“Thanks,” Rowe said, flashing him a smile. So thoughtful. Cade probably thought we needed a moment to kiss and hold hands so we didn’t have to do it in front of everyone. He didn’t know that all there would be in the hotel room was awkwardness and silence. Maybe I would have to jump up and down on the bed tonight and make a few sex noises to really sell the lie. “Come on, then, Xav. Show me this room of ours.”
Xav? We were going to have words about that.
“Alright,” I said. I reached out and took Rowe’s suitcase from his hand, and before he could protest, grabbed his now-free hand with mine so he understood. I was only taking it so we could hold hands like a couple, not because I didn’t think he was capable. “Let’s go, then, babe.”
Babe. The word felt strangely heavy on my tongue.
But also tingly. Like popping candy.
This was going to be one fucking weird weekend.
As we walked away and the others moved towards the entrance to the restaurant, I glanced sideways and caught Ace’s eye.
And I knew in an instant we were going to have to do a lot better than this if we really wanted to convince anyone.
Rowe
“You don’t have to do that, you know,” I said as we got out of the elevator. I needed to get this out of the way early.
“What?” Xavi asked. He glanced over his shoulder and then let go of my hand as if that was what I’d been referring to. It wasn’t. I didn’t even mind that part.
“Mollycoddle me,” I said. I refused to look at him as I spoke. “Act like I need extra special treatment because of the cane. I don’t. The cane is what lets me get around like anyone else.”
I could practically feel the words forming themselves in Xavi’s head:but you’re not like anyone else, because you need a cane. I didn’t want to argue about it, but I would if I had to. Having a mobility aide was an important thing in my life. Without it, I was just the guy who limped along at the back of the group, always exhausted, always last. But my cane gave me the freedom to at least keep up with a normal pace.
Anyone who had a problem with it, or couldn’t see it was one of the best things that had ever happened to me, didn’t need to be in my life.
“Oh, right,” Xavi said, and that seemed to be that. I blinked. He wasn’t going to argue?
Or, at the very least, apologize?
“I know my own limits, and I need you to respect them,” I added, just to test whether he really got it.
Xavi nodded. “I understand,” he said.
Well. There was that.
We were passing by doors on both sides, numbers flashing past in my head. Two oh fifteen, two oh seventeen, two oh nineteen.
“Do I need to know anything about any of your friends?” I asked, changing the subject. We’d done all of this in such a rush that we hadn’t really had time to discuss any of the details or get further into the planning.
“Not really, except they all think I’m a stupid slutty bitch,” Xavi said. He stopped at one of the doors in the corridor. I could only stare at him. He glanced up at me as he unlocked the door, his expression mild. “What?”
“You talk that way about yourself?” I asked, following him into the room. My eyes landed on the single large bed that took up much of the space.
Oh, yeah. Right. The one bed we were going to have to share.
“You don’t exactly look like you disagree,” Xavi muttered under his breath, and I whirled around, waving my hand in the air.
“No, that’s not…” I started, but I could tell he was already closing himself off. His expression had shut down, like he was blocking me out. I’d seen him do it at work whenever Janice yelled at him. He just had no interest in what she had to say, and it all bounced off him.
Sure, he never got hurt by it. But he also never learned his lesson. That was why I had made bailing him out into so much of a habit that it was now quite literally my job for the weekend.
Now I was wondering what else he blocked out, and how much of life he was missing out on because it bounced right off him.
“I don’t think you’re stupid,” I said.
“Oh, so you’re fine with the slutty bitch part?”
