Chapter Three
Present Day
I woke up the next morning in the room alone and I almost panicked that Theo had left me here.
I scanned the room, unsure what I was really looking for.
I felt confused by the space I was in, and it took a minute to remember where we were and why we were here.
Theo was not in the room, but his suitcase was still there so I breathed a sigh of relief.
I’d seen one too many horror movies that started at one of these roadside motels and ended in a ditch in the dark.
Still, I checked the walls for blood spatter before I moved and then went to the bathroom with the bible from the nightstand in case I had to hit an intruder over the head. Not that I needed it.
Despite a dated design, the motel was perfectly fine for what it was.
Once I’d freshened up I walked back into the main room and Theo had just walked back in the door with two coffee cups and a bag of pastries.
“We survived.” I grinned walking over to the bed.
Theo looked at me and smiled. “I got you coffee from the cafe next door, and a cinnamon roll.”
I looked at the cinnamon roll and took the coffee closest to me out of the holder, it had Imogen written in cursive on the side and he’d ordered me my favourite. A Soy chai latte.
“You remember what I drink?” Most people gave me shit for it, but Theo never had.
“Of course I do. You and my sister made me do your coffee runs at summer camp.”
I laughed, and took a sip on the cinnamon-y hot drink.
“Didn’t realise I left that much of an imprint on you Theo.” I was clearly joking. I wasn’t sure I was on Theo’s radar at all when we weren’t together.
“Every single decision I make I ask myself - what would Gin do… it’s the only way I get through the day.” He teased me.
I rolled my eyes. “Funny. What’s the time?”
“Almost 9. I guess Brenda will be over in about half an hour?”
I stretched and fought the urge to lay back down. I’d actually slept ridiculously well and the bed was still calling my name.
I ate the cinnamon roll and drank my chai latte before grabbing out a different sundress and clean underwear from my suitcase.
My make up bag was still sitting on the vanity in the bathroom so I changed in there and made sure I looked at least presentable.
I walked back into the room and stuffed my things into the suitcase before closing it.
Theo was unnaturally silent and I knew his eyes were on me.
“Do I have toothpaste on my chin?” I sighed, looking up at him.
His eyes were on my mouth, so I wiped the corners of my mouth to catch any stray streaks of toothpaste.
“No.” His eyes shifted toward the door and he leapt to his feet. “Uh, we should go check out and wait for Brenda.”
I nodded and before I could grab my cases, he gathered his case and my two and walked across the courtyard with all three. Brenda arrived just before 9.30 and drove us down to Al’s workshop.
“She’s good as new.” Al said, chucking the keys to Theo.
“Thanks for getting a rush on the parts.” Theo said as he paid the bill. “My sister’s wedding is in a few days and she’d never have forgiven us if we didn’t make it there.”
Al smiled, stapling the receipt to a print out of the invoice. “And when are you two love birds getting hitched then?” Brenda asked, looping her arm through Al’s.
“Oh we’re not…”
“We’re just…”
We spoke in unison - which would have been kind of funny if it had been anyone but us.
I looked at him and bit back a laugh. “We’re just friends.”
Brenda nodded, but her eyebrows were raised and it was clear she didn’t quite believe us, even though it was the truth.
Once we were back in the truck and back on the road I felt a sense of relief.
In a few hours I would be able to breathe again.
It wasn’t like I couldn’t be myself around Theo - I could, it was that if I focused on any of it too much I’d give myself the idea that something could happen and well…
Teenage me could day dream about the cute boy she’s crushing on kissing her, but adult me… day dreams like that were dangerous.
“Did you let Sloane know we’re back on the road?”
I pulled my phone from my pocket. “No, I’ll do that now.”
I sent Sloane a quick message.
On the road, truck fixed. See you soon! - Gin
“You can put some music on if you want?”
“What happened to me having angsty girl rock tastes?”
As a teenager he’d teased me for my music, for the fact it was all morose and melodramatic and moody. He’d asked me once if I ever like anything that even had the word love in it… and I’d played Bitch by Meredith Brooks. Case-in Point he’d said at the time.
Theo laughed out loud and then shrugged. “I may have given you shit Gin, but I actually always liked your playlists.”
I smiled to myself as I connected my phone to his bluetooth and then picked Bitch from the playlist. As the music started he laughed again and then turned the stereo up.
We sang along, and for the 3 minutes and 58 seconds of the song I just felt free.
Once the song faded out though and the next one started, some obscure and yes, moody alternative song started playing. Theo turned the radio down a bit and then cleared his throat.
“So Heart and Soul is looking for photographers.”
He exclaimed out of nowhere, catching me by surprise.
He wasn’t wrong, they were looking for on location photographers, our long term photographer Ben had recently retired.
I wasn’t sure why it interested Mr. High flying model photographer, or how he even knew.
“Uh, yeah… we are.”
“I belong to a photography group - they put all the jobs within a three hour radius up for the struggling freelancers mainly.”
I nodded, still a little unsure why he was bringing it up to me. Heart and Soul wasn’t small. It had a readership in the millions, but Theo would make more money from one gig in Milan than he’d make in six months as a photographer at HS.
“I was just curious.” he said, answering my unasked question. “Keeping my options open, you know.”
“You want me to put in a good word for you?” I was mostly joking, but a small part of me wondered what it would be like working with Theo.
“Maybe.” was all he replied with, which surprised me even more. Was he serious?
I kind of shut up after that.
I’d decided after thinking about it for a few minutes that the thought of working with Theo scared the living shit out of me.
My crush has been common knowledge as a teen.
And now as an adult, I could compose myself better.
And even though I could always be myself around him it was a constant fight with my inner voice not to give him googly love eyes.
Which was why I barely went back even though Sloane and her family always invited me to any family gathering.
It was closing in on lunchtime when we drove down the main stretch of Harrison Falls. The road edged the coastline, the water on the beach glistening as it rolled and crashed against the golden sand. Fuck, I might’ve moved from here the second I could, but home really was beautiful.
Theo drove straight to the hotel that Sloane had booked for the bridal party. It was an upscale resort Hotel, new and on land that had previously just been a picturesque cliffside, overlooking the ocean and the township. The car park was full and the No Vacancy sign was swinging in the breeze.
I was eager for a reset, a shower in the fancy hotel bathroom and a nap on the fancy hotel bed. Sloane had messaged and told us to come by around 2pm, so we had some time to kill.
Once we were inside the lobby the bellhop loaded our things onto a trolley and guided us to the front desk.
“Here to check in. Theo Bennett, and uh Imogen Grey.”
The concierge tapped on the keyboard and nodded before turning and opening a cupboard, pulling out a keycard and then sliding it across the counter.
“You’re in the king penthouse suite.”
“And Imogen?” Theo asked, picking up the keycard.
“In the king penthouse suite also?” the concierge spoke slowly, like Theo had just said something ridiculous. Theo looked at me and then back at the man.
“Sorry, are you sure?”
The concierge nodded and then turned the screen. Our names were indeed listed on the booking with one room.
I was going to kill Sloane.
“Are there any other rooms at all?” I asked, almost desperately.
“Unfortunately not. With the wedding on, a lot of the guests were already booked. We’re full all week.”
“Fuck.” I muttered.
“It’s okay, I’ll sleep on the couch.” Theo offered.
“Chaise.” The concierge corrected, though I wasn’t sure it made a speck of difference.
Theo just glared at him and then looked back at me. “I’ll sleep on the chaise.”
I shook my head, no, this was not going to work at all. Chaise or no fucking chaise.
“I’ll see if I can stay at the house.”
“Oh and not sleep all week? It’ll be insane there.” Theo said. “We’re adults Gin, we’ll figure it out. I’ll sleep on the couch… chaise thing and everything will be okay.”
I nodded, despite knowing deep down that everything would absolutely not be okay.
“Thank you.” Theo murmured and then we walked to the elevator. The bellhop walked with us, all the way to the room and I slipped him a tip after he unloaded the trolley.
“Remind me to kill Sloane.” Theo said as he pressed the keycard to the door.
“It’s already at the top of my list.” I replied dryly.
I knew the minute we stepped into the room that the “sleep on the chaise” idea was toast.
Theo was over 6” and I was 5”8 and the chaise was a short half sofa with claw feet, and luxurious quilted velvet covering it.
It was not for sleeping, in any way shape or form, I wasn’t even sure it was for sitting.
“Well fuck.” Theo spoke under his breath, and I was sure he was thinking the same thing I was.
The bed, which was in the room, was thankfully very large.
Large enough that I was almost sure both of us could lie on it full stretched out and not touch.
Still, sharing a bed wasn’t something we’d ever done and if Sloane had done this on purpose, I wasn’t sure why she had thought either of us would be okay with it.
“Pillow wall?” I managed to spit out, which out of context kind of sounded whacky, but Theo seemed to pick up on what I was saying.