Alex opened his mouth, then closed it again. He lifted his head briefly, causing his hair to slip out from behind his ears. He tucked the strand back with his fingers. “Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“How does someone like you not have a boyfriend? Is dating in Las Vegas that bad?”
I rolled onto my back and hid my face behind my hands. “Don’t ask. I’ve given up on that a long time ago.”
“That bad?”
“It’s horrible. Most people either just want to hook up, or they say they want something more, but stop responding the minute you ask for a second date. I’m telling you, it’s probably easier to find a boyfriend in Seastone.”
Alex blew a raspberry. “I wish. How my gay friends found partners here is nothing but a mystery to me.”
“Well, the two of us are living proof that it’s possible to meet someone.”
“Sure. If you weren’t leaving tomorrow…” There was a sadness in Alex’s voice that twisted my insides. “Man, that sounded miserable. Forget that I said that.”
The mattress creaked as Alex rolled onto his back. He let out a sigh and rubbed a hand over his face. His words still lingered in the back of my mind as he turned back to me.
“Are you going straight back to Las Vegas tomorrow?”
“Actually, no.” I probably shouldn’t have told anyone, but he deserved some honesty from me. “Don’t tell my parents, but my friends came along on the trip. They drove me here and will pick me up tomorrow. We’ve got this whole round trip planned. But if anyone asks, when they pick me up, they’re just a shared Uber.”
“Sounds fun.” He put on a smile, but the way he fell silent afterward made my stomach turn.
“Alex, I...” I raised my arm toward him, but stopped before touching him. “I wish I could just take you with me tomorrow.” I hovered my hand close to him a little longer, my fingers itching to feel his skin, but then pulled my arm back, pretending I just wanted to stretch. “Although that’s probably weird to say after we’ve only known each other for a few hours.”
“It’s not weird,” Alex said a few seconds later. “Because if it were, it’d be weird that I wished you’d stay longer, too.” He reached his hand toward me.
I grabbed his wrist and pulled it close to my chest. “Well, I’m here now,” I said, letting the thought hover between us a little. “And isn’t now all that we have?”
“Then why are you lying down there?”
I didn’t need any more of an invitation. Without a word, I climbed into his bed. He lifted his blanket and threw it over my shoulder, welcoming me with his warmth. We wrapped our arms around each other. He tucked his leg between mine.
“That’s better, isn’t it?” I whispered.
“Yeah,” he whispered back, resting his head against my chest.
Time passed, and neither of us spoke until he eventually said, “I don’t want to sleep.”
“Like this?”
“Not at all, I mean.”
I rested my hand on the back of his head. “We can be stupid and stay up all night.”
“I’d love that.” His voice softened. “Do you wanna share my headphones and listen to some music together?”
“What music?”
“All of it.”
When I blinkedmy eyes open, Alex was already hitting the keys of his electronic piano keyboard. His head bobbed up and down, a pair of run-down over-ear headphones hugging his ears. The sun was rising over the mountaintops, reminding me of all the mornings I had woken up in this room—just never with a hot guy sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed.
I pushed myself up, one of Alex’s black earbuds rolling down my chest. We had used them the night before to show each other our favorite musicians and songs, and apparently, we had fallenasleep in the process. It had been so cozy with him under the blanket. How could I not relax into the best night’s sleep I had in years?
He played for another twenty minutes without noticing that I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Only when I moved to adjust my legs did he turn to face me, his hands rushing to pull down his headphones.
