Page 71 of The Stud

“Why not?” Folding my arms across my chest clearly makes him nervous. “You still have your privacy. I’d have mine. And I can just shut the curtain whenever you need to rock a piss.”

As if my answer makes logical sense –because it does– I’m offered an impressive nod that quickly gets banished by a less than subtle cough from Snowman.

“Face sex!” Peck awkwardly announces.

“What?!”

“You can’t stay in my room ‘cause of the face sex.”

“The face sex?!”

“The sex you have on the face thing,” he uncomfortably rattles off.

“FaceTime?”

“Yes!” His excitement furrows my brow. “You can’t sleep in my room because of all the FaceTime sex I’m gonna be having with Wings.”

There’s no stopping the skeptical expression from deepening.

“Yup.” More distress-filled head bobbing. “Just gonna be in my room eating more poutine…drinking hot chocolate…and rubbing one outskies…”

I can’t stop my head from tilting in disbelief. “That was a lot of info, bud.”

“Yeah,” escapes in a clumsy mutter, “I gotta go.” He hops onto his feet, leaving no room for objection. “Snowman, pay for mine?”

“Of course,” the male I know without a doubt is responsible for his fleeing retorts.

Watching Peck bail out of the bar is attached to me sighing, “Your ventriloquist game needs work.”

“No idea what you are referring to.”

This time it’s him I hit with a sardonic expression.

“Wanna finish his plate?” Snowman kicks his chin to the half-eaten dish. “Perhaps allow me to eat mine?”

“I’m not staying in your room,” I announce as I slide into the now unoccupied seat.

“And what is your other option?”

“The lobby.”

“They do not allow slumbering in the lobby.”

“How do you know that?”

“The signs.”

“Well,” picking up a hunk of the braised short rib occurs between thoughts, “the front desk dude went to make me an exception to the rule.”

“You are an exception to many rules, Arden,” he defeatedly coos under his breath. “You are the only one who doesn’t seem to understand that.”

“What’s that’s supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t nothing me.”

“Don’t need to be nothinged.”

---