the side and feed the fish.”
Theo’s grin dazzles me. “Great. It’s a date then.”
I scrunch my nose and wave my hand in a so-so gesture. “Fake date.”
He laughs and nods. “Fake date,” he agrees before turning back to everyone else. “Guys, we’re gonna turn in.”
We all say our goodbyes, and I smile as I push myself up to my feet. When the world tilts slightly inside my fuzzy head, I wobble, and Theo’s arm snakes around my waist, holding me steady. After my afternoon whiskey sours, a couple of glasses of wine, and the tequila shots, I now regret my stiletto heel choice.
The walk back to the room is in relative silence, but it’s not an uncomfortable one. When we stumble in through the door, I notice the sofa bed has been made up, as we requested.
“Okay if I use the bathroom first?” I ask, clutching my pyjamas to my chest, silently thankful that I brought nice ones with me instead of a raggedy pair or something revealing.
“Sure.” He nods and absentmindedly looks through his own suitcase.
I head in, changing, wiping off my make-up, and doing my business. When I step back into the room, Theo has changed already; he’s wearing loose-fit shorts and T-shirt pyjamas and is sitting on the edge of the bed, watching the door. He turned off the overhead light, so the bedside lamp casts a soft glow over everything.
I smile awkwardly because I didn’t expect to be sharing a room with him tonight. Only a handful of people get to see me without make-up, and hot guys I barely know are not among the few.
As Theo goes into the bathroom, I put my phone on to charge next to the bed and then slip between the sheets. A sigh of contentment falls from my lips as the soft mattress caresses my body to perfection. I scoot to the middle and starfish, revelling in the space. After sleeping the last three months in an uncomfortable second-hand bed, this is like actual heaven. I can’t temper my happy smile as my eyes already start to get heavy.
Minutes later, Theo returns and climbs into the sofa bed. He lets out a groan, and I roll to the side, propping myself up on one elbow, watching him as he wriggles, punches his pillow, and tries to get comfy. He’s so tall; his feet comically hang off the end.
“Well, my TripAdvisor review of this place just took a sharp decline,” he grumbles, shifting uncomfortably again as he rolls his eyes.
I chuckle as the springs creak. “I don’t want to rub it in or anything, but this bed is like sleeping on a cloud.”
He throws me a dark look, and I giggle, flicking off the lamp and settling back against the pillows. A few minutes later, he’s still moving around, trying to get comfortable, and I start to feel slightly bad for him. Those sofa beds are probably designed more for kids, not hulking six-foot sexpots. The trouble is, I won the bed fair and square, so I can’t relent now. If I do, it’ll set a bad precedent for the weekend, and he’ll expect me to cave on all my decisions. No. He can suffer for the night. Tomorrow, if for whatever reason we can’t get another room sorted, I’ll switch with him, and he can have the bed.
Just as I’m about to drift off, he speaks, “Thanks for coming with me, Luce. I really appreciate you being here. It honestly does make it easier.”
Luce. I like it when he calls me that. It’s familiar and kind of intimate.
I smile into the darkness, trying to make out his shape in the gloom. “Well, thanks for bringing me. So far, I’m having a blast.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Night, Theo.”
nine
Lucie
“Well, good news: I didn’t wake up dead, so I obviously don’t snore or fart in my sleep,” Theo jokes.
I smile, my eyes still closed as I stretch and let out a little groan, letting the last fog of sleep ebb away before turning my head to see him sitting on the sofa bed, propped up against his pillow. His sketchpad and pencils lie abandoned next to him. He’s sipping from a mug, still in his pyjamas. His hair is messed up, sticking out everywhere, and there are lines of sleep still on his face, a shadow of short stubble covering his jaw. He looks delicious.
“Morning,” I greet, rolling to my side and automatically reaching for my glasses.
“I made you a coffee. I didn’t know