I checked that my phone was in my backpack; unfortunately, looking in there also reminded me that I didn’t have any spare clothes; they were all back in my motel room. Hanging it back on the hook beside the door, right over the shoe rack where we’d haphazardly left our sandals, I was reminded that there was another bonus point of being fired. I didn’t have to stick my feet in steel-toed boots until I found a new job. Or decided to do as my mate suggested and go into business for myself, even if just temporarily. I hated closed-toe shoes, but I hated dropping a hammer or worse, a cinderblock, on my toes even more.
“Soberish tour now, or fully sober tour later?” Lani asked as he leaned against me.
“How about a tour of your shower followed by a glimpse of this big-ass bed you bragged to me about?” I said. “Just don’t be upset if I faceplant on it, preferably between the two of you; otherwise, I’ll take the couch if you’re not good with having me in your bed yet. I was kind of wondering if that was why we paused out here last night.”
“Baby, our bed is exactly where we want you; have no doubts about that,” Nyx declared.
“Besides, our couch isn’t exactly built for sleeping beyond little catnaps, and I do mean little. I feel like I ran into the side of another bus after spending the night on it,” Nyx said. “There is definitely a chiropractor visit in my future.”
“If you remember to schedule one before things stop hurting,” Lani quipped.
“Wait a minute, back up; I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole running into the side of a bus thing,” I said, stopping them before they could launch into a round of banter.
“It was nothing,” Nyx said, though the light flush of rose on his cheeks said differently.
“How do you call running into the side of a bus nothing? You hit it, right?”
“Full force while not looking where he was going,” Lani said. “He was too busy waving to this boy he had a crush on and slammed into the side of the school bus as we were getting on to go home.”
I couldn’t help laughing at the story and the sheepish look on Nyx’s face while Lani told it.
“Not one of my finer moments,” Nyx muttered.
“Does it have to be a chiropractor?” I asked. “What about talented tentacles? Tingly, toxin-infused tentacles capable of working out all your kinks, and I do mean all of them.”
“If you tell me the cost is $19.95 and it comes with a money-back guarantee, you’re going to find out what kind of damage it can do,” Nyx threatened.
Grinning, I just eyed the couch, pursed my lips, and flicked my tongue out at him. “Then it’s a good thing we’re selling tentacle massages for the low, low cost of $9.99 from now until the end of the weekend.”
“I hate to break it to you, but the weekend is over already,” Lani pointed out. “It’s Monday morning, and some of us do have to show our faces on a video screen in…oh shit, two and a half hours. Is it wrong to wish for a blackout, or at the very least, a storm to disrupt the internet?”
“I’m sure most of the people who stayed late at the fiesta last night feel the same way,” Nyx said.
“My vote would be all, but that’s just me,” I amended.
“You two are not funny,” Lani complained as we straightened up and started shambling down the hall.
Nyx just glanced over at him and grinned. “Maybe not, but we will be snoring while you’re stuck arguing about place settings and whether or not to use real or LED candles.”
“Is it a big celebration you’re planning?” I asked as we stepped into the bathroom, and Nyx opened the doors to a walk-in shower that could easily fit four people comfortably, especially with its trio of overhead showerheads.
I should know; I’d helped install more than my fair share of them.
“It’s a baby shower,” Lani explained. “The problem is that the grandfathers are feuding in the most passive-aggressive way possible, by trying to outdo one another with the level of extravagance.
“I-I…” Stammering, I just shook my head and laughed as Nyx turned the water on and Lani started shucking off his jean shorts. “I got nuthin’ for that. I mean, I guess it’s good that they aren’t rolling around on the lawn throwing punches at one another, but, um, it’s gonna be one spoiled kid if they pull that shit at Christmas.”
“Or on birthdays,” Nyx added as the pile of clothes on the floor continued to grow.
“Honestly, that’s for them to figure out, and I hope they do,” Lani said. “My issue is the constant changes and how to keepmy team from revolting if any more requests came in over the weekend. Oh hell, I haven’t even taken the time to check. It was one of those rare weekends when we weren’t covering an event. After meeting you, well, let’s just say I was grateful to have no interferences, or I might have been tempted to call out with some mystery flu or a bad case of just-mated disease.”
“Just-mated disease?” I asked.
“Yeah, where your arms and legs become so tangled with your mates that you lose all feeling and function in them and are unable to separate yourselves for a period of twenty-four hours or more. From what I hear, it sometimes takes weeks for the last of the symptoms to go away.”
“And now Monday morning has crept in to smack you across the face and remind you that you’re the boss, so you don’t get to do that because if you do, the event will be short-staffed when someone else has to run everything in your place,” Nyx reminded him.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “That sucks. At the very least you can get another hour or two of sleep before your meeting.”
