Page 64 of The Best Number

“Is Cass with you?” I ask, unsure what I want the answer to be.

“No, she’s deep in her editing cave. I’ve not seen her since the start of the week. Wanna switch to a video call and see if we can get her here too?”

“That would be awesome.”

“Hold on, I’m putting you on speaker so I can send her a message.” I hear a ding from my phone and look at the screen to see he’s messaged her in the group chat. A notification comes up across the screen to indicate she’s typing.

“She’s seen it and she’s replying.”

“I saw. How are you, Tom?”

“I’m good. We miss you,” he says with a sigh.

“Yeah, I miss you guys too. It’s been crazy busy. Hard to get a moment to myself.”

A reply pops up:

Cassidy: Yes - I miss both your faces! Call me now!

“Jack, I’m gonna hang up and then add you both to a video call,” Tom tells me before the line goes dead.

My phone buzzes with an incoming FaceTime which I answer straight away. And there they both are, in little squares on my phone screen. Cassidy is grinning. Her hair pulled up in a messy bun, looking adorable. Tom appears to be shirtless, if his naked shoulders are anything to go by.

“Hey, honey. How are you?” Cassidy asks me.

“I’m good, Cass. It’s so good to see you.”So fucking good.A lightness washes over me.Fuck, I miss them.

We chat for a while—me filling them in on some of the stuff I’ve been up to while I’ve been here. I’ve been sending snippets and photos in the group chat at their insistence, but it’s good to give them a few more details.

“How have you two been? What have you been up to?”

“We’ve both been super busy with work. I’ve got a deadline for editing this book before it goes to my editor, so I haven’t seen daylight all week.”

I smile at Tom’s frown at that comment.

“Cassidy, you need to leave your flat, even when you do have a deadline,” he tells her with furrowed brows.

“I just need to get three more chapters done and then I will take the rest of the day off, I promise. In fact, I was thinking about coming and propping up the bar for a couple of hours this afternoon. Get the gossip from Abby on her latest beau, and perve on you while you make drinks. I’m gonna see if Mel can come along too. We can choose a book for book club.”

“It’ll be good to see you,” Tom tells her with a grin.

I feel that pain again and rub at my chest. I wish I could be the one to drag Cass out of her writing cave and down to Tom’s bar. I’m grateful they have each other, but it sucks to be on the other side of the Atlantic right now and not just across the hall.

“Book club?” I ask.

“Yeah, Mel, Abby and I are going to start a book club at The Thirst Trap. Abby’s going to try and come up with themed cocktails and maybe even snacks for each book we read.”

“That sounds like fun.” I’ve never been much of a reader, so I know I’ve got the homesickness bad when I find myself wanting to join their club.

“How’s work going, Jack?” Cassidy asks.

I tell them a bit more about what we’ve been working on and some of the people I’ve met.

“Any hotties on the team?” Cassidy asks with a grin.

“There might be a couple.” She raises her eyebrows, obviously keen to get more information out of me. “But they’re banging each other, so I don’t stand a chance.”

She giggles, but Tom is frowning.

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