Chapter Ten #3
The squeak of the faucet caught my attention.
God, it was quiet enough to hear the splash of water in the sink—unwittingly, I imagined Dex bent over it, shirtless, washing away the ire of the last two hours.
Twelve hours. Month. I decided it was okay to imagine Dex shirtless because I was overtired and, okay, it had been almost a year since I’d been in proximity of a shirtless someone with the type of hands that told you they could destroy your entire world with the flick of a wrist.
The faucet squeaked off and I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself to fall asleep before I heard something I couldn’t unhear.
But then the shower was on, drowning out anything that might be happening in the bathroom, and I shifted in the blankets in an attempt at a comfortable position.
My back killed. With a groan, I shoved off the throw and crawled to my luggage, digging out the jumbo bottle of ibuprofen I’d packed.
I took two and meandered over to the window, gazing at the gardens below.
No view of the courtyard. Curiosity scratched up my insides and my brain took off in favor of the distraction, coming up with wild scenarios of what could be going on down there. All were in the same vein as an orgy.
The shower shut off. I grimaced and padded to my blankets, unwilling to face him again tonight. Dex slipped out of the bathroom, unleashing the scent of his soap—a heady medley of citrus and cedar, the sort of clean scent you want to bury your face in and breathe until you’re made up of it.
Nope. It wasn’t late enough to warrant thoughts like that.
I remained still, taking in the dull glow of Dex’s phone across the room. I wondered if he was working, or maybe doom-scrolling like a normal person. I stared until he shut the screen off with a sigh. I took the opportunity to check my phone again. 9:23 P.M.
I must’ve fallen asleep for a minute or two, because I certainly hadn’t been staring at Dex for an hour.
Dex’s phone illuminated once again, and I watched him reach for it. Our eyes met in the mirrored ceiling, barely more than acquaintances lying on the floor of an extraordinarily pink hotel room, and I couldn’t help the laugh bubbling up my neck.
“Did I wake you?” he asked quietly, letting his phone dim. I flipped mine over, leaving my side of the room completely dark.
“I wasn’t asleep.” I hesitated, listening to Phoebe’s quiet snores. “I’m sorry I made us stay.”
“Don’t be.”
“We’re sleeping on the floor because of me. And I am feeling every second of it.”
He leaned up on his elbows, the shadow of him shifting. “Do you want another blanket?”
“I’m good. Thanks, though.”
His phone lit up again. He flipped it over, leaving the rest of the room in the same stark darkness. “I should’ve double-checked the accommodations. That’s on me,” he said, using the sort of voice I associated with face-to-face conversations at 2 A.M. Soft and secret. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I replied. “It’s really funny.”
“It’s not funny.”
“There’s an orgy in the courtyard right now. It’s hilarious.”
“It’s not an orgy.”
“Do you know that for sure? Like you asked the lady and she explicitly told you it’s not?”
“No. I used basic logic and common sense.”
“What else could it be?”
“I cannot articulate how little I care.”
“How do you not care? I can’t stop thinking about it. I might go see,” I said without thinking. But saying it out loud, I realized it was true. My curiosity had won out and I needed to see for myself what the hell was going on in the courtyard.
“Please don’t,” Dex said.
“Not to participate. I just want to see. That sounds bad. Not in a voyeuristic way.”
“Jesus.”
“It’s morbid curiosity.”
“Go to sleep.”
“I don’t think I can. I can’t not know.”
“And what will you do if it is an orgy?”
“Be scarred for life. But at least I’ll know.”
“Maybe you should heed the advice you were given.”
I sat up, staring at his dark blob of a reflection. “She said it to the teenager, not us. Come on. Let’s go see.”
“When did I get involved in this?”
A great question. Now that I’d involved him, though, I wanted him to be. And it almost certainly had nothing to do with the shirtless fantasy. “You told Arden you’d protect me.”
He scoffed. “I did not.”
“It was implied. Physical or mental harm, remember? This is one, if not both.”
“I’m sorry, are you planning on getting involved in the orgy?” I climbed to my feet, veering for my sandals set neatly by the door—Dex must’ve tidied while I was in the shower because I’d definitely kicked them in opposite directions. “Violet,” he growled. “Goddammit.”
I slipped into the hallway, the pink floral wallpaper and fluorescent lighting blinding after an hour in the dark. This place could’ve been dreamed up by a six-year-old. That or it was a rejected set from Barbie. I blinked hard, growing used to the brightness, just as the door opened behind me.
“You’re a piece of work,” Dex muttered, squinting under the lights in a heather gray T-shirt and dark sweatpants.
I’d never seen him like this—casual, intimately so.
This man who held himself so tightly together, unraveled and unashamed.
For the first time since we met, he wasn’t Benji Dexter of Love Letter fame; he was simply Dex. I liked it.
“I knew you cared.”
Ignoring this, he shuffled to the elevator.
I lagged behind, trying to get a handle on the sudden dryness in my throat.
I tried to think of three things, but on the ride downstairs, Dex sighed and leaned a shoulder against the wall, and I noticed the slope of his bicep, as well as a tattoo just above his elbow.
I stared, transfixed—someone’s handwriting, impossible to transcribe without being right on top of it.
Great. Now I was thinking about being on top of Dex.
The doors slid open, revealing a vacant lobby.
Twinkling lights lit up the gardens through the windows, and the moment we stepped outside, soft music swept in with the breeze.
The thought of soundtracking an orgy nearly made me lose it.
Together, we crept across the lawn, sticking close to the building.
The music grew louder until shadows opened up to a slate patio with grand stone pillars and, beyond it, fountains enclosed the courtyard where dozens of people lounged on the grass, facing an enormous screen.
An enormous screen projecting a film in which a woman in a feather boa was absolutely railed from behind.
All my thoughts were overrun by the image of this woman with a beehive and the man working behind her with the mother of all porn-staches. I tore my gaze from the scene to look at Dex, who appeared as thunderstruck as I felt.
“Is that a projector?” he asked.
“Oh my god. It’s a porn movie night,” I said. Snapping out of the daze, he grabbed my arm and tugged me behind a stone pillar, blocking us from view. “They’re having a porn movie night.”
“There are so many people. It must be open to the public, not just guests,” he murmured thoughtfully. My stomach gave a giddy lurch.
“Oh my god.”
“We have to leave.”
“Wait, wait. Did you see the movie? It has to be from the seventies. Vintage porno, Dex.”
“Violet, we have to go.”
“This is amazing. I can’t believe you tried to talk me out of coming down here,” I whispered as he wrapped his fingers around my wrist and dragged me from the courtyard. The giddiness dimmed, unable to compete with the warmth of Dex’s hand against my skin—my entire body broke out in a sweat.
When was the last time I’d been touched? From my body’s reaction, you’d think the answer was never. Not once.
In the lobby, Dex released my wrist and the fog cleared.
I blamed the porn for getting me all hot and bothered.
Maybe I needed to get laid—though definitely not by the dude driving my sister and me across the country.
He was simply there, existing while gorgeous.
Who wouldn’t have an inappropriate thought or two?
“So,” I said as we made our way into the elevator. Dex tugged a hand through his hair and hit our floor number. “Do we consider that an orgy?”
He shook his head and my every vein buzzed to life as he began to laugh.
Slowly. Just a crack at first, the slightest exhale slipping into a catch, and then he broke.
Shoulders shaking, he bent forward, pressing his head against the wall, the sound of his laughter bouncing off the metal.
It seemed like the sort of magic that only passes through once every decade, a rare comet.
I alone bore witness to the most remarkable thing in Poconos history.
Then he snorted and I lost my shit right along with him.