This is the first person we’ve met on our journey that didn’t have the utmost respect for Tanya. My claws want to come out in her defense, but I know Tanya would want me to swallow my pride to carry out her wishes.
“She’s dead. So, no. She won’t be joining us.” The snark in my voice can’t be helped.
“Tanya’s dead?” Slater whispers. Whatever his mom thinks of Tanya, he clearly doesn’t share her sentiments.
Micah steps in to tell them who Tanya was to us and how she mentioned Roger, so we just wanted to see the place they met. He seems to think that would soften Kelly up a bit, but if you ask me, that only makes her more frustrated that Tanya even mentioned Roger’s name.
“Yes, well, she broke my brother’s heart. I hope she doesn’t think sending you two here will somehow grant her Roger’s favor in heaven.”
Fuck Roger’s favor, bitch.My tongue itches to bite back with that, but Roger doesn’t deserve my harsh words. He seemed to be a good man. Kelly’s probably a good woman too. But I don’t take kindly to people disrespecting my family.
“How about I take you up to your rooms and get you settled?” Slater urges us to the stairs and I look back at Kelly, who’s watching us closely. He continues, “So, you missed breakfast obviously, but it’s served at 9:00 a.m. every morning. Dinner is served at 6:00 p.m. each night and tonight we’re having lasagna. It’s family-style, so we all sit at the table together, but no pressure to join. I know you didn’t get the warmest welcome.”
“That’s not your fault,” Micah excuses.
“No, but still. Um, okay, Dani, this is your room. And Micah, your room is just down the hall. I’ll walk you there next.”
“Thank you.” I’m ready to get inside and decompress for a bit.
“Just so you know,” Slater says before I can step into my room. “I always liked Tanya. She was really nice to me. Uncle Roger would be glad you’re here.”
Once I’ve showered off my attitude, I’m debating if I want to look for a snack and risk running into Kelly, when there’s a knock on my door.
Without a doubt, I know I’ll find Micah on the other side.
“How did I know you’d come find me?”
“I expected you’d have some sort of plane odor you wanted to wash off, so I gave you some time, but do you wanna go out with me?”
“Go where?” I was in the middle of applying lotion to my legs so I go back to doing just that, but now the simple task feels far too intimate with him here. His eyes follow every swipe of my hand hungrily. It’s not an obvious hunger. If I didn’t already know what Micah looks like when he’s trying to control himself, I might’ve missed it. But I do know, and the desire to tease him into action keeps growing stronger.
“I know we should be visiting that house or looking for our next clue, but you said you’ve never really been to Chicago before, right?” he asks once I’ve broken the trance by putting my lotion back on the nightstand.
“I did.”
“How’d you like to be a proper tourist?”
Absolutely, yes. I don’t even care where we’re going. If I’m going to keep resisting the temptation that is Micah, then we need to get far away from places with doors and beds.
“Thank you for today. I do feel like a proper tourist,” I say, carrying the bear Micah made me at the Build-A-Bear at Navy Pier. He’s decked out in all Chicago gear, which means absolutely nothing to me, but he’s adorable and I’ve named him Chauncey.
Micah chuckles beside me as we climb the stairs to our rooms to change. “You should. You’ve done every touristy thing imaginable.”
I tip my imaginary hat to him. “I hope ol’ Kelly’s lasagna is good because we could’ve had dinner at the John Hancock.” Having dinner with that view would’ve been unreal, but I didn’t want to let Slater down.
Micah licks his lips, leaning against my door and giving me his rapt attention. “Did you smell all those spices when we walked in? That lasagna gonna be bussin’. So you think you’d wanna come back here?”
“To Chicago? Yes. To the Lennox? Mmm, jury’s still out.” It depends on the treatment we get from Kelly tonight.
“Noted,” he affirms.
I probably will always associate Chicago with Micah now, but I find that I don’t mind that so much. We are friends, after all.
Dinner with Slater, Kelly, and the rest of the guests is enjoyable. Kelly gives us a wide berth, while Slater naturally commands the attention of everyone with his charm.
After dinner, some of the guests decide to watch TV while others go back to their rooms. I pull Slater aside before I lose track of him. “Hey, would you be free tonight?”
“Oh? What’d you have in mind?” His eyes trail my body for far too long.
