Just Drive [old version]

[ chapter nine ]

Chapter Nine - Toasted, Plain Bagels

            I woke up with one of Austin’s arms lazily thrown over me. His face was buried into the pillow, and his other arm was hanging off the side of the bed. It was a typical sleeping position for him.

            Carefully, I tried to wiggle myself out from underneath his arm without disturbing him, but he was already awake. I heard him chuckle, and the next thing I knew, I was being pulled in next to his chest. It was almost like the days when we would fall asleep studying at each other’s houses, and if he woke up before me, he’d pull me in and pretend to be a romantic couple.

            Obviously, it was all just make-believe.

            “Morning,” he sang. Judging by the fact that he didn’t sound like a dying whale, it seemed that he’s been awake for a while.

            “How long have you been up?”

            He shrugged. “Maybe an hour.”

            “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

            I couldn’t see his face very clearly without breaking my neck, but I felt his muscles relax the way they did when he smiled. “You’re nicer when you’re sleeping. You can’t swear at me.”

            I attempted to elbow him, but he just squeezed me tighter. “And you can’t attempt to physically maim me either,” he chuckled.

            “Damn you,” I laughed.

            We stayed there for a while, just casually talking. Austin kept his arm around me the entire time, which only made me more aware of my complete lack of curves. Austin, on the other hand, was all too proud of the fact that he’s more muscular than he’s been. With each passing minute, it seemed that he found some reason to utilize his newfound muscularity, whether that reason be pulling me in tighter, or simply flexing for fun.

            Eventually, like ten o’clock eventually, we decided to get up. Austin did his best to stay calm, but he was utterly failing. After hastily throwing his clothes and toiletries into his suitcase, he started pacing around the room while urging me to hurry up. After a while, I decided to let him fester in the room and pack my stuff while I went to go check out.

            The clerk from last night was still at the desk, and judging by the plate of badly cooked bacon in front of him, it looked like he was suffering a shit-serious hangover. “Here to check out, sweet cheeks?” he croaked.

            “Um, yeah.” I handed him the keys and waited for him to plug everything into the system, except he didn’t even make a move. “Are you going to check me out?”

            He looked up and down at my disheveled outfit. “You’re not my type.”

            I glared at him. “Not that way. Are you going to check me out of my room?”

            He looked like he was going to make some other sexual innuendo, but he thought better of it. “Yeah. You and your boyfriend can leave now.” As if to emphasize his flippant attitude, he took a large bite out of his bacon. “Shoo,” he muttered through sloppy bacon bites.

            I scampered out of the room as quickly as possible. The clerk was really starting to creep me out.

            I barely had time to reorient myself with the parking lot when Austin called out to me from the car. “Ready? Let’s go!” He sounded like a cheerleader.