Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
FIFTY SHADES OF brOWN
CAMDEN
Present
We’re shivering by the time we close the door of our motel room. We both stand there, staring in shock at the most hideous room I’ve ever seen in my life.
Brown. There’s so much brown everywhere, so even if it were new decor, which it’s very much not, it would still look dirty.
Brown carpet, brown bedspread, brown headboard, tan walls, brown table, artwork with a deer, so also brown…
it’s absolutely everywhere, and everything looks like it’s on its last leg.
I guess the only other color that would be worse in this head-to-toe lineup would be nausea green, but the brown is right up there.
Speaking of up, I glance at the ceiling and see huge wet spots.
The room smells damp and like the deer from the picture might’ve run through it and rolled on everything.
“Oh, Juju. I am so sorry. What have I gotten us into?”
She laughs. “Well, this is something.”
“You’re not lying. Can we even do this?”
“Of course we can. We can do anything,” she says.
“I had such different visions of how this night would go.” I reach out to take her hand and thread my fingers through hers. “Is the heater even working? It feels just as cold in here as it does outside.”
“It sounds like it’s working. Maybe it was just turned on right before we got here.”
“Hopefully it’ll kick in soon. I’m scared of what might be in that bed.” I look at her with a hopeless expression. “We can safely say our first date is not going great, is it?”
“Are you kidding? I’ve had a great time. I’ve never seen such gorgeous northern lights, our picnic was delicious––”
“There’s more if you’re still hungry,” I say, lifting the picnic basket in my other hand.
“I’m good,” she says.
“What about me? How would you rate me after this date? On a scale of one to ten…”
“Hmm.” She taps her chin and studies me. “The picnic wins you extra points…and so does the creativity of a drive to see the outrageous sky.” She squints and puckers her lips, and I want to kiss them right off. “So I think I’d give you a solid…five.”
“Five!” I croak.
She giggles.
“Damn. And that’s with the extra points? After you’ve had a great time?” I set the picnic basket on the table. It looks only slightly better than any other surface in the room. Then I walk back and put my hands on her waist. “What can I do to improve my score?”
She lifts a shoulder. “How would you rate the date?”
“I’d say an eight, and the only thing subtracting those two points would be this dive we’re in right now.
” I lean my face closer to hers. “Those kisses in the SUV seemed like you were enjoying yourself.” She fights back a smile, and I laugh as I run my thumb over her bottom lip.
“I knew it. You like me more than you’re letting on. ”
“You’re all right.”
I tug her against me, and even in our wet coats, I feel heated just from being this close to her.
“You’re more than all right. You’re incredible.
You have been impressing me for as long as I’ve known you.
And now that I know how it feels to kiss you, I’m blown away.
” I touch my lips to hers and then press the lightest kiss on her mouth, down her jaw, and over to her ear, where I whisper, “Admit it. You––”
Just then, the loudest wail comes from the heater next to the window, and Juju jumps in my arms.
“What just happened?” She peers around my shoulder to look at the heater. “It’s not running anymore.”
Sure enough, the loud rattle that’s been steady since we walked in is gone. It’s like the still of the snowfall outside has moved into this room.
“Fuckin’ hell,” I mutter, reluctantly letting her go and moving toward the heater. I flip the switch and turn the power on again. Nothing.
I move to the phone and push the button for the front desk, and it just rings and rings and rings. I hang up and try again, and after the fifth ring, there’s a groggy, “Hello?”
“Hi, we’re in room 104, and our heater just went out. It’s not working at all.”
“Sorry, sir. Everyone went home because of the storm, so I can’t send anyone to look at it until the morning. If you’d like, I can move you to room 106.”
“That heater’s working?”
There’s a pause, and then he says, “It should be.”
They all should be, I think, but I keep that to myself.
“Yes, please. We’ll try that room.”
“Okay, great. Just come to the front desk, and I’ll give you a new key.”
On my way back with the new room key, I stop and grab a few of the blankets and pillows I brought for the sky-gazing.
The snow hasn’t let up at all, and the wind is swirling it everywhere.
I tuck as much of the blankets in my jacket as I can so they won’t get too wet, but there’s no way to fully succeed.
Still, Juju’s face lights up when she sees that I’m carrying them.
We walk to the new room, which is slightly warmer, but not by much, and it’s not an upgrade in any other way.
In fact, the smell is a little more rank.
“What do you think? Do we go for the one that’s warmer or the one that smells slightly better?” I ask.
“Maybe we’ll get used to the smell,” Juju says.
I groan, which she seems to find comical. “Maybe we can open the window for a few minutes? Body heat and all that…”
“That’s convenient,” she teases.
“It’s hard to argue with science.”
“I guess we’ll do what we have to.” She laughs. “I bet Goldie would love to get her hands on this place.”
“Several people in my family would see this as a wonderful challenge…I don’t have that gene.” I grin when she snorts. “I’ll leave that to Dad, Noah, and Goldie, and they can leave the cooking up to me.”
I lay the blanket out on the bed, and she helps me smooth the other one on top of it. We fold back the top like we’re making a bed.
“I’ll run and get the pillows,” I tell her.
She nods. “I think I’ll take a shower and see if that helps me warm up.”
I try not to think of her in the shower but fail.
“Sounds good,” I say, getting out of there fast.
When I come back to the room, I can hear her singing “Walking on Sunshine.” I can’t stop smiling.
The shower cuts off. For a second, I only hear my heartbeat.
When Juju opens the door and steps out, steam trails behind her.
Curls form where her hair is damp in places, curling at the sides and back of her topknot.
Her cheeks are pink from the heat. She has her same clothes back on, not that I expected her to pull out anything else when we’re stranded in this place. She’s so gorgeous it hurts.
“That really helped,” she says, her arms around her body like she’s trying to keep the warmth from escaping. She smiles at me.
“I think I’ll go get one too. Try not to make eye contact with that deer. He’s a little suss.”
She laughs. “What is with this place and all the brown?”
“It’s taking the cabin vibe too far. You gotta break it up somewhere.”
She acts impressed. “See? I knew you had at least a little of the gene.”
“I mean, anyone would’ve been able to tell that after two seconds of walking into this room, but I’ll let you believe I’m skilled in all the ways.”
I step into the bathroom and shut the door.
Once I’ve stepped into the shower for a minute, I get feeling in my hands again as I thaw.
We were supposed to end tonight with me kissing her good night at her door, not under buzzing fluorescents and a heater that’s barely hanging on.
The whole one-bed thing too…should I have offered to get another room?
Fuck, it didn’t even cross my mind to do that.
I crank the water hotter and try not to overthink anything for at least the next three minutes.
When I come out, Juju is sitting cross-legged on the bed with the blanket tucked around her legs.
“Feel better?” she asks, smiling at me.
It hits me again, the way it has numerous times since things changed with Juju and me, how happy I am that she’s smiling at me again. I stare at her, and it must be intense because her head tilts as she stares back.
“What are you thinking?” she asks.
“How beautiful you are. How lucky I feel to be here with you anywhere, even this trash motel.”
She smiles. “You think I’m beautiful, huh?”
“Is that really a question? Yes, I’ve always thought you were the most beautiful girl there is.”
Her cheeks flush, and she swallows. “I didn’t know that.”
I move toward her and sit down, facing her. “I should’ve told you so long ago.”
“Would’ve made me a lot less…abrasive where you’re concerned.” She bites the inside of her lip as she tries to hold back her smile.
“We’ve had plenty to say to each other, haven’t we?”
She snorts. “You could say that.”
The heater lets out a loud wail, and we look at each other in horror.
When it dies, I yell, “Noooo.”
I move toward the head of the bed and hold out my arms. She moves into them, and I pull the blanket over us.
“Unbelievable,” I mutter. “I want to make out with you so fucking bad, but I’m too worried you’ll get frostbite if I trail my tongue…anywhere.”
She gets the giggles, and I’m laughing in the next second too.
“We’re just trying to survive,” I say dramatically.
She burrows her face into my neck. “It’s pretty fun…and hilarious. Our own little adventure. And do we really want memories of our first time doing…anything”—she peeks up at me, her cheeks flushing—“in this room?”
“I’d do…anything with you…anywhere. But you’re right. I’ve gotta have it be more special for you than this.”
“Wherever we are is special…but I think we’d better preserve our body heat.” She holds on tightly to me.
“Here, let’s lie back.” I lift her and slide us both down on the bed, making sure that our heads are on my pillows and nothing gross.
We lie there facing each other, our bodies locked together, and then I pull the blanket over our heads.
“Our own little adventure in our very own little fort,” I say.