Page 24 of Ride By Your Side

14

Miles

“Whatdoyoumeanyou only have one room left?” I ask, doing my best to hide the rising panic.

“I’m sorry, sir, but the storm has brought in a lot of travelers. We normally have plenty of availability, but for tonight, all we have left is one king,” the man behind the counter states, looking as equally annoyed with me as I am with him.

“It’s fine. We’ll take it,” Veronica cuts in from beside me.

“Are you sure? We can keep driving and look for another hotel,” I offer.

She shakes her head. “In this storm? I don’t think that’s a good idea. And what if all the other hotels are booked up too? I think the best decision is to just take this room before someone else does,” she says, playing the voice of reason, but right now, I’m not so sure I want to be reasoned with.

The man behind the counter taps his fingers against the front desk, waiting for me to answer. Unfortunately, Veronica is right. There’s no guarantee we’d find anything else tonight. Even if it’sa shared room in the middle of nowhere in a shitty ass motel, at least it’s better than trying to find a way for both of us to sleep comfortably in my car.

“Fine, we’ll take it,” I relent, bitterly slapping my card on the counter before Veronica can step in and do it herself. It’s my car that got us into this mess—the least I can do is cover this ridiculous expense.

Opening the door, we both walk in relatively slowly, assessing our room for the night. While I’d been hoping the rundown look on the outside wouldn’t follow us in, clearly, I was wrong. The air is heavy with a muggy, damp smell. Not only that, but it’s obvious the furniture has seen better days, especially with a hole greeting us right there on the comforter, which is likely from all the way back when this motel first opened decades ago.

Veronica’s eyes follow mine. “Well, luckily, we don’t need this. They say you should never sleep with the big comforter anyway,” she says, a failed attempt at being positive as she lifts it from the bed and tosses it to the side. “And hey, why don’t you use the bathroom first?” she suggests. “You’re the one that got hit with the brunt of the storm. I’m sure a nice, hot shower is just what you need.”

While I appreciate the offer, I shake my head. “No, you go. With a place this sketchy, I want to bring everything inside. So while I do that, you should just go, get warmed, and cleaned up.”

“I’m not useless Miles. I can help bring the bags in,” she sulks, folding her arms across her chest.

“I know you’re not, but there’s no reason for both of us to get wetter. Hell, I’m already soaked through, so what’s a little more?” I ask. As her eyes sweep over me, lips slightly parted,a primal part of me wants to move forward and see what those sweet pink lips taste like when pressed against mine, but I brush the thought away. “Just… go and shower,” I tell her with a dismissive wave, slipping the keycard into my back pocket and retreating out of the room before she has the chance to argue.

This is exactly why I didn’t want to share a room with her. These thoughts are getting harder to control, and I’m starting to wonder how long I can keep them in check before I do something stupid. I may be seeing her in a different light, but I’m pretty sure those feelings only go one way. There’s just way too much history between us, and I know for a fact that I’ve never given her any real reason to like me back. I’m a self-proclaimed asshole, and I need to remind myself of that. She’s way too good for a guy like me.

Rather than soaking the bed while she showers, I take a seat in the nearby chair, idly scrolling through my phone. I make sure to send Blair a text, purposely leaving out the part about the tire, and instead letting her know our location and that we’re safe for the night. I also decide to leave out the part about me and her best friend sharing a room.

It’s probably all done in vain given how close they are. Veronica will probably spill the beans, but I’m not in the mood to hear it from my sister right now—I’ve had enough stress for one evening.

“Hey,” Veronica’s tentative voice calls out, making me look up from my phone. Despite my best efforts to look elsewhere, my gaze travels along her exposed legs, up to where the towel barely covers her thighs, before it’s secured just below her cleavage, leaving very little to the imagination.

I swallow. “Um, hey,” I finally manage, before clearing my throat and doing the gentlemanly thing by averting my gaze back toward my phone screen.

“Sorry, but with all my bags in here, I didn’t exactly have anything to change into,” she explains, quickly scurrying over to where I’ve set her bag on top of the dresser.

“No, don’t worry about it. It’s not like I’ve never seen a woman in a towel before,” I stupidly answer, scrunching my eyes closed before lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of my nose.

“Oh, I’m sure you have, but I’m going to assume I’m likely the last person you’d want to see in one.”

I want to say that’s not true, but I think better of it. “You’re probably right,” I lie instead. “But, uh, I’ll give you some privacy and head in for my shower so you can change in here.”

While the hotel room isn’t the nicest, it at least has a sink with a mirror and a long countertop outside of the bathroom, which means she can take care of whatever she needs to out here, while I enjoy my shower in peace without feeling like a complete asshole.

“Sounds good. But, oh, quick heads up, the water pressure sucks. But hey, at least the water is hot, so there’s that,” she warns.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

She wasn’t lying. The water pressure is weak, creating a pathetic drizzle as several spouts are entirely blocked, leaving only empty spaces where the water should be flowing. At least she’d been honest about the water’s temperature. Normally, I relish the sensation of the flowing hot water, but this particular torturefeels like it came straight from the depths of hell, its heat burning my now tender skin.

I wouldn’t be shocked if I’ve now got some second-degree burns on my back. Despite setting the gauge to what felt like the perfect temperature, every so often, the water spikes unexpectedly, the heat rising along with it. Then again, it’s probably for the best that this shower is keeping me on my toes, since, as I scrub my body, it’s Veronica and her tight, perfect form that refuse to leave my mind.

With her having stepped out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel, she’d been the epitome of unadulterated sexiness without even trying. Despite my attempts to brush my feelings aside, my body seems to have other plans, reacting entirely on its own as the blood rushes south and my cock stands at full attention.

I shouldn’t be the guy that gets off to the memory of his younger sister’s best friend, but as my hand sinks lower, I can’t help it as I wrap my palm around myself and begin to fuck my hand. I start slowly, closing my eyes and dipping my head backward as my body pleads for me to pick up the pace.

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