Page 34 of Love Hazard

Parents had their ways.

We were at a small resort called Salty Peak. It had maybeforty rooms tops and was newer. They even had bikesyou could rent, a gorgeous spa, and from what I’d seen, the rooms would be newand modern.

August was quiet on the elevator ride up, and when he tappedthe card against the door and opened it, I almost wept.

The suite was at least nine hundred square feet done up in blacks and whites with bold turquoise accent pillows andart. It had a huge balcony to the right, and a small one to the left, with afireplace in the middle.

The bathroom was huge with its white marble and glassshower, which kind of meant that he’d have to look away unless he wanted to seeme naked.

“So…” I turned in a small circle and dropped into one of thechairs when a knock sounded at the door. I moved to get up, but August wasalready there.

Room service sure was fast.

He thanked the guy and rolled the cart into the room.Cheese, grapes, two bottles of red wine, crackers, and two yummy-looking dipsgreeted us.

I reached for a cracker. “This is how the trip should havestarted.”

He grunted. “Next time, we just bring the tent inside thehotel room and say, yes, we camped.”

I almost choked on my cracker. “Next time?”

“Yeah, I figure we need a re-do.” He licked his lips anduncorked the wine, pouring each of us a glass. “Since the parents will neverstop until we get along, and since I never really want to get along with you,this might be a yearly thing.”

I actually did choke on my crackerthis time, then grabbed my glass of wine and took a few sips. “What do youmean, you don’t want to get along with me? That’s really mean. What did I everdo to you that would make you want to fight with me all the time?”

“Fighting makes me feel alive,” he said. “And sometimes youneed to feel alive. I figure if I can just fight with you for the rest of mylife, then I’ll at least get some parts of you. Maybe that’s selfish, but I canat least have one small part, right?”

I couldn’t tell if he was joking. He had a small, sad smileon his face as if I were somehow leaving him or he was leaving me.

I was too tired to really read the room. All I felt was thistension between us and words that maybe were spoken but not really leaned into.

I took another brave sip of wine. “We don’t always have tofight.”

“Fighting’s healthy.” He looked away and set his wineglassdown. “Do you want to watch a movie or something? Just relax and hang out for abit?”

“Yeah, sure.” Special moment gone,we took our snacks and wine to the bed and sat next to each other.

He put on Happy Gilmore. Classic. We didn’t talkmuch, which I hated because I’d kind of been enjoying his company up until now,something I would take to my grave.

The next movie started playing.

And I almost dropped my wineglass. It was Unfaithful,where this married woman has an affair with one of the hottest men alive. Whileit starts out pretty normal, I knew it got really hotand heavy.

But I didn’t want to be the person to switch the channel.

And he didn’t seem to want to be that person either.

Neither of us wanted to be the uncomfortable prude.

So, we sat there and took sip after sip.

We watched.

In one scene, the actor reached down the heroine’s pants. Isquirmed a bit and coughed while the actor’s tongue ran down her neck.

Hot, was it hot in here?

No, but it was painful, and all the wine was gone. Had weseriously pounded two bottles? I mean, over the course of a few hours, butstill.

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