“Hey!” I laugh, playfully swatting him. “But yeah, I could actually see that getting me in the mood.”

“See? I was right.”

We both laugh, snuggling a little closer together as we finish our pizza. Deciding to put the sex tape off until the morning since we’re both tired, we get ready for bed together. There are double sinks in the bathroom, and it’s almost silly how something as mundane as brushing our teeth can have such significance, yet it does.

“Did you hear more from the network who wants you to write for them?” Sam asks, taking two decorative pillows off his bed. I’m impressed, really, by how well put together his whole apartment is.

“My agent emailed me today saying she was arranging a meeting for Monday or Tuesday. I don’t think I’m going to take it, though.”

We get into bed, and Sam takes me right into his arms. “Why not?”

“It would take time away from my usual writing, and it would require me to be in LA more.” Maybe I shouldn’t have said that out loud, but the one thing that brings us both comfort about being in a long-distance relationship is our ability to travel back and forth. I have more freedom to travel than Sam, and signing the contract to work on a TV show would change that.

“I selfishly want you to myself.”

“I selfishly want that too,” I say back, feeling sleepy already. There is no place on earth more comfortable than Sam’s bed—as long as he’s in it with me.

“Good thing I have you all weekend.”

Everything is perfect, and I know that right here, snuggled up in Sam’s arms, is right where I’m meant to be. All the pain I’ve held onto, all the fear that’s kept me in the dark, melted away the moment Sam kissed me.

We sure took our sweet time coming together, but now that we’re here, there’s no going back.

I am in love with Sam Harris.

And he is in love with me.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Sam

“You’re going to miss your flight.” I run my fingers up and down Chloe’s back.

“Would that be a bad thing?” she mumbles.

“Not for me.” I lift my head off the pillow and kiss her forehead. “You can stay as long as you want. It’s quiet here during the day so you’d probably get a lot of writing done.”

“Well, when you put it that way, it would be irresponsible if I didn’t stay.”

I sweep my hand down her back to her thigh. We’re both naked in bed, and Chloe is supposed to be leaving for the airport to take a red-eye back to LA. The weekend went by so fast, and I can’t believe it’s fucking Sunday already.

Things couldn’t be more perfect. We started Saturday morning by sleeping in and then having sex in the shower. I showed her around the city, and we ended our night with a dinner cruise and walking around Navy Pier. The weather wasn’t quite as nice today, and since I was on-call, I couldn’t venture too far from the hospital.

We stayed in, ordering Chinese takeout, and played video games most of the day. Chloe is almost irritatingly good at them, though it was more of a turn-on than anything else, and I only got slightly irritated that she beat me three times in Mario Kart.

She’s the definition of perfection, and I still can’t believe she’s mine. She’s beautiful and successful, yet still humble and kind. She’s quirky but not ashamed to be herself. And she challenges me, not afraid to speak her mind or have a different opinion. All of the research she’s done for her different books makes her a well-rounded person, and her knowledge and interest in politics surprised me. She told me she didn’t realize until recently how important it is to be involved and to know what’s going on around us. If there’s a chance your vote could make a difference, you should be sure to use it.

“You did say being with me was inspiring.” I run my fingers through her dark auburn hair, having no intention of letting her go.

“You are. Though I run the risk of turning my books from romance to erotica.”

I chuckle and pull her into me. We’re both naked from having sex not that long ago, and having her lying here like this makes it even harder for her to get up, I know. Is it really that selfish of me to want her to stay when I know she wants it too?

“That wouldn’t be a bad thing, would it?”

“As long as I can work in a little plot, not too many people would complain.” She hooks her leg over mine. “I’ll change my flight to one in the morning.”

I groan, wanting her to change it too. “You have a meeting with your agent tomorrow,” I remind her. It was finalized last night, hence her taking the late-night flight back today.

“I’ll ask her to postpone it.”

“I know I should be a good influence on your here, but I really want you to stay.” I run my hand up and down her thigh. “But if you do go, have your meeting, visit Spartan, and want to come back…I’ll give you a key.”

“Really?” She lifts her head off my chest and looks into my eyes, smiling.

“Yeah. This long-distance thing is rough, and I know things are new between us, but I love you, Chloe. We’re able to go back and forth to see each other, and I want you to be just as comfortable here as you feel at home.”

“I’m more comfortable here.” She puts her head back down on my chest. “Right here is my new favorite spot.”

“Mine too.”

I close the apartment door behind me, feeling emptiness tugging at my heart. I just got back from dropping Chloe off at the airport. She got emotional when we said our goodbyes, and dammit, it was hard for me to keep it together too. We’ll see each in less than a week’s time, but it’s going to be a long fucking week.

My heart aches for Chloe, and the apartment seems dimmer without her, even though she was only here for a few days. We haven’t quite figured out what we’re doing next. If she gets her work done early, she’ll come back here. If not, I’ll fly out and stay with her for three days. It fucking blows that the flight is as long as it is, taking up most of the day. I might have three days off, but really only one is spent with Chloe.

I should go to bed, getting some sleep before having to work tomorrow. I don’t have to be there at seven at least since I’m coming off of a night of being on-call even though I didn’t end up called in at all. The thought of getting into bed without Chloe depresses me, so I sit down in the living room and play video games instead.

Finally, at nearly five in the morning, I drag my tired ass to bed, collapsing onto the mattress. The pillows smell like Chloe, and I pull one to me, wishing I’ll roll over and see her next to me. I drift to sleep pretty quickly and dream of her, only to be rudely interrupted by someone knocking on my door.

I blink my eyes open, not sure if I actually heard knocking or if it was in my dream. My eyelids are heavy, and I fall back into bed only to hear the knocking again. Maybe if I ignore them, they’ll go away.

It doesn’t work, and whoever is outside my door knocks more persistently. Annoyed, I throw the blankets off and pad my way through the apartment. The knocker raps against the door again, quick and frantic.