Page 50 of All Jacked Up

Noa

It was definitely more luxurious than a hotel room. But the experience I’d just had with his friends made this entire situation awkward. A hotel room wouldn’t have anyone else waiting there. We were adults. Why wouldn’t he just let us laugh it off and move on? Sure, it made me feel like that girl once again, but only for a moment. I had learned to shove that away—for the most part.

“You’ve got a private bathroom right through there, and I’ll go get your car and bring you your suitcase. You can unpack in the closet right there.”

When he turned back to look at me, I had to take a moment to remind myself that all this man wanted was friendship from me. I couldn’t let myself continue to feel things for him. I knew my body was going to react to him, no matter what I told it. He was gorgeous, sexy, and apparently dangerous. That still had mereeling a bit, but then it made so much sense that I was accepting it. I wasn’t freaking out about it. Maybe I would later, and it was too much to process right now, but I doubted it.

“You good?” he asked, concern creasing his brow when I stood there, remaining silent.

I nodded. “Yeah, this is great. Thank you. I’m just tired.”

“I’ll go get your rental. That way, you can bathe, nap, whatever you need. Do you want me to bring you some food, drink?”

“Some water would be good,” I replied.

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Thank you,” I told him as he headed back out the door.

“You’re welcome,” he replied. “Just doing what any friend would do.”

Then he was gone.

My friend.

Sinking down on the edge of the bed, I inwardly groaned. I was going to be forever friend-zoned by the one guy I’d fantasized about for longer than I could remember. I wanted him to see me differently so bad that I clung to any morsel in hopes he meant more by it. Like thehaving to share mething he’d said in the hallway. It was almost sweet, romantic, but that was my imagination turning into more. He hadn’t meant it that way.

Glancing back at the fluffy pillows, I moved over and laid my head down. Exhaustion hit me heavy, and the thought of keeping my eyes open one more second seemed impossible.

When I opened my eyes again, I was staring at a bottle of fancy water and a glass that had some water in it that I was guessing was melted ice. I’d been asleep awhile. The light had been turned off in the room, and no sun was filtering through the curtains,but moonlight was.

Yawning, I stretched and sat up. A cover fell to my waist. I’d been covered up.

Ransom.

Sighing, I stared down at the blanket as if that small gesture meant something. He was my friend. It didn’t mean he wanted to get me naked. Although if he did, would I be able to? The thought of Ransom Carver seeing my body was intimidating.

Reaching over, I picked up the bottle he’d left me and opened it before taking several long swigs. My mouth was dry, and my stomach growled. I was hungry. When had I eaten last? I didn’t know. Had I eaten today? While continuing to drink, I stared at the door. Did I just go look for the kitchen myself? Or Ransom? Maybe I should text him. Yeah, that seemed like the best idea.

Me: I’m awake.

I didn’t know what else to say to that. I thought about sending,I’m hungry. But the damage from my youth always made me hesitant about mentioning food or hunger. Maybe I could ask if he wanted me to stay in the room, but then that seemed odd.

Ugh.

I stared down at the phone, waiting for a response, and after several moments of nothing, I decided I would go see if I could find him. I was pretty sure I could get back to the large room with the television that took up most of the wall. Someone would most likely be in there. We were adults. I was making this weird.

Shaking it off, I went over to my suitcase he had brought to me, like promised, and opened it up to find my toiletry bag. I took it into the large white guest bathroom and began to brush my teeth and then my hair. Once I was done with those things, I decided to change into something more comfortable and pulledout a pair of my favorite joggers and a tank top. Slipping them on, I took a quick glance at my phone, and still no response from Ransom. I doubted he was already in bed. It wasn’t that late.

I tucked my phone into my pocket and headed for the door. Stepping into the hallway, I glanced both ways, seeing no one, and all the other doors were closed. I turned in the direction we had come from earlier. Hopefully, this was what he expected me to do when I woke up. It would be super helpful if he’d answer my text, but I didn’t want to sit and wait since it had been almost twenty minutes.

My stomach growled again, reminding me that I needed food. The thought of that hotel room was really appealing right about now. Hesitantly, I listened for any other sign of life as I made my way through the spacious house.

The first sound I heard was a male voice saying something about a touchdown, and then several voices joined in, along with a shout. Football season. That was why he hadn’t responded. There was a game on the television.

Feeling slightly relieved by that, I picked up my pace to that of a normal one and went in the direction of the noise. The announcers’ voices got clearer as I approached. I didn’t try and figure out who was playing because I honestly didn’t care. Instead, I tried to listen for Ransom’s voice among the others. Gathe’s stood out. I recognized it from earlier. He was doing most of the talking.

He hadn’t changed much since high school. Being the one to stand on the sidelines of life during that time, I’d observed a lot. Gathe was always happy, talking, laughing. He was also a notorious flirt. Well, he hadn’t flirted with me, but I’d seen him wink at more girls than I could count.

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