9
Russell
“Um, you said we were staying at a hotel,” Ryan said under his breath as we walked into the lobby of the Four Seasons.
“This is a hotel, my boy.”
“Not for guys like me.”
“It’s exactly for guys like you,” I replied quietly. Someday he’d get it out of his head that he was the trash his parents made him believe he was. It would be a lifelong battle with him most likely, but it’d be one that I’d approach patiently each day with him. Eventually, he’d understand that he was deserving of anything and everything.
He remained quiet in the lobby and on the elevator ride up to the floor where our room was. In the elevator, he rubbed at his temples with one hand and rubbed on the back of his neck with the other. I had a feeling it was a mixture of his headache brought on from the altitude change and the dream that was still raw and fresh in his mind. I brushed his hand away from his neck and placed my hands over the top of his shoulders. I pressed my thumbs against the base of his neck and moved them firmly around in circles.
“I’ll get you some ibuprofen when we get into our room.”
“I hope it’s a simple room. With a bed and bathroom and nothing else,” he murmured as we exited the elevator.
“Ryan, we’re going to be here for two nights. I want it to be comfortable.”
“Your idea of comfortable and mine are a bit different.”
“And you will deal with it just fine.”
We went into the room, and I let him carry on for a few moments about the size of it while I put our luggage in the bedroom and our toiletries in the bathroom. I knew he was still raw from his dream in the car and waking up so abruptly. The dream was carrying over to everything for him right now. When I finished putting some things away, I went to him, wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and pulled him against me.
“Relax, Ryan,” I said as I rubbed on his upper back.
As my hands moved over his jacket-clad shoulders, I could feel the tightness and tension in his body. I let go of him just long enough to unzip his jacket and pulled it down his arms. I tossed it over the back of the couch and tugged him into an embrace again. This time, he sank against me, gripping the side of my sweater. Though he told me about the dream, I knew it was far from his mind. He needed to be able to feel me.
“I’m sorry I bitched about the room,” he mumbled.
“The bathroom has an oversized tub, and I think soaking in it for a little while would be good for you. There’s a lot of tension in your back, and I know it’s from a combination of the dream and car ride.”
“I can sit still in a car for hours,” he challenged.
“You can, yes. But today’s drive was a bit more stressful due to the weather alone. Add in your disturbing dream and the altitude, and your body is worn out.”
“The effects of the altitude are crazy. I felt winded just walking into the lobby from the car.”
“You’re young and should acclimate quickly. But I think the soak in the tub before we go to dinner would do you a world of good.”
“Where are we eating?”
“I think tonight we’ll eat in one of the restaurants in the lobby. How does that sound?”
“That sounds good. I wanted to make sure I didn’t need to put on those stretchy pants under my regular pants.”
I gently patted the back of his neck as he lifted his forehead from my shoulder, granting me access to look into his eyes. The fog was starting to clear in them, and I was certain he would be back on track by the time we’d go to bed.
While Ryan started to fill the tub with water, I organized some of our bathroom things. Both of us used electric razors, so I unpacked them and plugged them in to charge.
“Hey, check it out,” Ryan announced and turned to face me. He was naked, so my eyes immediately skimmed his body, and I grinned at him.
“Impressive, Ryan.”
“No, I meant the bubble stuff.” In his hands he held three small bottles of bubble bath. “Why do they have so many?”
“So you have a choice of what you’d like to smell like and soak in,” I said as I stood close and glanced at the bottles.
