Love Me in the Dark novel Chapter 32

RIVER

He asked me out. Yes! Now, I was going crazy, scrambling through my dresses, and I found nothing good enough. It was past noon, and I still had not chosen anything to wear. If only I could go to his penthouse and take one dress, that would be awesome, but he was staying there. And I had not heard from him about our date. Was he changing his mind?

God, I was overthinking it.

I was startled when my phone rang. It was Krew.

“Hey.”

“River, it’s me.”

“I know. I still got your number saved on my phone.”

“About our date.” Why I had a bad feeling that this call wasn’t good news? “We have to put this on hold.”

I slumped back to bed. “It’s alright. Don’t sweat it.” I might have sighed at the end.

“Hey, I really wanted to take you out on a dinner date.”

“Come on, Krew. Let’s not fool ourselves—” A sneeze cut me off, then another one followed. Oh, my God. “Krew?”

“Yeah. I’m here.”

“Are you sick?”

“I don’t know standing under the rain could get me sick. I think my body isn’t used to it yet. I spent days in the woods, but I was fine.”

“You spent days in the woods? Why?”

“It’s—” Sneeze.

“Hey, get some rest. Have you seen a doctor?”

“Yeah. Our family doctor came over here earlier today and gave me something for colds.”

“Good. Now take some rest. See you soon.” I hung up. I just hung up on him. Jeez, what’s wrong with me?

***

A few hours later, here I was, in his penthouse with my grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup. How classic and very original.

“Krew?” I called out when the place was so silent. I went directly to his kitchen and checked his food. His fridge was full, but there were no leftovers.

I checked him in his room. Thankfully, it was not locked. My heart melted. He was sleeping. I found soiled tissue on the floor and over-the-counter flu meds.

I checked his forehead and neck with the back of my and. He stirred. “You’ll gonna be okay.”

I started collecting soiled tissues on the floor and went to his bathroom to wash my hands. When I came back, he was already sitting, seemed shocked, Searching for something.

“Did I wake you up?”

“River?”

“Hi. Sorry to come over unannounced.”

“I thought it was you. I felt you.” He looked so sick as he rubbed his eyes. His voice was deep and groggy. “God, I can’t remember catching colds. It feels terrible.”

“No matter how rich you are, there’s no excuse for you not to get flu. Are you hungry? I bought my grandma’s chicken noodle soup.”

“Really?” His eyes lit up.

“Yeah.”

He rushed to get up from bed toward the bathroom. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Easy there, tiger. The soup won’t go anywhere. I’ll be in the kitchen.”

The soup was still hot in the thermal container. I made sure not to overcook it. The noodles were not saggy, and it smelled incredible.

A steaming bowl was ready when he appeared with his hair disheveled with his glasses on. If men would still look hot despite having colds, damn, they were lucky. I ignored the tingles on my skin and grabbed him a bottle of room-temperature water.

“What time is it?”

“Passed six. Bon appetite.”

“How about you?”

“I’ll have a sandwich. Would you mind if—”

“You have the key, River. You know what does it mean.” He started scooping. “Hmm. I thought my taste bud is gone, but this is so good.”

“Glad you like it.”

“Can’t remember the last time someone brought me a home-cooked meal.”

“That’s not even considered a meal.”

“It’s still delicious. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I prepared my sandwich. “So, where have you been?”

“Fought some demons.”

I stopped. “Since when did you get a badge to be a demon hunter?”

“You offered it to me, and I used it sparingly.”

“How did your demon-hunting go?”