Page 16 of Catch Me
“Hey, so I don’t know where you’re staying. I was gonna offer you a room, but I’m sure you got a hotel.”
Still, he remained silent. He wasn’t an easy person to talk to, that was for sure. I didn’t know if he was introverted or if he simply didn’t like to talk. Or it was because of me. Whatever it was, I’d let him stick to it. I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. This experience should be enjoyable for him, and hopefully, it would be a good memory—the time he did a commission for the Atlanta Braves.
“I need to know where I’m going, buddy.”
He ground his teeth so hard that it was audible. “I got a room. Uh, let me pull up the address.”
I peeked over at his phone, then wrinkled my nose. “Absolutely not.”
“What?”
“Do you want bedbugs? That’s how you get bedbugs. Everyone knows about that place.”
“Yeah, I read the reviews.”
I glanced at him, knowing my eyes must’ve been like saucers. “You read the reviews andstillbooked it? Shit, no one told me you were insane.”
He was quiet again, and I wondered if I’d made it too big of a deal. But really, how could I let him stay in that shithole?
Flipping on my turn signal, I took the on-ramp.
Roman looked behind us. “This is the wrong way.”
“Anywhere near that hotel is the wrong way.”
My first instinct was to offer him one of my rooms. I had three of them, not including my office. It would be simple and I’d be able to drive him to the meeting tomorrow. For obvious reasons, I wasn’t sure if he’d be comfortable with that. Getting a hotel in Atlanta on short notice would cost a lot, and I knew he’d fight me on it if I offered to pay.
“I know some better places,” I ventured. “But if you’re looking for the budget option, you can stay at my house.”
I didn’t look at him, but out of the side of my eye, I could glean enough.
“My hotel’s fine.”
With a sigh, I forced myself not to argue. “Whatever you say. Just don’t answer the door if anyone knocks.”
It was silent for a minute. When I approached the next exit, he huffed. “Is it that bad?”
“Worse.”
He swore under his breath, then tapped around on his phone. “Isn’t the south supposed to be cheap?”
It was impossible not to laugh. “Atlanta didn’t get the memo. Sorry, I should’ve gone over what to expect, but I’m actually a terrible planner.”
He just grunted and dropped his phone in his lap.
“I can—”
“Don’t offer to pay or something weird like that,” he interrupted.
“My place, then?”
“Guess so.”
I drove for another twenty minutes, then got off the freeway. My house wasn’t super far off the beaten path, but it wasn’t in the city. Tessa needed space to run, and I liked being distant enough from the neighbors that we didn’t disturb each other.
When we pulled up, Tessa got hyped and started running across the seat, back and forth. My tires crunched the gravel; it had become the sound of coming home. As soon as I put it in park, Tessa barked. I hurried out of the seat and opened her door, then watched her dart toward the house. Two hours in the car and she was ready to explode with energy.
Roman was standing by the Jeep with his bag slung over his shoulder, looking awkward. When I came up beside him, he shoved his hands into his pockets.
