Page 51 of Chosen

What the hell was I thinking?

“You… feel for me?” Sam pressed, seeking out more clarity. “As in?”

“As in, I have feelings for you,” I replied, letting out a shaky breath. “I have feelings for you, Sam. And I… the Jeep is coming tomorrow so we can fix the truck and then visit the main cabin at HQ and it just… everything feels so real and then reality comes in with a wrecking ball and that’s all we are—”

“Okay, Damon? You’re not making a lot of sense,” Sam said, reaching for my hand, gingerly pulling me into the cabin. “How about you take a moment and catch your breath? And then, we can try that again?”

I nodded, grateful for the opportunity for a do-over. I hastily took a seat on the living room couch, staring up at the ceiling, my thoughts still jumbled but thankfully staying inside my head instead of awkwardly pouring out of me.

“All right, so…,” Sam started, his voice low as he took a seat beside me on the couch. “I think I caught the whole you having feelings for me thing…”

“And?”

“And… I have feelings for you, too,” Sam admitted, his cheeks burning red as he spoke. “I’ve had feelings for you for an embarrassing amount of time, considering how little time we’ve actually known each other.”

“I wouldn’t say there’s anything embarrassing about that.” I shifted closer to Sam on the couch, my hand reaching for his.

“Sure. Whatever.” Sam playfully rolled his eyes. “As for the rest of the stuff you were saying… the Jeep is coming here tomorrow?”

I nodded as I spoke. “They’ll finally be able to have a clear path to the cabin and we’ll be able to repair the truck.”

“And they’re taking us both back to the cabin at HQ?”

“That’s the plan, according to Parker,” I went on. “He mentioned it’d be nice to finally meet you for the first time.”

“And reality being a wrecking ball?” Sam hummed, as he looked over at me. “What was that all about?”

“I just meant that…” I started and stopped, trying to gather my words. “I just didn’t want what we have to be ruined by it. By thinking about the logistics of everything, how it could possibly work.”

“Well, why don’t we try talking it out?” Sam shrugged.

“Really?”

“Yes. Really.” He lightly chuckled. “Why would we throw in the towel before we’ve even started the fight?”

“I don’t love comparing our relationship to a fight right off the bat…”

“Oh, please. All relationships are a fight.” Sam waved a hand between us. “Some are a lot smoother than others, but trying to stick together? You’re going to have to get out your boxing gloves, sooner or later. There’s just too much threatening to pull people apart, all the time.”

“True,” I admitted, with a small smile. “So, what did you have in mind?”

“Well, I’m thinking that since you’re a co-owner at Wilds Woods, that means you can’t leave Virginia too often, right?”

“Right.”

“Okay, then it’s mostly going to be on me to be the flexible one…” He hummed again, like he was working through something in his head. “So, the good news about my job is that I can pretty much work from anywhere, hence me being here…”

“I feel like there’s a but coming.”

“Just a small one.” Sam smirked. “It’d just be a matter of me convincing Anthony that I do my best work in Roanoke, which shouldn’t be too difficult of a conversation if my piece on divorce blows away all the website traffic records from before.”

“You’re feeling more confident about it, then?”

“Oh, I’m feeling very confident.” Sam beamed. “I finally got back all of my emails, all questions answered, from some of the biggest names in modern pop culture history. Some of these people haven’t opened up to anyone, ever. I’ve got exclusive content that can’t be published anywhere else.”

Sam pressed a quick kiss to my cheek before he went on. “I’ve got a smoking gun, baby. There’s nothing better than that.”

“Baby?” I quirked an eyebrow over at him.

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