Chapter Nine Matt
After my run-in with Ace at the beach, I decided it was probably best to keep to myself at the hotel for the rest of the night. And, after getting the wifi password from Sam, it was a good thing I stayed in because the first thing I did was sign in on my phone and open my social media accounts.
Nearly everyone in my family and my pack had either unfriended or blocked me.
I knew it was going to happen. Or, at least, some part of me knew. But I didn’t expect it to hurt as bad as it did. Not only had my phone service been shut off, stranding me in the outside world without the ability to call for help if I needed it. But even if I somehow managed to make it, nobody would ever know.
There was a piece of me that had been holding onto the idea of proving them all wrong. I would not only live but succeed and show them all how wrong they’d been to abandon me for something so stupid. But now, they’d never know, and I couldn’t force them to bear witness to my survival. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how much I’d been leaning on that idea to keep myself sane.
The depression sank in pretty quickly after that. In fact, I completely forgot to eat. It wasn’t until Sam showed up near midnight that I realized I’d never gone down for dinner.
“You get a meal a day,” he reminded me, placing the plate on my desk. “Even if you don’t want to eat. You can at least put it in your fridge for when you are hungry.” He stopped in my doorway. “You alright?”
“No,” I replied honestly. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“That’s totally fine,” he nodded. “Take tonight to work through it, but tomorrow, I have a job for you to get your mind off things.”
I wanted to snap back at him, to tell him that I didn’t want to do anything. I just wanted to lay in bed and feel sorry for myself. But I knew I was getting the room and my food for free, not to mention the twenty bucks he just gave me earlier that day.
“Is it dishes or something?” I asked. I figured the work would mostly be cleaning, considering it was a hotel.
“I’m gonna have you make a delivery for me.”
“I don’t have a car.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Sam smiled. “I’ve got you covered.” He raised a hand as he pulled the door closed. “Goodnight.”
Well, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I really thought I’d be scrubbing floors on my hands and knees, so making deliveries seemed like a much easier task. And I missed driving. My parents didn’t let me take my car because… well, they owned it. So it would be nice to finally feel that sense of freedom on the road again.
But for now, I was just going to curl up and watch free off-brand movies on YouTube until I fell asleep.
◆◆◆
When I woke the next morning, I didn’t feel any better. For one brief moment, I’d forgotten about everything the night before. But as soon as I opened my eyes and saw the hotel ceiling above me, it all came crashing back. Instant bad mood.
However, I was tired of lying around and feeling bad for myself. Nothing was going to get any better by staying in bed all day. At the very least, I could help Sam out and feel like I was useful, even if it was just for a moment. Besides, I was ready to get out of the hotel again. It was surprising how staying in my room at home never really bothered me, but staying in this tiny little room made me feel like a wolf in a cage. Not only that, I’d never gotten the chance to shift the day before, so that was starting to feel like a bit of an emergency.
When I finally came downstairs, having left my bag and my phone behind, I found Sam sitting behind the lobby desk, reading a book. He didn’t look up at first. It wasn’t until I got close that I could see the title of the book he held.
“Topped by the Mountain Man?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow. “You’re reading smut at the front desk?”
“Yep,” he replied, licking his thumb and flipping the page. “And I’m in one of the good sections, too.”
“Want me to come back later?”
He looked over his book. “It doesn’t surprise you that I’m reading this?”
“Nope,” I replied nonchalantly. “I could tell you were gay the moment I set eyes on you.”
The book dropped to the counter and he blew out a sigh. “What gave me away?”
“Nice skin and the man-bun.” I paused. “And the way you talk.”
“Christ. Don’t hold back, huh?”
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he laughed. “I know how I am. Bet you can’t guess my position, though.”
“Bottom.”
“Fuck’s sake…” He glanced down at the book. “It gave me away, didn’t it?”
“A bit.” He laughed, but I could barely work up a small grin. “So, what’s this delivery you want me to make?”
He glanced up at the clock. “It’s still a bit early, but I guess it’ll take you a minute to get there.”
“Is it far?”
“About ten miles.”
“Oh. That’ll only take a few minutes. The roads here can’t be that bad.”
Sam’s smile faltered. “Uh… I can’t let you take my car today. I need it for a meeting later.”
I was liking the idea of this delivery a lot less now. “Am I walking?”
“God, no! That would take all day!” He put his book down, gesturing for me to follow him. “I have a bike you can use, though.” He glanced back at me. “And don’t worry, it’s electric.”
“Thank god…” I sighed. “I don’t know if I have the energy to pedal that far.”
Sam just laughed, waving for him to follow me. “Come on, I’ll show you where it’s at.”
He led me to the back of the building where the laundry room was. It was pretty big and since it only did wash two days out of the week, it was used for storage the rest of the time. The bike was parked there, the long battery on a charger had been hung on the wall. Sam showed me how to put it on the bike and back on the charger when I was done. He also warned me that it went over twenty miles per hour, so to be careful as I was going. All he had was a helmet, and while my werewolf healing would take care of the rest. It would still hurt like a motherfucker if I crashed, though.
“I need you to stop by the Chinese restaurant on the way out of town and pick up the second half of the delivery there. They already know you’re getting it instead of me.” He reached into his pocket, taking out a folded-up piece of paper. “These are the directions to where you’re taking everything.”
“Where am I going?”
“Just to drop off things to a friend of mine. Why don’t you take the bike outside and I’ll grab the rest of the stuff.”
I folded the paper back up, tucking it in my pocket. If Sam didn’t want to share the details with me, that was fine. I didn’t really care. In fact, I wanted to just get this delivery over with so I could ride around for a while. Sam said the bike had a forty-mile battery life, so I could pretty much go wherever I wanted and explore. And, considering the full moon was tonight, I thought I’d find a place to shift and let off some steam.
Outside the rear of the hotel, I waited until Sam returned carrying a small linen drawstring bag. He placed it gently in the basket on the back of the bike.
“That’s a bit fragile, but it should be fine. I wrapped it.”
“Okay.” I paused, rubbing my arms nervously. “Uh… so where do we go to shift?” I asked. “It’s a full moon tonight, and I don’t know if you want a wolf in your hotel room.”
Sam shook his head. “I completely forgot about that. I’m sorry. Some of us go to the park. Others just sort of drive out into the country and run around wherever.”
“Is it okay if I find someplace… and bring the bike back late?”
Sam lifted an eyebrow. “As long as the bike comes back, I’m fine with it.” He gave me a warm smile. “I trust you. Just don’t give me a reason not to, okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“Oh! I forgot to mention. My friend may need some help from you when you get there. Is that okay?”
“Sure. Probably better than sitting in my room all day and being depressed anyway.”
“That’s the spirit!” Sam patted me on the shoulder, turning back to the hotel. “You’ll be fine, kid. I promise. It doesn’t feel like it now, but you will be.”
“Thanks.”
The door closed behind him and I blew out a long sigh. Did I believe him? Not really. Logic told me he was right, of course. Lots of people survived way worse situations than I’d been through and even ended up happy in the end. But I wasn’t ready to accept that just yet. I needed some time to wallow before I got to that point.
“First stop, the Chinese restaurant,” I said to myself as I swung a leg over the bike. “Then I get to pedal my skinny ass through the countryside with no idea of where I am. Perfect.” I took a deep breath, put my feet on the pedals, and gave the bike a shove. “Hopefully I don’t get hate crimed.”