Leonidas rested his eyes until his food came, and he collected it from a plucky looking man, who appeared to be near his own age. He wore casual clothes and a serious look, and he gave Leonidas a thorough once-over.
“Leonidas?” the man said when Leonidas opened the door. He held a steel dome covered plate in one hand and a bottle of merlot in the other.
“That’s me,” he said, stepping out of the way. “You can put it on the table.”
“I’m Theo,” the man said, stepping in and putting the plate and wine down on the table near the window. “I didn’t have enough hands to bring a wine glass, sorry.”
“I don’t need one.”
“I didn’t think you did.” Theo’s answer sounded heavy with understanding and Leonidas gave him an appraising stare.
Theo cocked his head to the side and chewed the bottom of his lip into his mouth. “You’re here for Andy?”
“I’m here,” he said.
“For Andy,” Theo repeated.
Leonidas dragged his tongue across the front of his teeth and looked down at the food on the table. “Did you bring a bottle opener?”
“Oh.” Theo’s eyes widened and he smiled. “Right.”
He pulled a bottle opener out of his pocket and set it on the table, patting it for good measure.
“You can just leave it on the table tomorrow,” Theo said. “Housekeeping will get it.”
“I can just...” Leonidas snatched the bottle opener and sliced the foil on the bottle of wine, then he stabbed the cork and twisted the handle, popping the cork out with ease. He handed the opener back to Theo. “You can take it now.”
“Right.” Theo slipped it back into his pocket and took a step backward. “Does Andy know you’re here?”
“Yes.”
Theo pursed his lips. “Alright. Well, enjoy your salad.”
Leonidas watched Theo walk away, and he ate his salad, which was fine, but could have used some bread, then he shoved the empty plate away and set to work on finishing the bottle of wine.
He didn’t bother turning on the TV.
It wasn’t the first time Leonidas has been alone. He’d been alone since he left home, and he’d be alone… Well, would he be alone after this? Coming to Cherry Creek had been a half-cocked idea that he’d come up with because he’d been thinking half with his cock in the first place. And he’d listened to his mama and his sister and their grand ideas about what it meant to be in love and how wonderful his life could be.
Maybe this whole thing had been a huge mistake.
He fell asleep before midnight, sitting against the headboard with a half drank bottle of wine cradled in his lap and he didn’t wake up until one in the morning when someone knocked on his door.
19
Andy
Andy didn’t needa key to room 207. He could have yanked the master key out from the locked drawer in the office and let himself in whether Leonidas wanted him to be there or not. He tightened his grip on the spare key that Kyle had passed him earlier in the day with a wink and a nod, and then he banged his fist against the door.
It was late, or early, and he didn’t know if Leonidas was awake, but he didn’t really care. Andy was awake, and so Leonidas needed to be, too. Judging by the amount of time it took for the door to open, Leonidas hadn’t been awake, and judging by the bottle of wine in his hand, he also wasn’t sober.
Leonidas finally opened the door, looking messy and disheveled, a little bit confused and extremely disoriented.
“Were you sleeping?” Andy asked.
Leonidas blinked slowly at him. “I gave you a key.”
Andy held his arm out between them, palm up, and he uncurled his fist, revealing the key. Leonidas stared down at it, a small frown on his face.
