be interested in you. You’re not hideous or anything, but I like alpha males, and you’re the most beta male I’ve ever laid eyes on. And to be perfectly honest, it’s kind of pathetic how you used your access to Callum’s accounts to chat up women.”

  I gritted my teeth, gripping tightly to the handle of my coffee mug to keep from saying something unkind. “That wasn’t my intention, and you know it.”

  “You say it wasn’t your intention, but how can I know you aren’t just some pervert taking advantage of his position to lure women in. For all I know, the polite nerd-boy thing is all an act.”

  Her words struck like a blow, but I didn’t give her the satisfaction of responding to the putdown. “So, what was your plan? Use me until you got your chance to steal Callum from Leanne? Have you any idea of how in love they are?”

  Annabelle’s eyes flashed with venom. “They think they’re in love, but it’s patently obvious they’re terrible for each other. They were on and off again for years, and now, they’re just settling.”

  “That might be how things seem on the telly, but believe me, their love is real. I see it first-hand every day.”

  Annabelle was shaking her head. “You’re wrong. They’re a terrible match. Callum will soon realise that. He just needs the chance to get to know me better, see that he has other options, and you’re going to help me with that.”

  I folded my arms. “I hate to break it to you, but from here on out, I want absolutely nothing to do with you.”

  Her smile was malicious. “If you want me to keep your catfishing a secret, then you’ll do whatever I say for as long as I say it.”

  “Reveal my secret if that’s what you want, but I won’t be helping you,” I told her, my tone final.

  A waiter arrived with Annabelle’s mint tea, and it was almost comical how she thanked him with an angelic smile before replacing it with a glower that she levelled directly at me.

  She leaned in close, her voice little more than a whisper, low and threatening. “I have screenshots of every single one of our conversations, Neil. You might not care about me revealing what you did, but how would you feel if I posted them on the internet? They make it look like Callum Davidson was cheating on Leanne by messaging with a fan. His reputation would be in tatters, and it would be all your fault.”

  My entire body drew taut at her threat. Annabelle was far cleverer and more manipulative than even Afric had given her credit for, and she’d seen through her act much earlier than I had. Somehow, Annabelle had realised that I cared about Callum. He wasn’t just my boss, he was my friend, and she knew I couldn’t live with myself if I were the reason his reputation was destroyed.

  I stared at her with narrowed eyes. “What do you want?”

  Her features settled into a look of satisfaction. “I’m in the mood for a night on the town. I think you should message Callum and ask him if he wants to join us. You can invite some of the others, too, just to make it seem less obvious that I’m specifically interested in Callum. Not Leanne, though.”

  I shot her an incredulous look. “If I invite Callum, Leanne will most likely want to come along.”

  Now she shrugged. “Fine. I don’t care if she’s there, but you’ll need to distract her while I chat with Callum. I want at least thirty minutes uninterrupted conversation with him.”

  I ran a hand down my face, stress building. “You’re insane.”

  “No, I’m not. I’m simply a woman who knows what she wants and will stop at nothing until she gets it.”

  I stared at her in awe of her sheer audacity. Why hadn’t I listened to Afric and simply ghosted her? All I knew was bringing Annabelle into my life was the worst decision I’d ever made, and I wasn’t the only one who was going to suffer for it.

  Afric

  I’d just finished applying my make-up when my resolve broke. I lowered myself to my carpeted bedroom floor, my head thumping back against the wall. Ouch, that hurt. Well, I probably deserved it.

  I was being an idiot. In my crazy, insecure mind, I’d formulated a plan to avoid pain and push Neil away by getting dressed up, going out, and possibly finding a stranger to flirt with. I couldn’t go through with it, though. My heart wasn’t in it. I needed to act like a grown-up and simply ask him about the text I saw from Annabelle. There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for it, after all.

  As I reached for my phone to call him, I heard a knock on the door to my flat. Sarita was out, so I went to answer it. My eyebrows shot up when I found Neil standing there. He looked absolutely wretched. His hair was unkempt, like he’d been running his fingers through it in agitation, and there were grey bags under his eyes.

  “What the hell happened to you? You look like you’ve aged a decade since this morning.”

  “I probably have,” he replied listlessly. “Stress can cause premature aging, right?” He looked past me and into the empty flat. “Sorry for turning up without calling first. I’ve had a really bad day. Can I come in?”

  Just like that, guilt flooded me. For all the spiteful pep talks I’d given myself, Neil didn’t deserve my bitterness. Even if he had hurt me by secretly meeting up with Annabelle, it was petty to do the same thing and hurt him back. I should’ve tried to be the bigger person.

  “Sure, come in,” I said, stepping aside.

  He walked in and flopped down onto the couch. I sat on the armchair opposite him and continued to take him in. He looked so exhausted that all I wanted to do was pull him into my arms and hug all his worries away.

  “I went to see Annabelle today,” he said. “I wanted to set the record straight and tell her I couldn’t see her anymore. You’re too important to me to start anything new without making a clear break with her.”

  I swallowed tightly as more guilt swept in. The meeting with Annabelle had been about putting an end to their dating, not some grand attempt to win her over like my insecure little mind had conjured up.

  “Oh,” I said, shame threatening to drown me as Neil’s gaze rose and he seemed to properly take me in for the first time. His attention ran up my legs, taking in the black skinny jeans, before stopping at the tight, lowcut lace top I wore.

  “Why are you dressed like that?”

  I lifted my chin, but my voice was wobbly. “I was planning on going out.”

  “Planning on going out where?”

  “To a bar.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Why?”

  I shifted awkwardly in my seat, chewing my lip as I replied, “So, I might’ve gotten the wrong end of the stick this morning.” Neil stared me down, hi
s eyes once again running over my form-fitting outfit and vampy make-up. “I’d been freaking out over our kiss and how much it meant to me and how hurt I’d be if you ever decided you didn’t want to see me anymore. Then, on the drive home, I saw a text pop up on your phone from Annabelle, which just sent all my insecurities into overdrive, and—"

  “You thought …” Neil interrupted before trailing off, shaking his head as he swore under his breath. “No, Afric. Good God, no. I would never—”

  “I know that now. I was an idiot. Egg all over my face again. Ha! Typical.”

  He sat forward, reaching across and taking my hand into his. “You have to know that what I thought I felt for Annabelle can’t hold a candle to how I feel for you. And as for the other thing, you have no need to worry about me not wanting to see you.” He paused, his throat moving as he swallowed. His brown eyes met mine with an intensity that was almost a physical force. “I can barely stand the wait in between your text messages, so it’s safe to say there’s no chance of me randomly deciding that I don’t want to see you.”

  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.”

  Neil’s eyes darkened. His eyebrows were angry slashes across his forehead as he stared at me. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Fucking hell, I’m mad at you,” he said in a low, gruff voice.

  “You have every right to be.”

  A second later, he reached forward, yanking me over onto his lap. I gasped as his hands smoothed over my hips, then ran possessively up my spine before sinking into my hair.

  He met my gaze, his eyes hard and passionate. “You can’t just run off and do crazy, irreversible things without talking to me first. That’s not you, Afric. You don’t bury stuff. You say it to my face. What changed?”

  I looked away, unable to handle the intensity of his eyes when I responded. “I guess I was just so hurt at the idea of you going to Annabelle because I let you kiss me last night, and that’s not something I agreed to lightly.” I paused and lifted my gaze, hoping my meaning hit home.

  His fingers weaved through my hair, kneading at a tight spot at the base of my skull. God, that felt good. His eyes lowered to my mouth. “It’s partly my fault. I should’ve just told you I was going to see Annabelle, but I saw that you were already stressing about the kiss, so I didn’t want to overwhelm you.”

  “Can we forgive each other and move on?”

  “Yes,” he replied fervently. “But first, if anything like this happens in the future, promise me you’ll ask me about it first before drawing your own conclusions, and I’ll promise to do the same.”

  I brought my hand up and wrapped my pinkie around his. “I promise.”

  Neil’s expression heated as he brought my hand to his mouth and dragged his lips over my knuckles.

  A swift bolt of desire shot through me. Shivers skittered down my spine. “Neil.”

  His eyes blazed when I said his name, and his head tilted, a confidently masculine look on his face when he replied teasingly, “Afric.”

  “You’re making me come over all peculiar again,” I said breathily.

  He smirked. “So long as I make you come, I’m good with that.”

  I laughed shyly. “I’ve created a monster.”

  He continued massaging my skull, his mouth close when he whispered, “I want to kiss you.”

/>   “Then what are you waiting for?”

  Less than a second later, his mouth crashed onto mine with crushing intensity. There was nothing soft or tentative about this kiss, not like the ones he’d given me last night. This kiss held the sheer ferocity of his passion, and it knocked me sideways. I couldn’t remember ever being wanted like this before.

  Neil’s tongue dipped out, a silky caress, and I moved my legs, climbing astride him until I felt the delicious thickness in his pants. It slid against my core, and I trembled into the kiss. Neil’s hand tightened in my hair while the other moved down to cup my backside.

  He broke the kiss, breathing fast as he growled, “You’re so fucking sexy.” Then, he bent and gently nipped my jaw with his teeth. “I’m obsessed with you.”

  His words made my heart feel like it was lit up in a shimmery glow. This time, I was the one to kiss him. I dragged my lips teasingly across his before deepening it, tasting him. I’d never kissed anyone like this. Up until this point, I’d only ever tolerated a man’s mouth on mine, but not now. Now, I was an active participant.

  Neil had come into my life unexpectedly, and it was just as unexpected how he’d slowly become an intrinsic part of my reality. I’d once thought him dull and unimaginative. Now when I considered living in a Neil-less world, all I saw was grey. He was the glow that lit up my days, the colour that painted the canvas of my existence.

  We kissed for countless minutes, exploring every inch of each other’s mouths before a brazen impulse struck. Sarita wouldn’t be home for at least a few more hours, which meant there was no chance of anyone walking in on us.

  I broke the kiss, gulping down a lungful of air while Neil stared up at me, his eyes hooded, cheeks flushed. I wanted to make him feel good. I wanted to drive him wild.

  And that was why I started to climb off him, my knees hitting the floor. He watched me, chest rising and falling.

  “What are you …” his voice trailed off as I reached for his fly, and his eyes followed the movement of my hands as I pulled down the zip. I swear he stopped breathing when I slipped my hand inside and cupped him. He was hot and hard and silky, and I gasped at the feel of him. Neil’s head fell back against the couch as he muttered strangled words under his breath.