Yes, I couldn’t even take a piss without someone checking in on me; I might as well be at the office with a line of people wanting my attention. At least he was speaking to me from behind the door, not even attempting to sneak a peek at my naked self.
“Good,” I muttered.
“Want a cup of tea?”
Did I want a cup of tea? What was this? A farm holiday? A day out with the grandparents? My jokes weren’t even funny, but I hobbled back out…
Naked. Yup.
Because I was an idiot.
“Wanna borrow some pants?” he asked, standing there with a cup in his hand. Teabag in the other.
“You brought a kettle?” My mouth needed a warning. Several of them, actually. I was behaving like a twat, and I wasn’t sure at all what he was up to.
“I like a hot drink. Didn’t want to have to traipse all the way up to the buffet every time. I have oat milk, that okay?”
“Acceptable,” I deadpanned, trying to turn my back to him as I hobbled back to the bed. Only so I could cover myself up.
Talk about the most embarrassing incident of my life. I’d be dining out on this one for years. So would my mates, listening to how I’d ended up in a stranger’s room with a messed-up foot and no pants. The hotel room? It looked very similar to mine, at least what I remembered of it. Bright. Airy. A fan moving gently on the ceiling, front door to the right, patio door to the left. In my case, a balcony, here we were right on the beach. The sound of the waves crashing was almost too loud for my fragile hearing.
“Pants would be good,” I had to admit, wondering where my clothes were.
“I hung your stuff up outside in the sun. Room key is next to you. Couldn’t find a phone, was going to put it on charge for you.”
“Thoughtful.”
Rude, but I was still very weary here.
“Look,” he said, placing a cup of …hot liquid next to me. I shuffled over as per instinct, and he sat himself down. On the bed.
Too close.
No sense of personal space. Or maybe he had because he looked mortified.
“I’m not a creep, I promise you. I’m just…a doctor, who found a drunkard with sunburn outside his room. Just doing my duty here. And I apologise again for my mum, she gets carried away with all these…ideas of holiday matchmaking, and she is desperate for grandchildren and wants me to get a dog and buy a house and all that…”
“You still live at home?” I think I was probably just as…delusional here.
“No.” He shook his head. “I practice a few hours away from where Mum and Dad live. I have my own house. A car. Normal stuff, I promise.”
“Normal.” I smirked. “I’m normal. I don’t usually end up drunk and injured on other people’s deckchairs.”
“See? We’re good then. I’ll lend you some pants.”
“What’s wrong with my pants?” I asked.
Oh.
“I wouldn’t recommend wearing those again.” He grimaced. “Wet and full of sand. You must have been crawling around in the surf out there.”
“I’ll gratefully borrow whatever you can offer.” I think my face was flaming. Of all things good and almighty?
“I’ll bring you some clothes, and then I’ll help you get back to your room.”
“You want rid of me already?”
I was trying to make a dumb joke. One that clearly wasn’t landing, as he rolled his eyes.
