Didn't Expect You (Against All Odds #2) - Claudia Burgoa Page 0,29

Thankfully, Persy lives right next door, so I go to her place to take a shower, change clothes, and brush my teeth a million times until the foul taste in my mouth is gone. Once I’m ready, I go back to Ford’s place. It would be easier to ask Nate to take me home, but I feel too sick to be alone. If Persy was in town, I’d be with her.

“You should take a nap,” he says as I make my way into Ford’s penthouse. “Follow me.”

I do as he says, and he shows me his room. “I’ll be downstairs if you need anything. Brock is staying with you.”

“Thank you,” is all I can say because I feel too tired to have a conversation with him—or anyone. I don’t wake up until my phone rings. Persy’s picture appears on the screen along with the time, seven o’clock. Well, this bug really hit me hard. I’ve never slept during the day and for this long.

“And she’s out to take some air, finally,” I joke when I answer the call.

Brock grunts and that’s when I realize he is snuggled right next to me. I pet his head and he goes back to sleep.

Persy laughs, “You’re not funny. Did I wake you up?”

“Yeah, I got sick earlier today,” I explain to her.

“That’s what Nate told Ford,” she counteracts. “Do you need me to fly back?”

“No, I’m pretty sure it was just the ziplining. I feel much better,” I assure her. “You deserve this. A break. And I assume that you are having safe and crazy fun.”

“Yep, we are…having a lot of fun and also sex,” she answers, and I bet she’s staring at her dreamy boyfriend longingly.

“When are you coming back?”

“I don’t know. Apparently, Nate is staying in Colorado until Tuesday,” she responds. “Not that I’m in a hurry. I’ve finished ten chapters of my book. At this pace, I might finish writing the first draft by the end of the month or early September.”

She tells me what she’s been writing and how easy everything is coming to her. I tell her about my stupid boss and her childish way to punish me for taking time off.

“Hey, I wanted to give you a heads up,” she says once we’re caught up with each other’s lives.

“Tomorrow is Ford and Nate’s birthday.”

My early conversation with Nate makes so much sense now. He didn’t want to be working during his birthday.

“Ford wants to spend it just with me but then he’s worried that Nate is alone.”

“He’s with us. We’ll make it fun for him,” I promise, but then I think about my parents. They can be a handful.

“Are you sure?”

“On second thought, I’m not sure if he wants to see Edna and Octavio ever again,” I say and sigh.

“Oh no,” she sighs louder than I did. “What did they do now?”

When I tell her she laughs and groans. “There goes the family bonding. He’s never going to want to spend holidays with us. It was Nate’s fault, after all. You warned him.”

She catches Ford up with what happened, and I hear him guffawing.

“He thought I was joking,” I tell her, and I think she puts me on speaker because I can hear them both laughing loudly.

“Well, he had the special Brassard welcome,” Persy continues. “If he doesn’t want to visit our parents, you can make him pancakes and maybe go for a hike, please. I owe you.”

“You won’t owe me anything. I’ll make sure he has a good day. I’ll call Mom so she can prepare him something for dinner. I’d be happy to cook, but my fridge only has takeout containers and a few veggies that might work best as compost for Mom’s plants.”

She snorts. “You need a life, Nyxie.”

“Not you too.” I groan.

“Me too?”

I tell her about my conversation with Nate and Eros, and I hate when she says, “They are right. The past couple of months we barely saw each other. You were traveling a lot and the days you were in town, you were at the office. Quit. I’ll hire you as my agent.”

“We might kill each other,” I warn her.

“Please, give someone else that excuse,” she says exasperated. “You and I work perfectly together. I’d rather give you twenty percent of my earnings than give it to some scumbag bitch that… Deep breaths, Persy.”

“Good, you’re at the anger stage. What changed?” I ask.

The last time we discussed Sheila, her former agent, she was sad. It wasn’t because of the money Sheila