Page 41 of The Anti-Bachelorette (The Anti-Bachelorette 1)

An hour later we pull up to some run down motel in the middle of nowhere. When the car stops in front of it, I glance back over to Alaric. “You’re not being serious? This is where you decided to stay?”

Alaric glances back over at me. “They are the only one around that accept cash only payments.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “So?”

He just sighs and opens his door. “So I don’t want any credit cards used. They can be tracked.”

I raise my eyebrows at him. “Tracked? Who are you hiding from? The CIA?”

He rolls his eyes at me. “It’s easier than you think. All you need is any buddy working at the local sheriff’s office and you can hack into these things.”

My eyes widen at him. “You’re being serious.”

He nods as I chase after him toward the check in office. “Would they do that? Track you down like that?”

Alaric’s hand clenches at his side. “I don’t know.”

We walk up to the check in desk where an older lady sits smoking a cigarette. She barely looks up at us when we walk in. I can tell the customer service here is going to be just great.

Alaric doesn’t seem to notice. He probably fits right in. “We need a room please.”

The lady actually smiles at him and is missing quite a few teeth. “You’re lucky. We’ve got one room left.”

I open my eyes in surprise. “You guys are almost booked?”

She just shrugs her shoulders. “Yeah, we get pretty busy most nights.”

She hands Alaric a key. “It’ll be fifty dollars for the king size bed.”

I glance back over to Alaric. “Bed? As in a singular bed?”

She just glances over to me. “Yeah.”

Even though she already told us it was the last room, I ask anyway. “You don’t have a room with two beds?”

She frowns at me. “Well, there was this one chap who rented the room for the night, but I seen some girl walk in and an hour later, they both left. I doubt he’s coming back for the night.”

I shudder. “No thanks.” I grab the key from Alaric. “Let’s go.”

We head into our room and surprisingly it actually looks and smells like they cleaned it. Thank God. Maybe that’s why it was almost fully booked because they actually wash the sheets. I set my bag on the bed and turn to look at Alaric. “I can’t believe you brought me to a sex motel.”

His eyes widen at me, and then his eyes travel down my body unintentionally. When his eyes lock back onto mine, we both just stand there frozen in place. Even though we just traveled together for 4 hours, neither one of us brought up how we would be alone together for at least the next few days.

I break eye contact first. “I uhm...I’m going to take a shower.” I grab some clothes and head into the bathroom. I’m in the shower for a few minutes when I hear the bathroom door open. I peek my head out but don’t see Alaric, but then I hear his voice. “Hey, your dad is on the phone.” He must be standing right outside the door. I quickly grab the towel hanging on the hook and wrap it around my body.

I walk over to Alaric and grab the phone. “Hey dad.”

Alaric doesn’t move from where he was standing and just runs his eyes down my body again. I feel my face heat up under his stare. “Hey Emory. I just wanted to check in. Is everything okay?”

I look up into Alaric’s eyes. “Yeah, everything is fine. Did you not trust Alaric to tell the truth?” I raise an eyebrow at him. My dad just laughs. “He tends to make light of serious situations. He always has.” I can’t help but think my dad is talking about back when his family used to hurt him. My eyes turn concerned toward Alaric, and he doesn’t like that at all. His face turns angry, and he walks away without saying anything.

I finish up talking to my dad and then head back into the bathroom to get dressed. I look down at the sleep shorts and tank top I brought. I really wasn’t thinking when I packed my bag. It never crossed my mind that I might be sleeping in the same room as Alaric. Let alone the same bed.

I walk out of the bathroom and see Alaric sitting on the end of the bed. He stands when I walk out. He nods toward the bathroom. “You done?”

I just nod and quickly get in the bed and under the covers. Alaric walks over to the bathroom. I briefly see him taking his shirt off before the door swings shut. I lean back into my pillow and blow out a breath. How did I get myself into this mess? This would all be a whole lot easier if I didn’t have to throw in my body wanting to hump the man every 10 seconds.

I try to fall asleep, but my mind is too wound up to sleep now. I turn on the TV, but it only gets about 5 channels. I leave it on some infomercial about some cooking pots.

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