top floor of my apartment building.
“What exactly am I looking at?” I asked her.
English grinned. “This is it.”
I stared back at her blankly.
“This is the apartment that Josh and I just closed on!”
“What?” I gushed. “It’s so close to my place! Only a few floors up!”
“I know! He knew that I loved your building so much and that I wanted to be close to you, so he bought the penthouse.”
“That’s insane. I didn’t even know it was for sale.”
She shook her head with a sly grin. “It wasn’t. He contacted the people who were living here and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.”
“Holy shit! That had to have cost a fortune!”
“He said nothing was too much for me.”
“God, how did you get so lucky?” I asked as I gazed around the gorgeous and enormous penthouse suite. It was full of natural light, and I could so easily see English being happy here.
“I really have no idea,” she gushed. “But I’m so excited to move in. He bought me a ticket to London to come out to the shoot this weekend. And it’s been so long since I’ve seen him that I’ve decided to go.”
“Oh,” I said, my face falling. “This weekend is Thomas’s party.”
“Yeah, I figure it’ll be fine to send Court. Especially since all of you will be there to watch him.”
“Sure. I can watch him. I’ll just miss you.”
“I know. I wanted to go with you all, but it’s been so long.”
“And you want to get laid,” I said with a laugh. “I get it.”
“I mean…you’re not wrong.”
“Gah, I’m having second thoughts about this party. I think it’d be hilarious to see Sam hustle them all at poker, but am I putting myself in a bad position, bringing my ex-boyfriend and current boyfriend together in the same place?”
English put her hand on my shoulder. “It’s a reasonable thing to be worried about. But this is Sam we’re talking about. It’s not like he’s going to go rogue boyfriend on you and punch Thomas or anything. I hate to admit I was wrong, but I think Sam is really good for you.”
I flushed. “Thanks, English. That means a lot.”
“So, just go to this party and have a good time. What could go wrong?”
“Aside from everything?”
She laughed. “Well, I will happily be in a sex coma during it. So, I will be MIA.”
“I’m happy for you,” I told her with a smile. “This apartment. You’ll have Josh back soon. The job. I’m so glad that you took it so that we could be in the same city again.”
“Me too. Best decision of my life.”
We hugged like eccentric best friends, and then she dragged me around every single room to show it all off.
Having the most brilliant day on set. So good to be back in Josh’s arms. Don’t forget to keep your eyes on Court tonight. I’ll follow up in the morning. And remember to have fun! I love you!
I groaned as I read English’s text. I’d been so bogged down in work that I hadn’t seen her message until she was probably already asleep. I hated that Josh was stealing her away for a week. I’d gotten used to having her here in New York. And I really didn’t know what I’d do come November when she had to move back to LA. Hopefully, we could work it out, so she could stay.
“All good here, boss,” Aspen said, stepping into my office. “Have a good time tonight with Sam.”
My head whipped up. “What?”
Aspen froze. “I mean…you are with Sam, right?”
My stomach churned. “That’s not…I mean, we’re not—”
“Hey, I’m happy for you,” she said, holding up her hands.
God, we hadn’t been as careful as I’d thought. Did the whole office know? Was someone just waiting to let it slip to Shawn so that it could fuck us up? Because, god, I couldn’t risk my job or Sam’s job right now. Not this close to the primary. Not when we were both so invested in this.
“Who else knows?” I managed to get out.
“No one. And I haven’t told anyone.” She bit her lip. “I won’t tell anyone. You can trust me.”
“Thanks, Aspen. I don’t mean for it to be a secret. But it just happened. It has nothing to do with work.”
“If anything, you’ve been more productive,” Aspen argued. “I think it’s great for you.”
“I appreciate it.”
“So, really…have fun.”
I laughed as she tipped her head at me and then dipped out of the office. I powered down my laptop for