“Oh, my God! Do you think they’d do that? How cool would that be? I’d be famous!”
“Willow…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I’m just teasing.”
They walked through the doors of the gift shop and she didn’t know where to look first. It was all so bright and tacky and colorful, and she wanted one of everything! Releasing Levi’s hand, she ran over to a display of sombreros and put one on her head.
“What do you think? Am I a hat person?” And with a laugh, she picked another one and walked over and put it on his head. “Yes! We totally rock these sombreros! Wait! Where’s my phone? We totally need a picture!”
“It’s probably still in the car–which is locked, so relax,” he assured her. “But I’ve got mine right here.”
Then, pulling her in close, Levi held up the phone to get a selfie of the two of them, and Willow knew it was going to be her favorite memory of the entire trip.
You’re such a good friend.
Willow must have said that at least a dozen times over dinner and another dozen more while they drove to their hotel and booked a room.
With two beds.
Okay, fine, she was hitting him over the head with the fact that their fake relationship was over and so was the not-so-fake sexual part of it. He got it. He understood.
But that didn’t mean he liked it.
How the hell was he supposed to go back to just being friends–and sleeping in the same room as her–after everything that had transpired over the weekend? Sure, he’d dated plenty of women who he went on to be just friends with, but he never had to spend the night in a hotel with them afterward either.
“Maybe I should have gotten us separate rooms,” he muttered.
“Did you say something?” Willow asked as she came out of the bathroom, drying her hair.
Hoping he didn’t look too guilty, he forced himself to smile. “Just commenting on how this is a nice room.”
“It really is,” she said as she walked across the room. She sat down on her bed and looked at him. “I hate that you are the one paying, though.”
“Willow, we’ve been over this…”
“I know, I know. But after everything that happened today…”
He held up a hand to stop her. “Staying at a hotel here in North Carolina made way more sense than trying to drive all the way to Richmond and going to Natalie’s again. I don’t care if I did nap earlier, I would have been cross-eyed by the time we got there.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“It’s really not that big of a deal,” he countered, hoping she’d just let this go. “I wanted to do this.”
“But I was supposed to be the one paying for the trip. This was all for me and…”
“You bought me a sombrero and a taco,” he said lightly. “We’re good, Willow. Trust me.”
The way she was frowning at him told Levi she wasn’t buying it.
And then her loud huff pretty much confirmed it.
“What? What do you want me to say? I’m not going to apologize for this. I paid for the hotel. It’s not a big deal. You can pay for gas the rest of the way home and all the meals if that makes you feel better.”
He knew he’d never allow it, but she didn’t need to know that.
“You’re mad at me,” she said after an uncomfortable minute.
“Um…what?”
She nodded. “You’re mad at me. Admit it.”
“Why would I be mad at you? I told you, we’re good.”
“Yeah, it’s not so much what you say but the way you’re saying it. You have a tone.”
“A tone?”
She nodded again. “Yup. A tone.”
Leaning back on his elbows on his own bed, Levi did his best to appear bored. “Okay, I’ll bite, what kind of tone do I have?”
Willow tossed her towel down as she stood and tried to look intimidating.
It was sexy as hell.
Wet hair, hot pink flannel sleep shorts and a white t-shirt that was a little clingy, yeah, sexy.
And her nipples were hard so…that was also a little distracting.
“You’re barely looking at me, Levi, and ever since we got to the room, you’ve been kind of short with me. Annoyed. If you wanted me to get my own room, you should have said so.” With another huff, she turned and reached for the phone.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m calling the front desk to see if they have any other rooms available.”
Groaning, Levi jumped up and put his hand over hers, preventing her from picking up the phone.
“Levi!”
“Willow!” he mimicked. “You don’t need to get your own room. We’re totally fine sharing one. We’ve been doing it for almost a week.”
That and a whole lot more…
Yanking her hand out from under his, she took a few steps back–as if even been close to him was a bad thing.
And if that wasn’t a message she was sending–loud and clear, no less–then he didn’t know what was.
“I…I just don’t want this to be awkward.” She paused. “We only have to get through tonight and then everything will go back to normal.” Then she looked away. “No big deal.”
Only…it was.
“Is that really how you feel?” he asked.
A shrug was her only response, and rather than push her and make things even more uncomfortable than they already were, Levi raked a hand through his hair and stormed off to the bathroom.
“I’m going to take a shower,” he murmured, slamming the door shut behind him. It was childish, and it wasn’t really going to solve anything. It wasn’t as if he was going to spend the night in there or sleep in the bathtub. All he was accomplishing was putting a little distance between them to give them each a little time to calm down. With any luck, Willow would decide to go to sleep early and then they won’t have to talk to one another again until morning.
He turned on the hot water and then turned to look at
