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Chapter Eleven
My nagging brain plusan early morning flight plus no sleep last night sank into my bones. As the clock drew closer to five, I felt like I’d been compressed to preserve bandwidth, and parsed incorrectly on the other side.
The fun with Chase and Luke this morning felt like someone else’s life.
My phone buzzed at the same time as Luke’s chimed, and we executed a perfect ballet of reaching for the devices. It was a group text from Chase.
Would you rather stay in?
I’d drop a lot for their company, either of them, even before this, but I wasn’t up for exploring the city. If I turned him down, would the fun end?
“I’m not going to answer on your behalf, but I also won’t be offended if you tell him yes,” Luke said.
“What about sushi?” I spoke the words aloud as I typed them. Was that silly? Luke would read my reply, but he was also sitting in the room with me.
Chase replied seconds later. They deliver. Besides, you’ve had a long few days, and my money says you don’t want to go out. I don’t care where we are, as long as I have your company.
That was sweet. Almost cheesy, but in a way that warmed me from the inside out. Okay. Let’s stay in.
Meet you both at the hotel, Chase wrote.
Luke and I finished work with minimal conversation. The pauses were comfortable, like what I was used to, as long as I didn’t think too much about the night ahead. Every time I started down that path, I ran into so many questions, my brain stalled. Did they really expect me to choose between them? So far, it didn’t feel like it. How did this work tonight? I was used to dinner with either of them, but together as more than friends...? What was I supposed to tell Sadie and Lyn in the morning? Was this a good idea?
I had to shake it all aside, or I’d freeze up from indecision and doubt. Or worse, I’d pick an answer to each question, and it would be the wrong one.
Chase wasn’t at the hotel yet, but we needed to check in anyway. There was only one person behind the counter, so Luke let me go first.
I gave the desk clerk a friendly smile and my name.
She typed. And then some more. A line creased her forehead. “I’m sorry—can you spell your last name for me again?”
“Fortier. F. O. R. T. I. E. R. And it’s Anne with an e.”
“Like the show?” She smiled.
“Exactly.”
She typed a bit more. “I’m sorry. I don’t see a reservation for you.”
No big deal. My name wasn’t in there quite right or something. “Maybe Anne without an e? Or my last name is wrong?”
She shook her head. “We don’t have reservations for any Annes tonight. Regardless of spelling.”
“Is there an issue?” Luke joined me.
“She can’t find my reservation.” I wasn’t near panic, but I was getting concerned.
He frowned. “Look under Luke Rider.”
The desk clerk worried her bottom lip. “You’re not in here either.”
“We are. My assistant made the reservations yesterday.” Luke grabbed his phone, jabbed the screen a few times, and showed it to her. “Here’s the confirmation email from our travel agency.”
She looked between phone and computer, typing some more. Clicking. “I’m sorry. That information isn’t in here. And we don’t have any available rooms. We’re full up because of evacuations and such. I’m sorry.”
Luke clenched his jaw, and tension ran through his frame. When he looked like this, he was almost scary. A starkly abrupt reminder of the Marine past he never talked about.
He stepped away with a glance at me. “Let me make some calls.”
