Chapter 17 #2
“Like in case the competition schedule gets ahead for some reason, which it has never done in the history of the sport,” Andrea clarifies, the same tone of amused resignation in her voice that was in Summer’s when she told Lukas not to beat a dead horse.
The guys all look to Sebastian, who nods. “There’s a first time for everything.”
“Well, that’s all right, you boys can stay here,” agrees Felix’s mom. “What about you, Rebecca? Would you like to come with us to the natural history museum?”
Under different circumstances, I would love to walk through the museum. Walking down to the café earlier with just Summer was fine, but being alone with all of them without having the guys as a protective barrier is a whole different story.
“If you would rather stay here and do homework, we understand,” Mary says gently. “Especially if you don’t want to do it during the competition, we’d understand if you wanted to take advantage of the downtime.”
I hadn’t even considered that I could use the time to get some work done. “That’s probably the best idea. I’m missing classes today, and I don’t want to fall even more behind.”
“No, you definitely don’t.” Andrea stands, gathering her purse, and the rest of us follow her lead. “In that case, we should get going if we want to be back in time to see Lukas’s event.”
We head back into the hall, where there’s yet another round of hugging.
And every parent is hugging every kid, including me, as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.
I can’t even remember the last time either of my parents hugged me.
This is probably more hugs in a morning than I’ve had in a lifetime.
Once they’re on their way to the museum, I turn to the guys.
“Where are you hanging out until the next event?” Now that my homework was mentioned, I feel guilty because I haven’t planned ahead for how I’m going to make up for being here all weekend.
Normally I study on Friday nights and all day Saturday.
The main reason I haven’t been interested in dating is that I didn’t want it to get in the way of my studies, so I can’t let the fact that I’m fooling around with guys now affect my GPA.
Graduation is still two years away, but one bad grade could take the rest of the semester to make up for, and I don’t want to have to work any harder than I already do just because I let myself get distracted.
“We normally spend the entire competition in the competitors’ waiting area,” says Lukas, tilting his head a little as he glances over at his friends, having one of their telepathic conversations.
“Okay. In that case, I’ll head up to the room and get some work done. I’ll set an alarm so I’m back for the next event.”
“Or you could bring it down here to work on,” suggests Felix.
A screaming toddler goes running by, followed by a slightly older kid, not screaming, and finally an adult yelling for both of the kids to stop. We all watch them disappear down the hall, and I look back at the guys.
“No, thanks. It’ll be quieter upstairs.” Plus, there’s no point in bringing my stuff down here if I’ll be sitting alone while they’re in the competitor area. I might as well take advantage of the quiet solitude of our empty room to really knock out a good chunk of work.
“Or … we could all go upstairs,” Elliot suggests, his mouth slowly forming the words as if he’s uncertain about them. “Our room isn’t that much farther from the competition platforms than the waiting area.”
“And they do have all of our numbers so they can text us if the schedule changes,” says Sebastian, equally slowly.
“We can always turn up the volume on our phones and set an alarm,” says Elliot.
“Then let’s wait up there so we can all be together,” agrees Lukas, already heading over to call the elevator.
Unfortunately, we’re not the only ones who have the idea of running up to their room after lunch.
When we finally manage to find an elevator with space for us, we’re forced to stand much closer than we would have normally.
I’m not going to complain though. I didn’t realize how much I would miss being able to touch them all day.
Lukas must have the same thought, because he reaches out to grasp hold of my sweater and gently tug me closer to him.
It’s only about half a step’s worth of distance, but it brings my side flush against his, and his solid warmth makes me feel calm for the first time all day.
I glance around the elevator, but everyone else on it is involved in their phone or simply staring at the doors, waiting for them to open. So long as no one will see, I slip an arm around his waist and give him a squeeze that’s not quite a hug before quickly dropping my arm so we’re not found out.
When we get to our floor, we weave out of the elevator and down the hall to our room.
As soon as Lukas opens the door, but doesn’t go in, I can sense there’s a problem. I peer around him into the room. It looks like housekeeping has come through and completely reset the room, undoing everything Elliot did last night and this morning before we left.
I turn to Elliot, whose eyes are wide. He looks like he’s just gotten unexpected bad news. “Do you need to clean it again?” I ask.
His expression turns embarrassed, but he nods. “Just a quick one?”
“It’s not a problem,” I assure him. If this is what he needs to feel comfortable, I’m not about to stop him. Especially when it’s so easy to allow him this.
When Elliot has finished resetting the room and we have all changed to our room slippers, I look around until I find the Do Not Disturb door tag half-hidden under my suitcase.
“We probably should have put this out before we left.” I grab the sign and hang it on the outside of the door.
“It probably won’t do anything else for today, but it doesn’t hurt either.
And we’ll leave it up the whole time we’re here so housekeeping doesn’t come in and undo everything again. ”
Elliot nods as he tucks his cleaning supplies back into his bag, but he won’t make eye contact with me.
I hate that I’ve made him embarrassed. He has absolutely no reason to feel ashamed, and I never want to be the one to make him feel that way.
Acting on instinct, I wrap my arms around him from behind.
It’s not lost on me that this is almost exactly how he was holding me last night before we knocked a couple of items off my list. The memory sends a tingle through me, and it occurs to me that while I could do homework right now, I could also suggest we tick off another box.
The only thing stopping me from reaching down right now and touching Elliot any way I want is my own self.
But he’s upset, and I don’t want to push myself on him. So I just plant a kiss against his spine through his shirt and step away, giving him the space he probably wants.
I pull the book we’re reading for class out of my bag, resigning myself to actually doing the homework I’m supposedly up here to do.
When I turn around, the guys are sitting on the beds, and I look between them, debating.
I could sit at the desk, but we’ve had so much distance between us already today, and will go back to the same as soon as we leave this room again.
“Can I sit with you?” I hold my book to my chest as I wait for their answer. They’re under a lot of stress and maybe they need their space right now. I wouldn’t blame them if they just want to sit on their own.
But their reply is both affirmative and immediate. “Of course,” says Lukas.
At the same time, Sebastian says, “Always.”
I could go back to the same place where I slept last night but the calendar rotation would say that I should sit between Felix and Lukas.
But if I sit between them now, will that mean I should sleep between Elliot and Sebastian again tonight?
That doesn’t feel fair. This schedule is supposed to make life easier, but right now it’s just annoying me.
The reality is that I spent last night with Elliot and Sebastian, and right now I want to sit with Lukas and Felix.
So I clamber over Lukas’s legs and settle between them.
No one says anything, so they must assume I’m following the rotation.
Maybe I can sit with Elliot and Sebastian at dinner and that’ll get me on track to sleep between Felix and Lukas tonight.
“What are you going to do while I read?” They can’t be planning to just sit here and watch me read.
“We could read to you,” suggests Lukas.
“You want to read my book to me?” That sounds even more boring for them than watching me read.
Lukas shrugs. “You have to read it.”
“For class,” I clarify. “It’s not exciting.”
Lukas’s response is to pluck the book from my hands. He opens the book to my bookmark, respectful of the spine, and starts to read at the top of the chapter.
His voice is quiet yet sonorous, and very relaxing. This is way more enjoyable than reading it by myself has been.
After a couple of minutes, Felix reaches for the book and picks up where Lukas left off.
I turn to watch him read. It’s cute, the way he pushes up his red glasses with the back of his hand against the bottom rim.
I’m not sure what comes over me, but I lean up and kiss his cheek.