I looked at Harrison, who winced, but didn’t say anything against the idea. He would probably do anything if it meant getting away from our new upbeat travel companions.
“I guess this is where we leave you,” I said, and waved to the guys.
“We’ll see you later tonight, eh?” Nigel nodded. “We can all go out. It’ll be fun to have a group.”
I glanced at Harrison who gave a subtle shake of his head. “We’ll see how we’re feeling,” I said with a bright smile. I’d pretend to placate Harrison for now, but seeing the nightlife was a must for me. He’d have to suck it up, or let me go alone with our new acquaintances.
We navigated the winding path back to our hotel from memory.
“I can’t believe I left you alone for five seconds this morning and you took in a pack of stray puppies,” Harrison said.
“They’re fun.”
“They’reyoung,” he retorted.
Giggling, I stepped over a particularly large hole in the cobblestone path. “They do make me feel ancient,” I admitted. “I never thought I was getting old at twenty-seven, but they’ve proven me wrong.”
“All that energy. I bet they don’t even stop back at the room for a nap before their night out.”
“Definitely not. They’re going to keep it going until the early hours of the morning.”
The tension melted away from Harrison as we walked and made casual small talk about the day. Seeing his obvious shift in comfort made me swell with pride, just a little bit. Because despite feeling like Harrison’s least favorite person sometimes, it was obvious now that I was in his circle. Whether he admitted it or not, being around me wasn’t draining him like being around strangers had been. And that felt good.
As soon as we stepped through the archway of the hotel, Maria greeted us with a wave and a warm smile.
“Welcome back. How was town?”
“It was lovely,” I said.
Maria approached us, her gauzy top flowing in the breeze, one that was getting increasingly stronger as the day went on.
“I wanted to ask you two something.”
“Sure,” I said, stopping and feeling Harrison come to a halt directly behind me. He wasn’t touching me, but my body could feel his presence all the same.
“I’ve got three guests arriving today; they just called and were hoping to find a shared room. Only problem is, I only have one bed left in the room you all are in.”
Furrowing my brows, I waited for her to continue.
“But I have a couple of open private suites.” She gestured to the other side of the small property. “I was hoping I could convince you two to take a different room.”
“Oh,” I started awkwardly. “We totally would, but you see, we’re on a bit of a tight budget...”
“It would be at the same cost,” Maria added quickly. “You’d be doing me a favor.” She winked and smiled again. Why did it somehow feel like she was trying to dousa favor, and not the other way around?
“Well, if it’s okay with you...” I trailed off, glancing up at Harrison.
He shrugged. “Doesn’t make a difference to me.”
While he said it didn’t matter, I knew on the inside he was dying for some privacy.
“Sounds good, then,” I said.
“Fantastic.” Maria clapped her hands. “You get your things, and I’ll get you your new key.”
We went back to the shared room and gathered all of our belongings. It didn’t take long, since we’d barely had a chance to unpack anything.
Just ten minutes later, Harrison pushed the key into the lock of our new room and turned it before pushing the door open.
