Chapter 25
Wes
I thought seeing the motel room in the light of day would make me realize that maybe it wasn’t that bad. Maybe I over exaggerated the flaws of the building because my emotions were running high, and a motel at night just seems sinister.
I was wrong.
It’s worse in the daylight.
The curtains pulled open, you can see every stain, and every tear and dent in the furniture. It smells like stale cigarettes, and last time I checked, Ivy’s not a smoker. I take stock of Ivy’s belongings. She’s right, it should only be one trip.
“I’ll kind of miss it,” Ivy says. “What?”
I look down at her, and the expression on my face must be pure disgust, because she gets defensive. “Nobody bothered me. It looks bad, but at least I had somewhere to sleep,” she shrugs.
“You always had a place to sleep,” I grumble.
“Easy, big guy.” She pats my chest. “You’re too easy to rile up.”
“Ivy, babe, this place is a dump.” Sophie pipes up, surveying the room with her hands on her hips.
Sophie rarely says an ill word about anything or anyone. So her bagging on this place says a lot, and Ivy knows it.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’ve already chewed my ass out,” Ivy replies. “Let’s get my stuff and go, I want some cotton candy.”
A low whistle echoes through the room, and the three of us turn around at the same time to see Maverick bracing his hands on either side of the threshold.
“Darlin’, you might need a tetanus shot after stayin’ here,” he says, wincing at the interior of the room.
“Oh my god, I get it!” Ivy yells and flaps her arms in the air.
“What are you doing here?” Sophie asks, laughing at her twin.
“I was on my way to the bar to do some work before the fair, and I saw Wes’s truck in the parking lot. Dad told me what happened. Thought I’d come see how moving day was going,” he replies as he inspects a questionable stain on the wall.
I turn to Ivy who is already shaking her head. “For the love of the goddess. So should I expect everyone to know then?”
I tuck her thick, inky hair behind her ear, as my sister answers for me. “Yeah, it’s kind of part of the deal with our family.”
Ivy looks up, turning her bright green eyes on me as if looking for confirmation for what Sophie just said. All I do is nod once, and give her a smirk. She rolls her eyes playfully, smirking back.
“Hey Casanova, you need help with the boxes?” Maverick says, breaking mine and Ivy’s stare.
“Yeah. Come grab one.” I tilt my head to the corner of the room where three large boxes are stacked.
“Be careful, they’re heavy.” Ivy says nervously.
I lift it with ease, giving her a dry look. Then it hits me. “Did you carry these up the steps yourself?” I ask her, my tone serious.
“No?” Ivy says it like a question, wincing.
I roll my eyes, hearing Sophie and Maverick’s snickers as I leave the room and head down to my truck. Just before I get out of earshot I hear Sophie whisper shout, “Oh my god, Ivy. He’s obsessed with you.”
To which Ivy responds in the same hushed tone, almost sounding embarrassed. “Shut up!”
My lips twitch. My sister couldn’t be more right.
When I get down to the parking lot, I lift the box into the bed of my truck, just after Maverick does the same.
“So you get a girlfriend, then she moves in the same day?” he asks with a lift of his brow.
“Shut the fuck up,” I grumble. “Should I have let her stay here?” I ask with a lift of my brow.
I ignore the girlfriend comment, because it feels strange to agree with it, but it feels wrong to deny it. I’m not sure what our label is—girlfriend seems too juvenile—all I know is she’s mine.
“I’ve got plenty of space at my house,” he says, shrugging. I know he’s just trying to piss me off, but it works all the same.
“Oh, yeah?” I ask in a daunting tone.
I see the classic spark of a challenge light my brother's eyes. With his devil-may-care smile, he charges on. “Yeah. The room right next to mine is perfect for her. The walls are real thin.”
I nod casually and ease the tailgate of my truck closed.
Then, without warning, I kick the back of Mavericks knee, sending his leg buckling.
When his body drops, I grab the hem of his shirt, and yank it up over his head, blinding him.
He stumbles, struggling to stay upright, and just when I lift my foot to spartan kick him in the chest, I hear Sophie’s voice ring out.
“Boys!” Sophie yells, sounding exactly like mom.
Before I have a chance to complete my attack on my dip shit brother, he fixes his shirt, laughing so hard he clutches his stomach.
“You’re too easy, dude,” he says through his laugh.
I flip him off, then begrudgingly thank him for helping. He waves to the girls, and gets in his own truck to go to work at the bar.
My siblings are a pain in the ass.
After Ivy does one last sweep of the room, making sure she didn’t leave anything behind, we walk over to the front office to turn in her keys. When we enter the office, Ivy smiles brightly at the old man behind the desk.
“Hi, Richard,” she says cheerfully.
“Yeah… Hi, Richard,” I say, my tone dripping in annoyance.
Ivy notices, and gives me a death glare.
I told her my qualms with the motel's owner, and how easily he gave out her room number. She then promised me that he’s been nothing but nice and helpful to her, and made me swear I wouldn’t say anything to him, bribing me with kisses while rubbing her tight little body all over me.
Lucky bastard.
She tells him that she’s leaving and returns her keys to him. They exchange phone numbers for some reason, and when we leave the office, I ask her about it.
“What would you need his phone number for?” I ask in disbelief.
“I thought him and Rose would be cute together. She could use a little male companionship,” she says as she waves the post-it note in the air with Richard's number on it.
“Isn’t she still recovering?” I ask, confused by her need to matchmake for an injured eighty-year-old woman.
“She broke her hip, Wesley. She didn’t die. The elderly need orgasms too,” she scoffs, then practically skips to my truck.
Jesus Christ.
I pick up the pace to beat her to the passenger door, and when I open it, she turns to look at me, and says a bit more seriously, “Speaking of elderly people who need to come… can we make one more stop?”
That question makes me feel very weird, but I help her into the truck, and nod anyway.