I Think We Missed Our Turn - L.A. Witt Page 0,30

it into the room and then back out here in the morning?”

“Hmm, no. Too many opportunities to break something.”

“Exactly. It’s fine. The windows are tinted, and this place seems pretty quiet.” He gestured around us. “And it’s not exactly carjacking weather.”

I shot him a look. “Carjacking weather? Really?”

Armin shrugged as he started toward the door with his suitcase rolling behind him. “”Look, if I was going to go out and break into cars, I’d at least wait until it wasn’t…” He flailed a hand at the weather again.

I stared incredulously at his back, then rolled my eyes and followed him. “You’re a weird guy, Jahani.”

“Birds of a feather, my friend.”

I just chuckled and we headed into our room.

Our one room.

Because…

Oh God. We were sharing a room.

Sharing a room with Armin would be its own kind of torture, but I reminded myself he was in a relationship. As long as I kept that in mind, I’d be all right. If we were both single? Hoo boy, this could get awkward. But he had Tanya waiting at home, so I’d keep my hands to myself.

And as we stepped into that room, was it weird that I was disappointed to see two beds?

Yeah, it was fucking weird as hell, because if we’d had to sleep in the same bed, I wouldn’t have slept at all. I’d be too busy getting blue balls and wishing things could be different.

I mean, I’d probably still be getting blue balls and wishing for things to be different in the other bed, but at least I wouldn’t be right next to him.

Not as close to him as I’d want to be if circumstances were different.

Armin dropped his bag on one of the beds, than sat on its edge as he took out his phone. After a moment, though, he sighed and glared at the screen. “Damn. Still no signal? What the hell?”

“You can probably use the room phone.” I gestured at it. “If your dad doesn’t like the charges, we can pay them ourselves.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I just wanted to check my email and let my dad know where we were.”

I watched him, waiting for him to go on.

He looked at me. “What?”

“Hmm?”

Armin cocked his head.

“I, um…” I cleared my throat. “You’re, uh, not calling Tanya?”

His lips tightened and he broke eye contact.

My heart skipped. Sitting down on the edge of the other bed, I watched him. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Everything’s fine. But no, I wasn’t going to call her.”

We held each other’s gazes across the narrow space between the beds.

I narrowed my eyes a little. “What?”

“What?”

“You were looking at me weird.”

Armin shifted, not looking at me at all now. “No, I wasn’t.”

“You were too.” I cocked my head. “What’s up?”

“I, um…” He flattened his palms on his knees. “Tanya and I…” He swept his tongue across his lips. “We broke up.”

My heart dropped. “What? When?”

“When we were in Philly.” His voice was so soft it was nearly inaudible. “The first night.”

“You—” I blinked. It kind of made sense now, the fact that he’d barely mentioned her and had hardly touched his phone, but…wow. “You did? Seriously?”

Armin nodded. With a heavy sigh, he reached up to rub his neck. “We spent more time fighting than anything, and I just got tired of it. Especially…” He bit his lip.

“Especially the part where she thought we’d jump each other’s bones on this trip?”

His head snapped up and his eyes widened. “What?”

I exhaled. “I, um… I heard you two talking. At the gallery after your dad told us about the trip.”

Armin’s cheeks darkened. “Oh God. You heard that? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I wasn’t supposed to hear it.” I held his gaze. “And thanks for going to bat for me. I know you’d never cheat on her, but I respect your relationship, you know? I wasn’t going to come at you while you were with someone else.”

“I know,” he said softly. “That’s not you, and I’m still pissed at her for even implying it is. Plus you have a boyfriend.”

I winced.

Armin’s eyebrow arched. “What?”

“I, um…”

He inclined his head, watching me intently. “You…do have a boyfriend, right?”

I pushed out a breath and leaned back on my hands, staring up at the ceiling because I couldn’t meet Armin’s eyes. “Chad’s moving out. He’ll be gone by the time we get back.”

“He… Are you serious?”

Still not looking at him, I nodded. “We broke up. About a week before you and me left on this trip.”

“You did?”

I nodded.

“Wow. So we’re both…” Armin laughed dryly. “We’re