Chapter 16 The Song of Distraction #3
“Only topped by Switzerland, yeah. But I wouldn’t change anything. Las Vegas is an experience. Switzerland is probably like Seastone, except everyone speaks languages I don’t understand.” Not that I always understand what people here say, either, but that was a different topic.
“You know, we’ll be looking for a manager soon. We’ve scheduled the soft opening for October, which is sooner than I’d like. If it’s okay, I’d love to give you some business cards. If you know anyone who might be interested, it would really help if you could pass them along.”
My heartbeat picked up a little. Even though it could’ve been because of the warm water or because Alex was scooting closer and closer, I knew it was because of the anticipation that he would now ask me if I wanted to work here.
It was so obvious he would say it next. After all, I was from Seastone and knew the area inside and out.
I would have my degree in time. Alex and I were acting all lovey-dovey, probably giving off the impression that I couldn’t wait to move here to be with him.
To be fair, that wasn’t entirely wrong. I could see myself living in the same city, maybe even the same house or apartment. But moving to Seastone? Even with the hotel’s modern concept, that wasn’t something I could imagine myself doing. It would feel like a step back.
“So,” Jason said, “Alex told me you two make music together. And that you sing?”
Wait. No invitation to work here? What was going on?
“Uh, yeah.” I looked at Alex, as if he might know the answer to the question preoccupying me.
He ran his thumb over my knee. “I hope it was okay to mention that?”
“Of course,” I replied, still unable to process the fact that I hadn’t been invited to work for them.
Then, luckily, the alarm bells in my head went off. This moment wasn’t even about that. Jason had already changed the topic to Alex and me making music together, which made it a perfect opportunity to show off my boyfriend skills.
“Did you also tell him that we’ve already recorded demos for almost an entire album?” I asked.
“Wow,” Jason said. “You two have been busy.”
I put on a smile. “Yeah. It’s hard for me not to want to spend all my time with Alex.”
Our conversation was interrupted by laughter from the changing room.
Nicholas returned wearing only his swimming trunks now, not shy about showing off his chest hair.
Right behind him was Jack, sporting a very tight yellow Speedo that made the impressive chest muscles—which he had hidden well under his yellow jacket the last two times I saw him—look even bigger.
“Hey guys, sorry, we’re late,” Jack called out to us. He waited at the door, glanced back into the changing room, and said something quietly that I couldn’t hear.
Then the last guy I was supposed to meet today came in. He was a little shorter than Jack and not as muscular. His soft face lit up with a bright smile when he saw us. He wore the same kind of Speedo as Jack, only in blue.
As they made their way over to us, they greeted everyone at once, their voices growing louder by the second. Every word echoed four times through the room, thanks to the tiles. The three of them climbed into the hot tub with the three of us.
“Hey, I’m Noah,” the blue-Speedo guy told me as he climbed into the seat next to me. “You must be Sebastian.”
“Nice to meet you,” I replied.
“This is fantastic,” Jack said as he settled into the pool next to Noah. His yellow Speedo sparkled even underwater. “It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve been in a hot tub.”
“Over two years,” Noah added, his eyes wandering to the mountains. “I really thought you were crazy when you told us you’d get rid of the dining room, but this makes so much sense.”
“Yeah, it was the most difficult decision, but it was the right one,” Jason said, adjusting his eye patch.
“And the view from our temporary apartment is just as beautiful, isn’t it?” Nicholas grinned at him.
While I was intrigued by the new gay scene in Seastone, my gaze was inevitably drawn to Alex. He withdrew his hand from my knee, making me wonder if being this close in front of everyone might have been too much too soon for him.
The next fifteen minutes were filled with small talk about the hotel, how everybody’s day had been, and how nice it was that we had all come together.
I tried to engage as if I had known all of them for a long time.
Alex didn’t say much, but he laughed when everyone else did.
He was just as quiet as when I first met him, and no one seemed to mind.
“Have you ever noticed that the four of you share the same initials?” I asked. “Jack and Noah, Jason and Nicholas. It’s J and N everywhere. Doesn’t that ever get confusing?”
“It makes switching partners easier,” Nicholas said, chuckling.
Jason clicked his tongue and slapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t give them the wrong impression.”
All four of them looked at each other and their respective partners as if Nicholas’s joke had opened a can of worms.
“Oh man, that would be such a mess,” Jack laughed as he raised his arm and slung it around Noah’s shoulder. “Not going to happen. I’m happy to share anything, but not him. Sorry.”
“You can have Nicholas, but he doesn’t come cheap, and he’s already married,” Jason joked.
Judging by Nicholas’s chuckles, he seemed to enjoy their weird sense of humor. As if it were contagious, all four of them started laughing as if this were the funniest situation ever.
Alex, on the other hand, tapped me on the shoulder. “I need a short break,” he whispered in my ear. He drew everyone’s attention as he got up, water dripping off him. “Don’t mind me. I’ll be back in a second.”
At first, he walked toward the lounge chair on the right, but then he made a beeline for the changing room.
Something was off.
“I’ll…” I pointed toward him, but the others just smiled at me.
“Take your time. There are plenty of rooms if you need one,” Nicholas said, earning himself another slap on the shoulder from Jason.
I followed Alex into the changing room and found him sitting on the wooden bench between the lockers. His head hung between his knees, and he held his ears shut. He didn’t even notice me when I walked in.
Hopefully, I hadn’t said or done anything wrong.