Rugged Guard - Jason Collins Page 0,61

with potted plants, the look on her face a mix between indifference and slight annoyance.

And as Derek and I made our way up to her desk, she was already shaking her head. “Sorry, lovebirds. The chapel is closed for the night unless you already have a marriage license from the courts. But… dressed like that, I’m guessing you two didn’t just come from the clerk’s office. And by the way, the clerk’s office is already closed for the night, so don’t bother going down there and wasting your time.”

“Wait. Really?” I pouted. “I thought nothing was supposed to ever really close in Vegas.”

“Yeah, well, we’re really closed.” She shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, though. How long are you two going to be in Vegas?”

“Just for tonight,” Derek answered for the both of us. “We’re leaving, first thing in the morning.”

“Oh. Well, then maybe you should worry about it.” She grimaced. “Because we won’t be open again until the afternoon.”

“Welp. That sucks,” I murmured.

The woman turned to look over at me before she spoke, “Maybe you should take it as a good thing, you know? What’s the point of getting married if you two can’t stand being together for one more night? Until you go back to wherever you guys are from?” The woman then raised her shoulders, her fingers going toward one of the several plants on her desk, gently gliding along its leaves. “Give it one more day. See how things go. I’ll be rooting for you.”

“Thanks for the support.” Derek looked like he was struggling to hold back a laugh as he turned away from the woman’s desk, while gingerly grabbing my hand. “Come on, Parker. Let’s head back to the room.”

“Okay,” I agreed, offering the woman a final smile. “Thanks for everything anyways.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied, her voice barely audible as she focused all her attention on the plant in front of her.

“What’s so funny?” I asked Derek as we stumbled back into our hotel room for the night. “You’ve been laughing ever since we left the chapel.”

“Nothing. It’s nothing…” Derek laughed again as he sunk down onto the bottom of the king-sized bed. “It’s just… do you think she kept the plants on her desk just so she could make that awful pun about rooting for us?”

“Honestly? I think she kept those plants there because she just has too many plants and not enough windows,” I joked, sinking down beside Derek on the bed. “It’s a common problem in the plant community, or so I heard.”

Derek’s laughter filled the room as I stared up at the ceiling above. It was decorated with an intricate pattern, the brushstrokes swirling in a sea of eggshell white and gold. The colors matched the rest of the hotel room perfectly, giving me the sort of envy I’d only experienced while watching interior design shows or while walking through flawlessly decorated living spaces on furniture lots.

“Your place looks better,” Derek mumbled.

“What?”

“Your place looks better,” he repeated. “That’s what you were thinking about, right? How good this place looks?”

“How’d you know that?”

“Because I know you.” Derek chuckled. “Because I know how much you care about your business, and how much you care about doing the best you can with it. But I’m telling you, Parker, your place looks so much better. I mean… the Bed & Breakfast actually looks like people live there. Everything here is so… artificial. Beautiful, but fake.”

“Does that go for us, too?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“We almost got married tonight,” I continued. “Was that… artificial? Beautiful but fake—”

My question was suddenly interrupted by Derek’s mouth on mine, his tongue slipping between my lips with ease, his body hovering over mine.

“There wasn’t anything fake about that,” Derek whispered, bringing his mouth down to my neck, his lips trailing all along my skin. “Parker, I… I love you. I really do.”

“I love you, too,” I whispered right back, my hands going up to Derek’s shoulders. “I love you so much, Derek.”

“Can we…” Derek’s words trailed off before he brought his attention back to the conversation. “Even though we didn’t get married tonight… can I still… touch you? Like we did?”

“I think we’ve already been touching each other like married people, Derek.” I smiled.

But his face turned into a serious line. “It’s different. It’s not… what we were doing… we weren’t making love, Parker. And I… I want to make love to you tonight. Is that okay?”

“…Okay.”

“Okay.” Derek smiled, his hands moving down to my pants. “Can I take these