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“Good news is it works,” I said. “Bad news is we have 5,647 more rooms to go.”
“I’ve got my card too. Should I try the other side?”
Maybe it would’ve helped us move along faster, but the thought of Drew wandering off without me made an uneasy feeling settle in my gut. “I don’t think we should split up. You’re right behind me, and I can’t see you.”
“Okay.” He moved in beside me, still holding on, his arm now grazing mine. It sent a torrent of goosebumps over my skin, but I didn’t pull away. Something about it was comforting in the darkness.
Something about it also had my heart beating a little faster.
I tried another door…and another. It wasn’t until we’d made it to the other side what felt like a million years later that one of the doors flashed green and the lock disengaged.
“Oh thank God,” Drew said as I pushed the door wide and held it for him so it wouldn’t knock him in the face. “For a minute there I thought we might have to sleep in the hallway.”
I could hear him feeling his way through the room, knocking into the chairs, and then a moment later he pulled the curtains wide open. Even though it was dark, the constant lightning flashes gave off enough illumination to make out the room.
Drew went straight for his phone, and after a quick two minutes reassuring his mom he hadn’t been swept away by the storm, he powered it down and set it on the table.
I clutched my chest. “Did I hallucinate, or did Drew Edwards just turn off his phone?”
“My battery won’t make it through the night if I don’t. And I don’t think anyone’ll be trying to get in touch right now.”
“No? Not even your date from the other night?”
Uh, where had that come from?
Drew gave me a funny look. “No, I’m sure the storm’s got him a little preoccupied.”
Right.
We both stood there with our hands in our pockets, avoiding eye contact. Without the distraction of other people or a television or…anything at all, it was a little awkward. And, in such a closed-in space in the darkness with someone whose body I knew intimately well, more than a little dangerous.
“So,” Drew said.
“So.”
I rocked back on my heels and wondered if it was late enough that sleep was an option.
As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I could feel every exhausted muscle in my body. Yeah, passing out after the events of the day sounded like a better idea than trying to make small talk with Drew.
Or do things that don’t require talking at all.
There was only one problem.
I looked down at the elephant in the room, one double bed that my feet would definitely be hanging off the end of. It was better than the floor, though, and I wasn’t about to offer to sleep there after this shit day. No telling what people had tracked in, including us.
“So. What do we do about this?” I said, gesturing to the bed.
“What do you think? We sleep in it.”
“Which one of us?”
“Both of us.”
“Absolutely not,” I said, crossing my arms as I turned to face Drew. “We’re not sharing a bed.”
He mimicked my stance, crossing his arms and lifting his chin. “Really. You plan to sleep in the tub?”
“No,I’mtaking the bed. It’s not big enough for the two of us.”
