Page 21 of The Ending is the Best Part
‘Feel free to leave, miss, if it is not up to your standards,’ the receptionist says.I see from his ‘Hello!I’m happy to help’ badge that his name is Tom.
My eyes catch with Xander’s as he peers down at me.I can see the wheels in his brain turning.He’s plotting something.Whatever it is, I know I’m not going to like it.
He looks like he’s made up his mind, and lets out a huge smile, showing off those perfect pearly whites.My eyes flick back and forth between him and the receptionist as I feel his huge, heavy arm curl round my shoulders, pulling me closer to him.
‘Yeah, don’t listen to her, Tom, my girlfriend here can be such ajoker, we’ll take the room.Sorry, we just had a bit of an argument on the way up.You know how it is.This one gets suchterribleroad rage.’ He lets out an easy laugh.All the while I can feel the heat of his body pressing up against mine.
‘What are you doing?’ I hiss through clenched teeth, but Xander keeps on smiling at Tom.
‘Great,’ Tom says, and he turns to his computer to finalise the details of our booking.
I try to break out of Xander’s hold but he just pulls me closer, which I didn’t think was actually possible.At the abrupt movement, my hand lands on his chest to steady myself, only to find his muscles bunching under my touch.
‘Just play along,’ he whispers.
I let out a strangled laugh, and I must sound like a dying hyena because Tom pauses his aggressive typing and gives me a questioning look.
Xander leans down to whisper in my ear, his scruffy 5 o’clock shadow lightly tickling my face, ‘Go get some snacks from the vending machine over there while I deal with the situation.’
His grip loosens and he gently pushes me away.God, this man has no manners.
I start surveying the snacks available.The selection is quite sparse.Twix?No.KitKat?Gross.My eyes zero on my favourite chocolate bar, a Snickers.The peanuty chocolatey goodness is just too much to pass up.I was going to leave it there, but the last Twirl catches my eye and I know, from our game earlier, that it’s Xander’s favourite.I buy the Twirl too and lean down to grab the goods as Xander appears beside me with a pair of keys, shaking them triumphantly in his hand.I quickly conceal the Twirl in my bag, a plan forming in my mind.
‘Got the keys, Yazza Dazzler.’ He dangles them in front of me.
‘Sorry, they ran out of your favourites, Xandy,’ I say with fake sadness.His eye twitches and he presents his palm expectantly.I place my Snickers in his hand.As long as I’ve known Xander, he’s absolutely despised anything with peanuts.
‘Oh, how… delightful.’ He looks a little disappointed as he says, ‘I thought you knew, but I’m not the biggest peanut fan.Thanks for it anyway, but I’ll pass.’
At this I whip out the Twirl, dangling it in front of his face.‘It’s a good job I got this as a backup.’
‘Haha.Very funny,’ he says, snatching it out of my hand.
He pockets the Twirl and looks at me expectantly.‘Shall we go up and see our room then?I managed to score us their most expensive one, with a panoramic view of the mountains.’
‘I thought they didn’t have any spare rooms available?’ I squint my eyes suspiciously.
‘Right.They didn’t, did they?Uh… they moved some other people around and gave us a free upgrade to apologise for the inconvenience.’ Something about this story smells fishy but I’m too exhausted from the journey to question it further.I suddenly remember that we still have a bloody mountain to hike, although apparently there’s this really nice pub at the top.Meagan has given us a punishing itinerary to ‘get the creative juices flowing’.
‘Uh-huh.’ I nod at him suspiciously.‘I just want to point out I can’t think of anything worse than having to share a room with you.’ I emphasise each word so he gets the hint, but I can feel my resolve slowly slipping as the tiredness from the journey starts to sweep in.
‘Right.’ He smirks, a twinkle in his eye.
With that Xander gets close to me and places his hand on the small of my back to urge me forward.
‘You ready to head up?’ His green eyes pierce mine, and for a moment I’m lost in them, distracted by the feel of his hand.
‘Ye-yeah!’ Hopefully he didn’t notice my stutter as I try to put as much cheeriness in my voice as I can.
His hand tenses, sending a tingle of desire through me.He takes a breath before removing it.‘Let’s go then!’
He claps his hands together.
Chapter Twelve
Three Weeks Left
After what felt like a torturously long car journey, I can’t believe we have to go up the mountain.I’ve just finished freshening up in the luxurious bathroom when a deep voice forces me to look up.
