“And what do you plan on doing with the rest of the time that you’re here,” Lia said as she took the smallest of her three suitcases from the back of the car. “You really don’t need to attend every session, do you?”
I remove my own suitcase from the car and wave off the bellboy who had already loaded Lia and Wyatt’s luggage onto the trolley. “And what exactly would I do instead?”
Wyatt clapped the back of my shoulder. “This is Vegas. Live a little. You can’t visit this city and live like a monk.”
“I don’t live like a monk.” Okay, maybe over the last few months I have been a little closed off, but I have my priorities straight. “I have this new venture to get off the ground. It’s not like I’m sitting around twiddling my thumbs.”
“And it is important work. I’m not arguing with that.” Wyatt took Lia’s hand as we followed the bellboy into the hotel. “But the work will be there when we get back. Take the week to try and have, I don’t know, fun.”
I roll my eyes trying to dismiss them. But they’re not wrong. Between my move back to Seattle and getting this project off the ground, the last two weeks have been more than a little hectic.
The business side doesn’t bother me so much. I’ve started a new venture four times in the last decade, I was used to the teething problems that came with it.
Trying to settle back in Seattle was another story. I love being around my family, but I had forgotten how interfering they could be. My cousin, Andi, had already tried to set me up on two blind dates. I’m not sure if she thinks I need a woman in my life, or because I accidentally mentioned that it had been a while since I got laid.
Actually, it had been more than a while. Easy sex just wasn’t as much fun as it was a few years back. A mutually satisfying night spent with a beautiful woman had less and less appeal. And honestly, I hadn’t met anyone in a while I was prepared to put any effort into.
We check-in and ride the elevator in relative silence. The bellboy fidgets with the buttons, using his card to access the penthouse floor. I step out and make a beeline for my door. There were two penthouse suites. Wyatt and Lia will be using one, and I’ll be using the other.
Before I can step through the door Lia calls out to me. “Justin, hold up.” She walks across the space between our doors and hands me a box of condoms. “Here, I received a few boxes of these among my deliveries. I have no intention of using them, you may as well. Let me know if you need more.”
“Who the hell is sending you condoms in the mail?” Lia is a beauty vlogger and social media influencer. She often gets products in the mail that companies want her to pimp. But this was new. “I mean they know you’re married, right?”
“It’s a new company,” she says with a smile. “I did my research. They passed all the tests and the product is up to standard. I just think their marketing department could use some work.”
With that she walks into her suite, leaving me standing in the doorway holding a box of condoms with the bellboy trying to hide his smile.
I roll my suitcase into the suite and close the door. As I’m debating whether or not to check my email, my phone rings. I smile when I see Michael’s name appear on the screen.
“Are you still debating whether or not you like Boston?”
“It’s not like I don’t like Boston.” Michael sounded exasperated. We’d had this conversation at least a dozen times in the last month. “It’s just that I am ready to move back home. Well not my childhood home. I won’t be living with my parents, but back to Seattle at least. You’re back there now. And soon Angie will be back, too.”
Angela was Michael’s younger sister. Well, one of them at least. “Your sister’s moving back?”
“Yeah.” Michael was the oldest of six. He was used to a big family. “She broke up with her boyfriend and quit her job. Arrives back home in two weeks. Apparently, she still has a few performances this week.”
“It will be good to see her again.”
Angela started high school the same year Michael and I started college. I’ve not seen her as a cheerleader, despite her making a career of it. Even when I went home for the holidays and had dinner at the York’s home, she was still Michael’s annoying little sister. Annoying was putting it mildly. She had tried flirting with me, something that was more amusing than flirty. The fact that she had a crush on me was not exactly a secret, and she wasn’t really subtle.
It wasn’t until we were both juniors, her in high school and me in college, that something had changed. Oh, she flirted with me. Despite her being more subtle about it, I knew when a girl was flirting with me. But I also found myself enjoying it. There was even the temptation to flirt back. That would’ve been a mistake. She was Michael’s little sister. His family had been good to mine.
Instead, I stayed away. It may not have been the most mature way to handle things, but at least I managed to keep my friendships with Michael and his brother, Denver, intact.
I haven’t seen Angela in person for over a decade. Sure, we followed each other on social media, and from what I can see, she’s stunning. She’d grown up. Obviously, she out-grew her crush on me. As for me? I could appreciate a beautiful
