I tried to ignore the feel of his body against mine and remind myself that I hated him and he was a conceited asshole but the more I chanted it in my head, the less I believed it.
I tried to slowly disentangle myself from him but as I moved, my upper thigh brushed against a certain part of him and his eyes flew open with a soft groan. I quickly pulled away from him and was out of bed quicker than you could say my name.
“Good morning,” his voice was gruff and laced with sleep and I felt my lower belly clench as his words registered through my brain.
I cleared my throat and muttered a quick good morning as I took refuge in the bathroom. I heard him mutter a disgruntled response but I didn’t stay to respond. My mind was swirling with thoughts I shouldn’t be having so I tried my best not to focus on them.
I tried not to focus on how deep and husky his morning voice was. I tried not to focus on how my body reacted when I brushed up against him but one look at my pebbled nipples or soaked underwear was enough to remind me. Most of all, I tried not to focus on how he reacted when I brushed up against him or when I felt him grow against my thigh-
“Stop it,” I muttered to my reflection, “It was morning wood and nothing more. And I was cold,that explains the reaction.”
It didn’t slip my notice that I probably looked like a crazy person. In fact, my reflection seemed to mock me but I repeated the words until they sank in my brain like concrete. Despite the warm air coming through the windows and the light sheen of sweat coating my skin, I reminded myself that it was just the cold.
I took a well needed bath and tried to ignore the little scurrying sounds I heard. What I do not know cannot hurt me. When I got out, I blatantly ignored Nathan and grabbed my clothes then retreated back into the bathroom to get dressed.
In a little over an hour, we were both dressed and ready to get the hell out of the motel. I was in a matching pair of black and white leggings and a crop top while Nathan was wearing a pair of black sweats and a white shirt. I noticed that we were matching and I reminded myself that it was no big deal.
I wanted to keep busy so I made the bed while Nathan went down to speak with the lady at the counter. He returned a few minutes later to tell me that Darius was waiting for us downstairs. I moved towards my box but before I could get to it, Nathan had picked it up and was out of the room. All I could do was follow behind him and try to ignore the awkward tension that was brewing between us.
Darius looked just as I remembered him and he broke into a smile when he saw us. “I hope you both had a restful night.”
“We did, thank you,” I decided there was no harm in being nice considering that he helped us last night.
“Have you eaten breakfast?”
“Not yet, but we can get something on the drive back to the city.”
He chuckled awkwardly, “About that,”
No one ever starts a good sentence with ‘about that’ and I knew that he was going to say something that will probably ruin my mood for the rest of the day but that didn’t stop me from silently praying that I was wrong.
“The mechanic went out of town on an emergency yesterday, his daughter was sick,” he explained, “He may not be back for at least a week and his assistant got injured a month back and he still isn’t steady on his feet.”
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” I muttered.
“You could stay here or I could take you to our town. There’s an inn that’s a lot better suited for you there, it also has less rats.” He added the last part in a whisper. “There are also stores around so you can get whatever you need to make your week easier.”
The only thing I need to make my week easier is to be back in my house or in my office surrounded by my own shit where I don’t have to worry about rats or stores because I know where everything is.
I ran my hands over my face in frustration as I struggled to take deep breaths to calm myself, “Are you telling me that there is only one mechanic in the entire town?”
“Unfortunately, yes. We aren’t a big town and we don’t need much.” He gave me a soft smile, “Look, I know it is a huge change from whatever you had planned but that’s the best I’ve got. I’ll give you a moment to think about it.”
I watched him exit the motel and I mentally cursed every force in the universe and karma for doing this to me. I know I can be a bitch but I also know that I do not deserve this. I searched through my pocket for my phone and started scrolling through my contacts.
“What are you doing?” Nathan asked reminding me that he had been standing there the whole time.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I am going to call Marissa to send someone to pick me up. You can stay here for all I care but the last thing I am going to do is go to a godforsaken town that has probably never seen a hairdryer or a Starbucks.”
“Somehow, it seems like this is about a lot more than staying in a town.”
“I am not doing this with you,” I muttered.
I shot him a death glare as I pulled up her contact. I was about to hit dial when he pulled the phone right out of my hand. I took a deep breath to calm my homicidal thoughts before I spoke.
“I am two seconds away from losing my shit,” I warned, “Give me back my phone.”
“No.”
