I was awakened by the unexpected darkness that was the next morning.
I slowly rolled over and rested my cheek on Smee’s brawny arm.
“Hey.”
He laid flat on his back.
“Hi,” he yawned.
I smiled as he blinked slowly to wake himself up. He sat up and yawned again.
“What time is it?”
“Like 12:30 pm.”
“Mm.”
“What?”
“I love you, Tess.”
The comment stunned me considering the alleged fact that neither of us were ready to make that kind of statement. Still, given the events of the previous evening, we were both unsure of what to make of anything.
Smee slid under the covers again and held one hand on my cheek.
“Promise me something, Tess.”
“Okay…”
“Promise me that no matter what, never mind the circumstances, promise me you won’t leave me.”
“I promise. I super-duper über swear I’ll never leave you. I love you, Smee. So, what’s your real name anyway?”
“Oh, I should probably tell you that, shouldn’t I? My real name is Sam. I don’t know how long I’ve been going by Smee, though. The nickname was way before I went to work for Doctor Hook. Samuel Richard Benedict Tobias the Third is my full name actually.”
“That’s so British of you.”
“It is.”
“I hope you don’t mind, but I have to call Jill like right now.”
I sat up and found my phone on the bedside table. I quickly scrolled through my contacts and pressed my finger down on Jill’s phone number.
“Hey, Tess! What’s up?”
“So, you know Smee, the guy I was telling you about?”
“The one with the sexy British accent? Yeah! What happened?”
“Well, we went to the Four Seasons…”
“Really?!? That’s crazy, girlfriend! What next?”
“We went back to his apartment…”
“Yeah? What next?”
I set my phone on the bed and pressed speaker.
“Jill, I want you to say hi to Smee, my…uh, complication.”
“Where are you, Tess?”
“Currently we’re in my apartment,” Smee started, still under the teal covers of the bed.
“God! Tess, is that him? His voice is so dreamy! I’d love to be in his bed one day…I mean, if Bobby and I weren’t engaged, that is.”
“Well, that’s where we are right now actually.”
“Shut up! You finally allowed a guy to get that close to you? Oh, Tess, I’m so proud of you! This guy must be special to get you in bed with him! Send me a picture, ‘kay?”
“Alright, hold on. I’m gonna send you a picture of us right now.”
I held up my phone and lay down next to him. The phone gave a camera type sound and I sent it to my best friend.
