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Natalie: Do you need me to come over? I could source Nutella rolls and bring them to you.
Adeline: No, I’m in bed. I’m going to have an early night.
Natalie: How many crosswords have you already done?
Adeline: None. I’m stuck on a clue.
Natalie: You know Google is a thing, right?
Adeline: You know I don’t cheat.
Adeline: Enough of me. Tell me how you are.
Natalie: I’m confused by Ryan.
Adeline: Why?
I wait for her reply, but it doesn’t come.
Adeline: Nat?
Natalie: Sorry, gimme ten minutes.
I go back to my crossword, finally figuring out the clue I was stumped on. I work through four more before getting stuck again.
Jameson comes back into the bedroom while I think about it. He’s wearing black pajama pants and nothing else.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he checks something on his phone.
I stare at his back, willing my core to shut the hell up while I inspect every muscle on show.
When she refuses, I drag my attention back to my crossword.
I’m busy doing everything I can to focus on clues that shouldn’t be this hard when he shifts to sit with his back to the headboard and his legs stretched out in front of him.
“That must be some clue,” he says.
My head snaps up and I look at him. “Huh?”
“I’ve never seen you frown so hard.”
I unscrunch my face. “What’s a coil that’s an electrical gizmo? Starts with ‘T’.”
He only takes a second. “A Tesla coil.”
Jesus, I knew that.
I scribble the answer into the crossword and move to the next clue.
When it also stumps me, I look at Jameson again. “Emergency sorting process?”
He glances up from his phone and thinks for a moment. “Triage.”
“Ugh,” I mutter as I fill in the answer. I then close the book and place it on my nightstand. “I give up.” I knew that answer too. My brain has obviously decided she’s done with today.
Jameson puts his phone down and studies me. “Did you speak with Sabrina today?”
I don’t want a thing to do with that question.
