“Hey! Nice view!” Chet said, making for the window. “Deputy, I can see your house from here!”
“Excuse me!” I began. “I need you all to—”
Of course Jay chose that precise moment to emerge from the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel and a smile.
“I’m ready for mytopping,” he announced.
“Jerry!” Chet cried happily.
“Mr. Rollins!” The deputy sounded faintly scandalized.
“Jayd,” Normandie purred.
“Sweet Jesus,” I muttered.
“Mother. Fucker.” Jay’s eyes widened, and his frightened gaze darted helplessly from me to the interlopers.
“Well, well. And what’s your name?” The man in brown held his phone in front of my face like he wanted to record my answer.
That seemed to knock Jay out of his trance. “He’s no one you need to worry about.” Jay smacked the man’s hand away from me and gave Normandie such a vicious glare, her fawning smile disappeared like a startled meerkat, and she quaked in her pantsuit. “I assumed there was a certain expectation of privacy at this hotel.”
Normandie blushed and stammered. “W-w-well, of course! But Deputy Horowitz, here, wanted to bring Chester up to explain everything, and I offered to accompany him as a matter of hotel protocol.”
“Really. Without calling up? Without verifying that I wanted to meet with anyone? Deputy Horowitz isn’t investigatingme, so this strikes me as highly irregular.”
She licked her lips. “I was hoping to talk to you about a teeny, tiny little endorsement for, um…” She wilted under his glower.
“And who the hell are you?” I asked the man in brown. “Did they pick you up in the elevator?”
“I’m Mike Kenney from theDry Hump Observer. I figured Mr. Rollins would like to make a statement expressing his gratitude to the fine Dry Hump law enforcement professionals who brought the case of his missing van to such a satisfactory conclusion.” He looked from my naked chest to Jay’s. “Though, obviously, if there’s anyotherkind of statement Mr. Rollins would like to make—”
“Fuck no,” Jay said firmly. “The only story here is that the water pressure in my shower next door wasshit.” He hooked a thumb toward the connecting door between our two rooms, which stood open. He turned toward me but almost seemed to look rightthroughme, like he barely knew me and hadn’t had my dick in his mouth twenty minutes before. “Thank you so much for letting me use your shower, friend. Much appreciated.”
“Yeah. Anytime,” I said woodenly, my stomach sinking. “Pal.”
Normandie gasped. “Oh, no! I’ll get someone from maintenance up here right now—”
“Don’t bother.” Jay lifted his chin in the air, fully cloaked in dignity despite being almost entirely naked. “We’re checking out this morning, and we’d like to enjoy our breakfast in peace.” He gave a cold nod at the little table where the server finished arranging our breakfast. The personality shift from Jay toJaydwas absolute, and it hit me like cold rain.
On the one hand, I understood it—I did. After last night, watching “fans” circle around him like vultures pecking over the scraps of his attention, I understood the need to keep people at a distance. And I also firmly believed that he deserved to keep his private life private. Choosing not to explain our relationship to a bunch of strangers had nothing to do with the way he felt about me, whatever that was.
But no lie, watching him treat me like a polite stranger sucked. It reminded me that getting things right between me and Jay was only part of the battle, and the larger issues of me andJaydwere still looming over us.
I had the insane desire to tattoo my name on Jay’s chest. Or declare, “He’s my boyfriend,” at the top of my lungs and push his nearly naked body behind mine. Or go back in time and give him a hickey in the shower—one big enough to be visible from outer space.
Obnoxious? Yes.
Terrifying? Heck yes.
True? Also very much yes.
“Iamvery grateful to the law enforcement people,” Jay told the reporter in the same haughty voice. “I plan to make a sizable donation to their retirement fund. And as to any potential endorsement of the hotel…” He pursed his lips and fixed Normandie with a look that spoke volumes. “That’s really going to depend on what kind of coverage I see in the media about my stay here. I’m sincerely hoping fornone.”
Normandie blinked for half a second, but she caught on fast. “Come on, Mike.” She linked elbows with the reporter and drew him toward the door. “Let’s talk downstairs.”
“But—” the man protested, “I haven’t even asked about—”
“I’ll contact you next week with a statement, Ms. Baker,” Jay called as Normandie left. When the door clicked shut, he turned to the remaining people in the room.
