Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
When the bedside light is turned on, all I want to do is snuggle deeper into the blankets where it’s warm and cozy. But the alarm is also going off and that ruins the snuggle-down vibe. Plus, it’s competition day, and we can’t be late.
“Do you want to shower first, Rebecca?” asks Felix, leaning over Sebastian to pull down the covers enough to see me. “We’re pretty quick in the shower, but we want to make sure you have enough time to get ready before we go down to breakfast.”
Ugh. He makes a good point, dealing with my long hair alone probably means I’ll take longer to get ready than all of them put together. And they all probably want to make sure they’re there early for registration and to mentally prepare for the first day of Nationals.
“Okay,” I tell Felix, forcing myself to sit up. “Thanks.” I drag the blankets down just enough that I can lift my legs out from beneath the covers and then crawl down and off the bed. A hot shower will help wake me up.
The hot water feels fantastic beating down on me, and I let it run over my entire body as I lather shampoo into my hair. When the door opens, I jolt and nearly get shampoo in my eyes.
“It’s just me,” says Felix, stepping up to the sink with barely a glance at me through the shower glass as he begins to shave.
After everything I’ve done with these guys, I shouldn’t be embarrassed about Felix seeing me shower, but it’s still awfully bold of him to just walk in like this, without even knocking to see if I’m okay with him being in here.
I turn a little away from the glass and can’t stop myself from casting furtive glances his way as I race through the rest of my shower, any relaxation I could have enjoyed out the window now that I have an audience.
It’s just as well, given that all four of the guys will also want a shower before we go downstairs.
The towels are just out of reach from the shower stall—a terrible bathroom design, if you ask me—so I have to step completely out of the shower to get one.
There’s no denying though, the appreciative glance Felix sends my way when I reach for a towel and wrap it around me tight.
If he notices my shyness, he doesn’t say anything.
Or maybe he chalks my slight blush up to the hot water heating my skin.
Moving to the counter, I watch in the mirror as Felix drops his boxers right on the floor and steps into the newly evacuated shower, as naked as I was just moments ago.
Making sure my towel is tucked snug around my chest, I brush my hair, trying hard not to be too obvious as I watch Felix in the mirror.
I should leave. It’d be the polite thing to do, but he stood here and watched me shower so there’s no reason I shouldn’t be allowed to do the same.
After all, as Sebastian says, fair is fair.
I thought I was being discreet in my voyeurism, but that thought is thrown out the window when I look up again only to see Felix facing me, one hand on the glass and the other stroking his cock.
He’s looking right at me, and I know I should look away.
I should leave the room. But I’m frozen and fascinated.
My eyes drop to his hand, following the way he grips his cock so hard he looks like he’s choking it.
His fist starts at the very bottom of his shaft, and then slowly travels up to the tip, rolling his palm over the head before dragging it almost aggressively back down to the base.
It’s methodical and calm, but vaguely violent all at the same time.
Will I be brave enough to grip him so hard one of these days? Should I drop my towel and join him in the shower?
“Twenty minutes,” calls Lukas from the bedroom.
His words are like a cold bucket of water. I don’t have time to join Felix in the shower. I cannot be the reason these guys miss out on their dream of being world champion speedcubers.
I run the brush through my hair one more time and then run out into the bedroom so I can trade my towel for clothes and grab my toothbrush.
The other guys all go into the bathroom and race through their own shaving and showering.
If they’re also jerking themselves off in the bathroom, I don’t know, because I refuse to go in there to brush my teeth until they’re all out and getting dressed.
Three hot guys dropping towels, completely unashamed of being naked?
I never thought I would find the image so tempting.
Lukas checks his watch impatiently as we all wait for Elliot to make the beds to his standards. Then we troop downstairs.
If I’d thought the lobby was crowded last night, it’s nothing compared to how hectic it is this morning. Not just with tourists, but business people who must be here for a conference or meetings, as well as the large number of speedcubers and their families here for Nationals.
Wait. I look around the lobby again, even as Lukas grabs my hand and guides me through the throngs of people, and realize that there are a lot of families here.
The guys’ families aren’t here, are they?
Ronnie’s words from yesterday echo in my mind, and I pray she was wrong, that their families aren’t here.
They haven’t said anything about it, and that’s definitely something that they would warn me about, right?
We wind our way through the crowds until we reach the back of a line, and Lukas drops my hand.
“There are a lot more people here than the last time I came to one of these,” I say, surprised and impressed at the turn out.
“That was just Regionals,” explains Sebastian. “This is Nationals.”
“Sure, but it’s still surprising to me compared to the last event I attended.” I’ve been under the impression that speedcubing is a niche sport. I didn’t think they would be able to get this many people all in one place.
“I thought you’d all retired,” says a voice behind us, and we all turn to see a kid in a superhero T-shirt with a lanyard around his neck. He looks like he’s maybe a freshman in high school. “Your fingers have got to be slowing down.”
I bite back the urge to tell him that their fingers are wonderfully fast and nimble, thank you very much, as I well know. It would be wildly inappropriate for me to say something like that out loud to anyone, let alone a fourteen-year-old kid.
“Hey, Stephen,” they all mutter, sounding resigned to experiencing this situation. I’m guessing it’s not the first time it’s played out at one of these events.
“Maybe you should get out of line. I won’t tell anyone you’re here, and that way you can retire and not suffer the embarrassment of losing again. Because you’re not touching my title.”
Stephen is a real dick. Is it wrong to think that about a kid? I don’t think I care if it is.
“Statistically, we have a very good chance of winning,” says Felix, pushing his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose.
“They’ve been practicing a lot, and their fingers are faster than ever.” They all look at me in surprise. I guess they weren’t expecting me to stand up for them. But Stephen is pissing me off. I’m not sure who he is, but there’s no way I’m letting him be mean to my friends.
“And didn’t you just have two DNFs at your last local competition?” asks Lukas.
“No,” Sebastian corrects him before Stephen can respond. “It was one DNF and a flipped equator.”
Stephen’s face grows red. At any moment, steam might start flowing out of his ears, he’s so mad.
A woman appears next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Do you want to wait in line again with your friends, or are you joining your father and I for breakfast?”
Stephen gives his mom a practiced, choir boy smile. “Breakfast sounds great.”
The sneer he shoots us behind her back as he turns and walks off is so over the top I can’t help but snicker at it.
“Have your parents come say hi to me later,” says the woman to the guys, nodding formally before following her son into the crowd.
“Well, now we definitely have to win and prove him wrong,” says Felix.
“He doesn’t deserve to be a national champion,” Sebastian agrees.
“We can’t take that title from him,” says Lukas, “so we just won’t let him become World champion.”
I’m barely listening. Stephen’s mother’s words replay in my head. Have your parents come say hi to me.
They would have told me if their parents are coming, right?
“Are you parents here?” My eyes search the room as we move up the line. As if I’d recognize them if I saw them. I’ve never even seen a picture of them.
“Of course,” says Elliot, sounding surprised that I didn’t already know this. “Why wouldn’t they come?”
“Well, they weren’t at the last one.” I can feel my breath coming faster. Is the room tilting a little?
“That was a small one-day competition, so there wasn’t a point in them flying out just for that,” says Sebastian.
“You should have told me.” I smooth my hair, suddenly self-conscious about looking frizzy when I meet their parents.
Oh my god, I’m going to have to meet their parents. This is not okay. That’s a girlfriend activity, not a whatever-we-are one. My palms begin to sweat and I fear I may be having a mild panic attack.
Felix frowns. “You didn’t ask.”
“I didn’t know I needed to,” I hiss as we reach the front of the line. “I’d have thought you guys would have given me a heads up on something like that.”
The conversation is put on pause as the guys get checked in for their individual events and their group relay.
They’re given their own folders and lanyards, and I’m also given a lanyard, in a different color.
This must be the guest one versus the competitor one.
I slip it around my neck, my hands still shaking with nerves and irritation.
I don’t know if I’m angry or nervous or both, but I’m definitely not happy.