King Sized Beds and Happy Trails (Beds Series) (4 page)

“Oh shit, Lex.” His hands slide off my shoulder and pull me into his chest. The smell of juniper and sandalwood comfort me. I breathe in his scent and let it ease the tension in my neck, erase the horrible visions of my night and let the tears fade away.

“I’m sorry.” I pull away and wipe the half-dried tears off my cheeks. I force a smile and look up at him.

The outside light turns on
, and I can see his face clearly. It twists into rage as he grabs my chin. “What the hell happened to your eye?”

The vein in his forehead is pulsing. I’ve only seen it a few times
, and it’s enough to know he’s ready to hurt someone.

“
Mom,” I say because with Ryan it’s enough for him to understand.

“
Did she do it on purpose?”

“No. She wanted to party
, and I just happened to be in the way of her arm throw.”

The vein stops pulsing
, and his hand let’s go of my chin, trailing up my cheek to just below my eye. “Does it hurt?”

“A little.”

“Let’s get you some ice.” He wraps his arm around my shoulder, and we turn toward the door. His grandfather is standing in the doorway in his matching red, plaid pajama set.

“Everything alright out here?” he asks
, his voice a lot burlier than he is.

“Yeah
, Pop-pop. Lex is just having a bad night.”

“Hi Mr. Parker.” I wave and smile, but this time it isn’t forced.

“Well go on, get inside. The guestroom is all made up. May changed the sheets this morning. And she also made some brownies. They’re on the counter. If she asks how many you ate, tell her three.”

“
Pop-pop…” Ryan groans, but he’s smiling.

“Midnight snack. But let’s keep that between us. She’s on my case ab
out my sugar again. I’m seventy-one years old. I’ve gone my whole life eating what I want, and I ain’t going to change that!”

“Don’t worry Mr. Parker
, I got you covered.” His eyes turn to me and his smile fades. But he doesn’t say anything about it. He knows. All too well actually. He took his grandson away from the life I’m living.

“Well
, it’s a school night. Don’t be up too late now.”

“We won’t
, Pop-pop. Goodnight.”

“Thank you.”
The two words are nothing compared to all that he does for me, but I have to say something.

“No need. You’re family.” He walks over and kisses my forehead before heading to bed.

I follow Ryan into the kitchen where he tosses me an ice pack and scoops two brownies off the platter.

“You sure you’re okay?”
He sits on the stool next to me, the unease from earlier back on his face. I had to do something right in my life to deserve him.

I take a bite of my brownie.
“I am now.”

I couldn’t have asked for a better bus ride up to the ski resort. Lexie rests her head on my chest with my arm wrapped around her sleeping body. She got a ton of crap from her mom last night about leaving for a week, but now she’s completely quiet—at peace, and away from all of that.

Her eye’s a hell of a lot better too. Good thing it didn’t stay for longer than
a week, ‘cause I was about to go hit a grown woman over it. Pop-pop would’ve had my back too. He was two numbers away from calling the cops before I unplugged the phone. But he said next time Lex comes over with a purple anything, he’ll call, even if she ends up hating him for it.

So, yeah
, this trip came just in time. And seeing her actually sleep without wiping tears from her face first does funky things to my innards.

She smells real good too. I never thought I’d be turned on by a smell, but her nail polish has a scent that
smells like apples or something. I have to shift a couple times so the effect she’s having on me isn’t obvious.

The bus jerks to a stop
, and she startles awake, elbowing me right in the junk. My… obvious junk.

“Aiy!”

Her face goes red, but she starts laughing. “Whoops! I’m sorry, Ry!”

I nod and squeeze my eyes shut. Not sure if I’m going to be able to stand for a minute.

Someone’s talking in the background, Nate’s laughing behind me and patting me on the shoulder while I try the “breathe in, breathe out” method. When Mr. Miller says, “Okay, boy cabins on the right, girls on the left!” people book it down the aisle to grab a key.

Kaylee comes back with two keys and kicks me in the shin. “Come on, you baby. Let’s see our home for the week!”

“You wouldn’t be calling me a baby if you had balls.” I stand—I’m real careful, mind you—and she giggles as she not-so-discreetly grabs a handful of Nate’s nuts.

“I
do
have balls. They’re right here whenever I need them.”

Nate bats her hand away and wrestles he
r out the bus door while Lex and I stand there with our mouths open.

“Ew.”

She took the word right out of my mouth.

Adjusting myself so it doesn’t hurt when I walk, I say,
“Please tell me they won’t be like this the whole time.”

She shrugs, shooting me one of her smiles. The one I only see when we’re alone together. I’d like to think I
have something to do with it. That’s me being a pompous ass. Still, when her lips go so far wide, both her dimples are visible—usually, only one is—I know she’s real happy.

“Good thing it’s not co-ed rooms, right?” she says as we step outside to grab our crap f
rom the storage part of the bus, all of us putting on our coats and hats since it’s freeze-your-toes-off weather.

“Actually,” Nate says, pulling Kaylee’s bag over his shoulder, “we wanted to talk to you guys about that.”

Lex gives me a look like I’ve got a booger or something. I swipe at my nose and try to seem like I don’t know what’s coming.

“You don’t mind bunking together, right?” Kaylee pulls her daddy’s girl eyes on us. “Pwease?”

I look at Lexie again, but she’s almost laughing. So, I take that as a yes and answer for the both of us.

“Hmm,
I dunno.” I waggle my eyebrows at Lex. “You think you can control yourself around this?” I gesture to… well, all of me, which gets me a punch in the shoulder.

“I think I’ll manage.”

She goes in for her suitcase, but I beat her to it. I know she likes to be independent and stuff, but I’m a gentleman, and I’m not going to let her haul that thing to our room.

Our room. Holy hell, we’re going to be sharing a room.

“Uh, you two are taking the girl cabin, right?” The boy cabins have two queens. Girls have one king. It was this huge debate a few weeks ago when they announced it. But the school took what they could, and praises to whoever made the decision, because I would’ve slept on the floor before I slept in the same bed as Nate.

“Yep,” Nate says
, tossing me the key as Kaylee hops on his back. He must be made of magic since he’s carrying her and both their bags. “And make sure you knock when you come bug us.” He winks and takes off. And by takeoff, I mean hobble his way to their cabin. Maybe he’s not as magical as he thinks.

Lex kicks me in the butt and says, “Race ya!” before she bolts it to 16A, or as Kaylee put it, our
“home for the week.”

Okay, so I’m
freaking out for no reason. I mean, we’ve shared a house before. All the time, really. We’re practically roommates already. So I try to erase all the fantasy scenarios playing out in my head. Lexie would do more than just punch my shoulder if she saw what’s going on up there.

I glance to the chaperones, but they are too busy ogling the scenery and each other to notice we’re breaking the rules, and then I take off after Lex. S
he’s cheating on this race. I’m carrying both our bags, and I think she packed everything she owns. Including her entire nail polish collection, which alone is a million pounds. I should’ve stayed in weight-training.

I get to the cabin door
, and she’s resting against it, arms folded. She fakes a yawn. “I think you’re out of shape, my friend. A year ago, you would’ve caught me, thrown me over your shoulder and gotten here in less than eight seconds.”

I throw her a half smile and whip out the ke
y. “I knew you thought I was made of pure muscle. I have you fooled.”

“Not anymore,” she snort
s.

Rolling my eyes, I open the door and let her go in first. Her mouth opens with an audible pop, and she skips around the room and plops on the bed closest to the bathroom.

“I call this one.” She sighs and closes her eyes, smiling the smile only reserved for when she’s happiest. I’m not even going to argue with her over who gets what bed, because it’s good to see her like this.

“All right.” I toss my bag on the other bed and set hers down
.

She jumps up, shrugging off her coat.
“I gotta pee.” And she’s off to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

I chuckle and sit on the edge of
my bed, taking my coat off and staring at the huge TV. It’s sitting on top of a wood dresser so big it wouldn’t fit in Lexie’s apartment. The lights in between the two beds don’t seem to have a switch, so I try clapping, but that doesn’t do anything. I wonder if light isn’t a perk that comes with an eleven hundred dollar a person room.

Or for me, times that by two
.

“AGH!”

I shoot upright on the bed when Lex comes sprinting from the bathroom, top button on her jeans still undone as she leaps onto my lap. She wraps her legs around my torso and her arms are so tight on my neck, I have to choke out my words.

“W-what’s… wrong
?”

“It’ssobigRyyouhavetokillitrightnowbeforeiteatsmeinmysleep.”

“Um, what?”

I try to loosen her grip
, but she’s made of sticky glue.

“T
here’s a
huge
spider in there. In the tub! You have to go kill it right now.”

I chuckle and attempt to
stand, but her death grip prevents me from doing it smoothly. “Okay, I’ll go kill it.” She doesn’t let go. “You want to come with me?”

I didn’t realize how much
I like her being so close until she’s not there anymore. She jumps off and hops across the bed, lands in the corner by the door and crouches, hugging her knees to her chest.

I shake my head and do a Mission Impossible stunt to the bathroom. It’s a good thing I love this girl, because she didn’t even flush. I tug the knob on the toilet and whip the shower curtain open.

Nothing.

Normally, I’d chalk this up to a girl being a girl, and freaking out over nothing. But this is Lexie, and if she saw a spider, it means there really was a spider. And if I don’t find it and get rid of it, she’ll be sleeping in that corner all week. Or outside huddled in everything she packed to keep warm.

After a thorough search of the bathroom, I take my shoe off and smack it against the tub, hoping the sound alone will make her believe I killed whatever she saw.

Another flush of the toilet
, and I walk back to Lex, wiping my hands off.

“Who has two thumbs and is awesome?” I
signal to myself, but before I can get out the punch line, she narrows her eyes and cuts me off.

“Um, not you.” She points at my face. “You’re purple, and your voice cracked. You’re lying.”

I raise my eyebrows. Damn, she’s good. I didn’t even realize I was doing all that. Shaking my head, I park myself next to her on the floor.

“Why didn’t you kill it? If you’re trying to play a joke, it’s not funny, Ry.”

“You know I wouldn’t kid around about…” I drop my voice an octave. “Spiders.”

No punch in the shoulder. Man, she’s really freaked out. Her
brown eyes get bigger as she waits for a serious answer.

I let out a breath. “Sorry, I couldn’t find it.”

She shakes her head so fast I think it may come off. “No, no, no. I can’t stay here.”

Half my mouth pulls up. Just what I expected. “Where do you suggest you sleep?”

She reaches up and grabs the key I set on the table by the door. The small of her back peeks out from her shirt, and I have to gulp back the sudden drool in my mouth.

“Go switch with Nate and Kaylee.” She slaps the key in my palm. I give her a look that clearly says, ‘they’re probably
busy
’, but she gives me a look back that says, ‘I don’t care.’

“All right.” I sigh and stand. “You win.”

“Thank you.” She curls farther into the corner.

“Don’t you want to come with me?” I ask with a smirk.

She shakes her head again, the ‘shake so hard it’s going to come off’ shake. “I don’t want it crawling into my stuff, so I’ll make sure it doesn’t get anywhere near it.”

I’m about to tell her she won’t do much good from the corner, but it’s probably better I go alone anyway. Kaylee and Nate would make fun of her, and I’m better at persuading when I don’t have an audience. Mainly ‘
cause I can get all protective over Lexie without her seeing just how much I like her.

“I’ll be quick.”

She snorts. “Not if you run like you did before.”

My smile widens. “Time me.”

In my haste, I forget my coat and the chilling breeze instantly makes my nipples rise and my junk shrink. I run as fast as I can manage without slipping on all the snow and ice to 16B, and send out rays with my mind that Kaylee and Nate are at least still dressed.

The girls
’ cabins are closer to the mountain, higher up and way bigger than the boys. The King beds must mean suites in comparison to…

Holy shit. One bed. How did I forget there is only one bed in this room? Did Lex forget
, too? Or does she not care?

My whole body is shaking now, and I’m not sure if it’s because I’m freezing or because now I’m nervous times ten. Even when we were younger, we never shared a bed. And smelling Lexie right next to me all night, there will be definite, uh, hardening. Nothing says,
“Hey, I wanna just stay friends” like a stiff one in the middle of the night.

Guess I’ll be on the floor this week.

I knock when I get to the cabin, hopping up and down to try to keep warm. After about a million knocks, Nate swings open the door.

“May we help you?” He smiles as he blocks my way in. I’m about to shove him out of the way, but who knows what Kaylee is dressed in. Or not dressed in.

“Favor, dude. Lex saw a spider.”

He folds his lips together, biting back the laughter. Kaylee yells from the room. “Oh, let him in and close the door! It’s too cold to play jokes right now.”

I jump inside, letting my eyes adjust to the dim room. Kaylee’s already packing up the few things she took out of her bag.

“You don’t need to do any convincing, Ry,” she says when I open my mouth. “We won’t hear the end of it all week if we don’t switch rooms.” She pauses on her zipper as her eyes flick to mine. “That’s what she wants, right?”

I nod, and she zips up her bag. Nate grabs his coat and shoves his crap together too. Their room is actually a lot nicer than the one we’re in. The bed is giant, but the TV is smaller. Probably ‘cause people who stay in these rooms don’t do much TV watching.

There go the nerves again, s
parking up through my chest and making me rub the back of my neck. My nervous ticker, as Lex calls it.

“Thanks, guys.” My voice is still shaky. But that could still be from the cold. “I’ll go get her.” Nate and I switch keys
, and I sprint back to 16A.

Lex is still sitting in the corner, but all our bags are surrounding her like a make-shift bomb shelter. I laugh as I help her off the floor.