There’s a pause, and then he says, “It should be.”
They all should be, I think, but I keep that to myself.
“Yes, please. We’ll try that room.”
“Okay, great. Just come to the front desk, and I’ll give you a new key.”
On my way back with the new room key, I stop and grab a few of the blankets and pillows I brought for the sky-gazing. The snow hasn’t let up at all, and the wind is swirling it everywhere. I tuck as much of the blankets in my jacket as I can so they won’t get too wet, but there’s no way to fully succeed. Still, Juju’s face lights up when she sees that I’m carrying them. We walk to the new room, which is slightly warmer, but not by much, and it’s not an upgrade in any other way. In fact, the smell is a little more rank.
“What do you think? Do we go for the one that’s warmer or the one that smells slightly better?” I ask.
“Maybe we’ll get used to the smell,” Juju says.
I groan, which she seems to find comical. “Maybe we can open the window for a few minutes? Body heat and all that…”
“That’s convenient,” she teases.
“It’s hard to argue with science.”
“I guess we’ll do what we have to.” She laughs. “I bet Goldie would love to get her hands on this place.”
“Several people in my family would see this as a wonderful challenge…I don’t have that gene.” I grin when she snorts. “I’ll leave that to Dad, Noah, and Goldie, and they can leave the cooking up to me.”
I lay the blanket out on the bed, and she helps me smooth the other one on top of it. We fold back the top like we’re making a bed.
“I’ll run and get the pillows,” I tell her.
She nods. “I think I’ll take a shower and see if that helps me warm up.”
I try not to think of her in the shower but fail.
“Sounds good,” I say, getting out of there fast.
When I come back to the room, I can hear her singing “Walking on Sunshine.” I can’t stop smiling. The shower cuts off. For a second, I only hear my heartbeat. When Juju opens the door and steps out, steam trails behind her. Curls form where her hair is damp in places, curling at the sides and back of her topknot. Her cheeks are pink from the heat. She has her same clothes back on, not that I expected her to pull out anything else when we’re stranded in this place. She’s so gorgeous it hurts.
“That really helped,” she says, her arms around her body like she’s trying to keep the warmth from escaping. She smiles at me.
“I think I’ll go get one too. Try not to make eye contact with that deer. He’s a little suss.”
She laughs. “What is with this place and all the brown?”
“It’s taking the cabin vibe too far. You gotta break it up somewhere.”
She acts impressed. “See? I knew you had at least a little of the gene.”
“I mean, anyone would’ve been able to tell that after two seconds of walking into this room, but I’ll let you believe I’m skilled in all the ways.”
I step into the bathroom and shut the door. Once I’ve stepped into the shower for a minute, I get feeling in my hands again as I thaw. We were supposed to end tonight with me kissing her good night at her door, not under buzzing fluorescents and a heater that’s barely hanging on. The whole one-bed thing too…should I have offered to get another room? Fuck, it didn’t even cross my mind to do that.
I crank the water hotter and try not to overthink anything for at least the next three minutes.
When I come out, Juju is sitting cross-legged on the bed with the blanket tucked around her legs.
“Feel better?” she asks, smiling at me.
It hits me again, the way it has numerous times since things changed with Juju and me, how happy I am that she’s smiling at me again. I stare at her, and it must be intense because her head tilts as she stares back.
“What are you thinking?” she asks.
