Both Lauren and Will slightly sat back in their chairs, unplugging from the previous electric moment.
“Great,” Will said, absently. “Thanks for doing that.”
A sudden fear struck Lauren. “You mean two rooms, right?”
Rosa’s face fell, but not too far. “Sorry, they only have the one. I asked if they have any more and they said ‘no.’” Lauren thought she saw just a twinge of a knowing smile at the corners of Rosa’s mouth.
“I’d let you stay here,” she continued, “but we have all the unwrapped Christmas presents in Jackson’s room, since he’s on the couch. Our house is just so small.”
“We’ll be fine.” Will stood. Lauren stared at him, incredulous. “We will. We’ll make it work. Thank you.”
Lauren’s heart pounded a drum in her chest. Sure, they’d be fine. Just fine. Totally.
Her.
Will.
In a hotel room overnight.
Together.
What could possibly go wrong?
Text Exchange between Lauren and Spencer
Sounds like you’re getting the full Will Sinclair road trip experience. Are you having fun?
If by “fun” you mean “spending every hour wanting to
gouge my eyeballs out with a fork, then yes.”
Has he broken out the Christmas carols?
Good grief, yes.
Does he know he’s a truly terrible singer?
Yes. And he doesn’t care.
I’ve never met anyone who loved Christmas this much.
If we were in his family, we’d love it too.
How depressing.
Spence, you said he’s different than he was
back in high school. What did you mean?
<shrugging man emoji> He grew up.
Like, for real? Because from what I remember,
he was kind of a tool.
<laughing emoji> Not a tool anymore.
How can you be sure?
You know people don’t change.
Maybe not, but they do grow up. Most of them anyway. Will’s one of the best guys I know.
Don’t give him too much of that Lauren Richmond grief, OK?
What’s that supposed to mean?
That impossibly high standard you hold yourself to?
Nobody else can live up to that.
And before you argue with me, yes, you do try and hold people to it.
Lighten up a little and see if you can have some fun. You deserve it.
Chapter 11
Will couldn’t help but be amused by the look on Lauren’s face when Rosa told her they only had one room.
He’d sleep on the floor, or the couch or in a chair, of course, but why spoil the fun? And more to the point, why did he enjoy poking at her so much?
They drove toward the hotel in their usual silence. Will was used to it by now, but he searched his mind for a way to draw her out. She must have questions; she’d overheard enough of his conversation with Jackson. Or maybe not. Maybe she really didn’t care one bit about Will’s life.
It was presumptuous for him to think she would. Or maybe he was just hoping for a chance to show her he had changed.
Though, to be honest—no amount of change would ever make Will Sinclair worthy of a girl like Lauren. He’d corrupted himself on too many levels to even hope she’d consider it.
Besides, how would he break that to Spencer? “Hey, man, I know you asked me to give your sister a ride home, but I sort of fell for her somewhere between California and New Mexico. You’re cool with that, right?”
Not that he was thinking about it. Nope. Not at all. Spence’s little sister, that’s how he saw her.
I have two sisters. And I don’t think about them as much as I think about her.
“So, which side of the bed do you want?” Will asked when they walked into the small hotel room. He flopped on the bed and stretched a model pose, head propped up, hand on his waist, rear end jutting out. “I tend to sprawl out. We might wake up spooning.”
Her eyes flicked up to his. “Nice try. I don’t think so. You’ll have to sleep on the floor. Or better yet, in the car. The seats recline.”
He should put her out of her misery and tell her where he actually planned to sleep, but watching her squirm was far too entertaining.
“Are you sure there isn’t another room here?” She looked downright terrified.
He hopped off the bed and shrugged. “Rosa said no. I’ve never known her to lie.”
“Maybe I should sleep in the car,” she said. “I’m smaller than you, and it wasn’t bad when we were driving.” She started rolling her suitcase back toward the door.
“Wait, Lauren,” he said. “Come back. You don’t have to do that.” Lauren slowly turned around. “Gosh, you’re so easy to tease,” Will chuckled.