Chapter 8
Jordan
It’s late when I pull up to the Marnock Hotel, where the Miller family is staying, so I shoot off a quick text asking Shelley if I should still come up.
Me: I swiped a bottle of sparkling cider and some leftover crab cakes during the clean-up effort. You still awake?
I wince and run a hand over my beard as I realize the message I just sent looks suspiciously like I’m trying to get into her pants. It’s not what I meant, but I may as well have said, “You up?”
Shelley: Yep. Room 206.
As I walk down the long hallway toward her room, I wonder again if I should be here. Mike trusts me, and here I am, walking toward his little sister’s hotel room after dark like some scumbag.
Shelley and I are just friends. But I know how this looks, and I wouldn’t blame anyone who saw me right now in my rumpled dress shirt and suit pants for jumping to the wrong conclusion. Although, she did say her whole family would be here.
The door to her room opens just before I reach it, like she was watching through the peep hole.
Shelley leans against the frame, wearing a loose tank top and plaid pajama pants.
Her face is pink from scrubbing her makeup away, and her long hair is pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head.
She looked pretty at the wedding in that tight, fitted dress, but now she looks peaceful and cozy.
I think I like this better. It feels like a window into what it looks like when the mask she wears for the rest of the world is stripped away, and all that’s left is what’s real.
Behind her, I can see my suit jacket hanging on a wall hook.
I hold up the bottle and the take-out container. “I hope you like heartburn and late-night cable.”
“Sounds perfect, actually. Come on in. My sisters decided to meet up with some of our cousins down in their room, but I told them I wanted to turn in early. It’s been a long day, and I’ve had enough peopling.
I know I promised a party, but it’s just me in here.
You can join everyone else downstairs, if you want. Or you and I can hang out.”
“Seems like that’s becoming a regular thing for us.” I’m not complaining. “But are you sure you want company? If you’re tired, I can go.”
“I’m not actually tired. A lot of people and noise at once can be too much for me, but one-on-one is nice.”
She holds the door open and steps aside, inviting me into her space.
Her suitcase is open on the floor, and discarded clothes are spilling out of it.
I step around her belongings and scan the small room.
Shelley takes the bottle of cider from me.
There are no chairs because the room isn’t big enough, and since I’m not about to invite myself into her bed, I stand awkwardly, still holding the foam container filled with mini crab cakes.
“You can sit,” Shelley tells me, climbing onto the king-sized bed and patting the space next to her.
She untwists the cap and takes a long swig straight from the bottle in her hand. The carbonation must hit her immediately, because she lets out a loud burp. She looks at me with wide eyes as if she’s as surprised as I am by the noise that just came out of her. I have to laugh.
“Oh my god, I’m sorry.”
“Is it safe to sit here?” I tease, nudging her slightly as I sit beside her.
“No promises.” Shelley offers me the bottle, and I take a sip of my own and set the crab cakes between us.
She turns on the TV and flips through the channels until she lands on an old back and white movie.
“Have you ever played the lip-reading game?” she asks, popping a miniature crab cake into her mouth.
“I don’t think so. What’s that?”
She presses the mute button so the movie continues without sound.
“I did this all the time with Mandy when we were young. We’d make up something ridiculous they could be saying.
Like this.” She clears her throat dramatically and puts on an exaggerated transatlantic accent for the female character.
“My word! The extraterrestrials have arrived. And their flying saucer landed right in my rose bushes. Do something about this, Clarence!”
“I take it I’m supposed to be Clarence?” There is definitely no actual character named Clarence in this movie. Or any spaceship.
She smiles and nods, motioning for me to take a turn to make something up, so I weave together a long story about how Clarence has been sneaking off every night this week to meet someone in the spaceship.
Shelley snorts. “Wait, are you telling me Clarence is having an interspecies affair with an alien?”
“Nope. I’m telling you Clarence is having an affair with an alien, but it’s not interspecies because Clarence is also an alien. Plus, his wife is also secretly an alien. But neither of them knows about the other.”
“Okay, plot twist.” Shelley laughs. “I see you’re a quick learner.”
She plucks another crabcake from the box and holds it up to me. I take it and pop it into my mouth. My shoulders shake while she continues to expand the asinine story we’ve concocted. It’s not long until we’re cracking up so hard that she snorts again, which causes both of us to laugh even harder.
“Oh my god. It seems like you’re getting to hear all of my body’s embarrassing noises tonight.”
“It doesn’t bother me when women make noises,” I assure her. I didn’t mean for it to sound the way it does, but the air in the room shifts to something thick and meaningful when she turns her face toward mine.
Our eyes stay locked in a silent stand-off until I’m the first one to clear my throat and look back toward the movie.
Without looking at her again, I take another crabcake and shove it into my mouth to avoid saying anything else.
I can still feel her eyes on me as I chew and swallow, so I turn to face her again.
“I really didn’t mean anything by that. And I also wasn’t referencing, you know, any of that stuff you shared. I wouldn’t tease you about that.”
“I didn’t think you were. I figured you probably meant sneezing or something. But then my mind went to a different place, and…I kind of wouldn’t hate making those noises with someone either.”
I blink at her. I have no idea what I’m supposed to say to that, so I go with, “Oh.”
The strap on her tank top has fallen off her shoulder, so she pulls it back into place, shifting to tuck her legs to the side.
“Not that I think we should do that. I mean, it wasn’t an invitation.
Unless, you know, you want to. But we probably both have crab breath.
Although, it’s not like I get that many opportunities, and we’re both here. It’s just…you know what? Never mind.”
“Shelley?” I reach over and put my hand on her knee. Her eyes dart down to where we’re now connected, and it seems to calm her down a bit because she takes a breath. “I came over to hang out with you, and that’s all I’m planning on doing tonight.”
She nods. “Yeah. Totally. I agree. Glad we’re on the same page. I was just thinking out loud…”
Her words trail off and I squeeze her leg lightly. I should probably pull away, but I can’t seem to stop my hand from resting on her thigh. Shelley glances down, and I pretend not to track the subtle tightening of her jaw and the curve of her neck as she swallows.
We turn our attention back to the movie, but the lighthearted, playful vibe from earlier has given way to a thicker tension. There are words we aren’t saying, and they’re sucking half the oxygen out of the space. I think she might be getting the wrong idea, and if she is, I need to stop this.
It doesn’t matter how much I like her or that hearing her laugh gives me the same adrenaline rush as fielding a line drive.
I can’t hook up with Mike’s sister. He would absolutely shit a brick.
I know that. Plus, Shelley is basically a genius.
She’s looking for more than I can offer.
I might be collecting unemployment this time next year.
It wouldn’t be a good idea for either of us.
But, despite all of that, spending the past few days with Shelley is the most fun I’ve had in a long time, and even knowing I shouldn’t be here, I’m not ready for this night to end.
I’m still touching her leg when a noise startles both of us. It sounds like someone is fumbling around trying to get the door open.
“It’s probably my sisters,” Shelley offers, getting up and walking toward the hall. “Mandy and Mads are staying in the room next door, since that one has two double beds. But I wouldn’t put it past them to lose their key cards.” She peeps through the hole in the door. “Wait. Honey?”
Shelley opens the door to reveal Danielle’s wildcard of a grandma, Honey Daniels. She must’ve booked her own room at the hotel to give the bride and groom some wedding night privacy at the house she now shares with them.
“Hi,” Shelley greets her.
When she looks up and sees Shelley’s face next to the room number, Honey says, “Oh. Whoopise. This is 206, not 260. Sorry to bother you, Sugar.” She turns to leave, then thinks better of it and faces the room again with a sly, conspiratorial smile.
“But while I’m here, you got any protection on you?
” She winks and points over her shoulder at the middle-aged man rocking on his heels in the hallway.
He’s still wearing his embroidered hotel employee blazer and must be at least twenty years her junior.
Shelley shakes her head. “I’m sorry, but—”
“Oh, I see,” Honey interrupts and laughs heartily as she spots me sitting on my bed. “You’ll be needing it for yourselves.”
“No. We won’t. It’s just—” Shelley protests but Honey cuts her off again.
“No need to explain. I was never here. C’mon, Martin. Change of plans. Looks like you’ll be feasting like a king tonight.”
Shelley shuts the door and slowly turns back to the bed, her eyes wide and her eyebrows practically at her hairline.
I let out a deep laugh. “You know what? Good for them.”
She nods and joins me on the bed again, seeming only slightly traumatized by the interaction. She runs her fingers over her leg, in the same spot I was touching her a minute ago.
“Sure. But if Honey is my brother’s grandmother-in-law, does that make her mine, too? Did my new grandma just ask me if she could borrow a condom?”
I laugh again. “Sort of, maybe. But if it makes you feel any better, she wouldn’t have hesitated to ask Danielle and Mike either.”
She giggles. We both know that’s one hundred percent the honest truth, and also, we will never be telling her brother about how we were sitting in a cloud of sexual tension in a hotel bed on his wedding night when his brand-new grandma came knocking, looking for prophylactics.
I spot something beside her and quickly change the subject. “Uh-oh, what’s that?”
She follows my gaze over to her pillow, where the bottom half of a stuffed animal is poking out.
Shelley shoves it further into its hiding spot and out of view. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
I stretch over her to lift the pillow, catching a whiff of her light floral perfume, and grab the furry bunny. I turn to her friend in my hand. “Does this handsome guy have a name?” I ask, straightening his polka dot bow tie.
She covers her face with her hands, looking mortified and adorable. “Mr. Fluffers,” she mumbles into her fingers.
This I absolutely will tease her about. “What was that?” I chuckle, pulling lightly at her wrist.
She sighs and uncovers her mouth to own her truth. “This is Mr. Fluffers. He’s sort of an emotional support bunny. I sleep with him at night.”
A warm feeling spreads through my chest as she speaks. “And you weren’t planning to introduce me to the lucky man who gets to share your bed?”
A small smile finds its way to her face as she pulls Mr. Fluffers from my hand and onto her lap. “Nope.”
“Not gonna lie, I’m feeling a little jealous right now.”
“Don’t worry. I find him rather stuffy.” Her smile widens at her terrible joke.
“Oh, did you think I meant I was jealous of him? Nah. I’m jealous that you get to hang out with this suave dude all night.” I wink, trying to grab the bunny back, but she wins our tug-of-war and hugs it closer to her chest.
Shelley laughs lightly while my stomach does a somersault.
“Can you believe this guy?” she whispers into the bunny’s ear, loud enough for me to hear. “But you know what? I still like him.”
I feel my face soften as I look at her, and the moment hangs between us for a beat too long before I say, “Hey, Mr. Fluffers, tell Shelley the feeling’s mutual.”