Tanner: Yum
Tanner: Going to a press thing with the guys. Talk later? ??
Sam: Absolutely. ??
The quick knockon the door pulled her from the bed. She was at that point of being hungry where she would break into Tanner’s stash of Doritos if the food didn’t come soon.
She unlatched, unlocked, and tugged open the door.
The girl on the other side of the door didn’t have the normal “warming” bag the Big Eats Delivery Service required of their drivers. That’s why Sam used their service—the food always arrived warm. This person only had a plastic sack tied around the Styrofoam.
Sam was a smart woman who understood that you always checked the door viewer, and on a normal day, she used more caution than the average person.
And yet, today she rode on the post-Tanner text high and flung open the door without checking. The blonde woman there wearing the designer jeans—looked like maybe they came from Rag and Bone—had a smash-you-like-a-bug expression she managed to quickly wipe away into neutrality. She did it so fast, Sam questioned if she’d even assessed it correctly. The tight top the woman wore totally worked with the outfit. Sam just couldn’t shake a little tickle in her brain that told her to get away. She wasn’t safe.
If she’d checked the door first, she would’ve requested that it be the contactless option.
And, honestly, with the tip she’d left on the Big Eats app, she would’ve figured the delivery person would be happier to make the drop.
“Hi,” Sam said, holding her hands out to take the delivery.
“This is yours?” the woman asked, balancing the food on one hand.
“I’m guessing so.” That was an odd thing to say when making a delivery.
“Samantha Johnson?” she asked.
“Uh-huh. I have the pin code. It’s…” Sam flipped her phone in her hand to pull it up on the app—
“Sami Jo.” The woman said the name as though Sam didn’t know who she, herself, was. But she knew, and at that announcement, everything went numb. Lips. Even her earlobes had no feeling anymore.
“My name is Sam,” she said, instead of confirming the woman’s use of her former name.
Dan might be downstairs. She could go there, hit his apartment, and hope like hell he was home. Dan was safety.
The woman handed over the food. Thank goodness. Maybe they could be done with this, and she could figure out what the hell came next.
“I knew it was you,” the woman said. “Knew it from the second Tanner mentioned you two are together. You really don’t look that different. I mean, yeah, the hair’s longer. And you got a little fluffy. Not judging, just saying. Tanner has always liked his women a little fluffy, you know? But all-in-all you are definitely Sami Jo.”
Sam started to step backward into the apartment. With a little luck, she could kick the door closed, have a private panic attack, call Dan and call Tanner and—
“Hold up,” the lady said. “I’m just a friend of Tanner’s. I only want to talk.”
Mach told her Catiana had been at Brek’s. Said she had blonde hair and blue eyes. This had to be her. “You’re Catiana.”
“You know me.” The wry smile on Catiana’s lips didn’t sit well.
Nothing sat well right then.
“Mach mentioned you.” Sam looked up and down the empty hallway. “How did you know about this place?” She stumbled over the words as she spoke.
“I followed you,” Catiana said, brightly, as though it wasn’t a big whoop. That it wasn’t more than slightly creepy.
“Can I come in?” Catiana asked. “So we can talk? Girl to girl?”
“That’s not a good idea.” Sam preferred not to be murdered by a woman who slept with sharks. By anyone, really.
“Sami Jo, please,” Catiana said, again.
