Page 134 of Guys Can't Write Romance
‘False alarm, just weight loss pills and more Nigerian princes.’
‘But maybe check your spam too?’
Chad groaned and texted her back:‘I think you need coffee.’
Her response was immediate:‘Already on my third cup. Coming over. Bringing bagels.’
By week four, their email obsession had reached next level. They sat on their surfboards beyond the break that morning, but instead of relaxing to the rhythm of waves rolling beneath them, or the sunrise coloring the sky in pink and orange, their faces were lit by their cell phones.
“Anything?” Chad asked.
“Nope. You?”
“Just someone wanting to send me a free survival pack of MREs.”
“If you guys are out there checking your emails, I’m drowning you both,” Rhino hollered from the distant shore.
They looked over and saw him wade into the water with his surfboard and begin paddling their way. They quickly clicked off their phones and slid them into waterproof pouches.
By the end of the fourth week, Chad and Daisy had developed a system. Morning checks over coffee, midday checks during lunch, evening checks after dinner, and one final check before bed. Plus, the random checks in between that they pretended weren’t happening.
They were deep into chapter five of the novel they were co-writing, when both of their phones buzzed simultaneously.
They froze.
“That was probably just—” Chad started.
“Twitter,” Daisy finished. “Or Instagram.”
“Or spam.”
“Definitely spam.”
They stared at their phones.
“We should check,” Daisy said.
“Together?”
She nodded and scooted closer to him on the couch. “One...”
“Two...”
“Three.”
They opened their emails.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
“Chad?” Daisy’s voice was barely a whisper.
“Yeah?”
“Are you seeing this?”
“Yeah.”
Another pause.
