AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No offense taken,” Colter insisted. “But you might be interested to know that my room has two twin beds in it. You can take the empty bed if you don’t mind sharing the same room. I promise to stay on my side.”
“Oh, I see,” Norah whispered. Savannah could see the wheels turning in her friend’s head and she knew that the very practical Norah would tell Colter yes. A comfortable bed trumped a couch any day of the week. “I’ll accept your offer on one condition,” she agreed.
“What’s the condition?” Colter asked.
Norah looked his body over and nodded. “You wear more than just boxers to bed.”
“I’m assuming that you’ll be doing the same—wearing more than just a skimpy nighty to bed?” Savannah saw the way that he looked Norah over and she was pretty sure that the guy would love for her to have only packed the skimpiest of nighties for the trip.
“I will wear a T-shirt and shorts if that’s your part of the demands,” she agreed.
“Yep, that works for me,” he said. “Allow me to carry your suitcase for you,” he offered.
“No need,” Norah insisted. “I have been carrying my own suitcase my whole life, but I appreciate your offer.”
“Suit yourself,” Colter grumbled and started down the hallway.
“Night, Savannah,” Norah shouted back over her shoulder. Well, at least Norah remembered that she was still there. Ginger had taken off like a schoolgirl in lust after Jude; not even saying goodnight. This whole trip was turning into a nightmare and Savannah turned back to face the monster who was playing the lead.
“Looks like that just leaves us,” Brooks said.
“If you think that I’m going to be easily swayed like my friends just were, you’re mistaken,” she insisted.
“Oh, I believe you, Savannah. You look like a tough customer,” Brooks said. She believed that he was teasing her, but she didn’t know him and couldn’t really accuse him of any wrongdoing without being sure.
“So, how are we going to play this?” he asked. “You want to share or find a sofa?” The jerk wasn’t even going to consider her proposal of flipping a coin to see who got the bed.
“I’ve already told you my solution,” she insisted, holding up the coin. He squinted against the dim light as if trying to see what she was holding between her pointer finger and thumb. “Oh, don’t play that game,” she almost shouted. “You can see that I’m holding up a quarter. I announced that I had found it when I came back into your room.” He smiled at her, and she wondered if he was mental. “What the hell are you smiling at?” she asked.
“You just called it, ‘My room,'” he said, using his fingers to put air quotes around his words. God, she hated when people did shit like that. As if she couldn’t pick up on their meaning without seeing their fingers making those stupid air quotes and emphasizing their words. She wasn’t dense.
“I got your meaning without you having to use those stupid air quotes,” she insisted. He chuckled and let his hands drop to his lap.
“Why don’t you get out of bed, and we can talk this out like civilized people?” she offered. Savannah was totally lying. If he was dumb enough to get out of bed, she was quickly going to fill it and tell him to get lost—as if that would work. She honestly didn’t know what to do about the sexy stranger sleeping in her bed, but she had to figure out something or she’d be the only one in her group sleeping on a couch tonight, and that just plain sucked. Ginger and Norah had gotten to nap on the drive down and now, they were both going to be sleeping in comfortable beds while she was left to fend for herself.
“I’d get out of bed, but I’m worried that I might upset you,” Brooks said.
“You’ve already upset me,” she insisted, “what more could you possibly do to upset me further?”
“I could show you that I’m completely naked under this sheet, if that doesn’t upset you, then you should definitely share my bed with me,” he said, patting the mattress.
“Not going to happen,” she spat, “and you can just stay in bed then. I’m going to find a sofa and we’ll settle this in the morning.”
“Suit yourself,” he said. “Good luck with the sofa—it’s pretty uncomfortable.”
“I’d rather be uncomfortable than in bed with a complete ass,” she grumbled more to herself than to him. She didn’t bother to turn back when he started laughing at her. She would have wasted her breath shouting at him some more, and that would cut into her sleeping time. Savannah planned on getting up with the sun, so she could get dressed and find the rental agent’s office. She was going to give them a piece of her mind and then she planned on either walking away with the keys to the house, all to herself, or she’d be calling a lawyer.
“Good night, Savanah,” Brooks called after her. She growled her response, only making him laugh harder at her. Yeah, he was a complete ass.
* * *
She was thankful that the place had a full bathroom in the hallway, close to the couch. As soon as the sun peaked through the windows, she was up and headed to the shower with her bag of toiletries and a fresh sundress. She was going to go into town to clear up this misunderstanding, and then, she was planning on spending the rest of her day on the beach, soaking up some sun and swimming in the ocean. It was one of her favorite things to do.
When her grandmother and mom took her to the beach as a kid, she loved getting up in the morning and going to the beach for the whole day with them. They’d stay until dinner time and then they’d get up the next day and do it all over again. Being at the beach made her miss her mom and grandmother, but she also knew that they’d both be happy that she was still going back to the place they all loved so much.
Her dad was never much of a beachgoer, even when he had his health. He’d come down for a few days here and there during the summer, but for the most part, he stayed back at home and worked. It was her mom, grandmom, and her—the three amigos and losing them only drove home the fact that she was even more alone now. That’s why her friendships with Ginger and Norah were so important to her. They were her family now—them and her father.
By the time she showered and got to the kitchen, she found the sexy guy who was in her bed last night. What was his name again? Oh, yeah—Brooks. He was at least wearing a pair of gym shorts and a T-shirt instead of a sheet. That was a step in the right direction if she was going to be able to look him in the eyes and not stare at his body.
