Everyone was charmed by Leo's bright smile but behind it all, he could barely keep it together inside. From taking care of his sick mother to suffering mental and physical abuse from his father to keeping up his perfect grades in school.
King was th...
"Come on, Leo!" King yelled from the living room. "We need to hit the road if we are going to make it for check-in."
"Coming," I yelled back as I tried zipping my beg. My toothbrush falls out of the top, making me groan in frustration.
When I bent over to pick it up, something caught my eye under the bed. A black and gold box? I don't remember seeing this before. I pulled it out and opened the top because my curiosity got the best of me, and I nearly dropped it when I saw what was inside. A long but thick black soft plastic thing, slightly curled, and a few small bottles with the word LUBE written on the label.
I couldn't help the sting that went through my chest, trying to think of why King would have something like this shoved under his bed, but now wasn't the time to get upset about it. I went to put it back but stopped. Despite my weird feelings when opening it, I quickly opened the lid, grabbed a few travel-sized bottles of lube and condoms, and shoved them into my bag before fighting with the zipper again.
King looked amused as I carried my last beg over my shoulder. "Took you long enough. I could have just bought you all new bathroom supplies when we got there, and the hotel already has half that stuff in the room."
I rolled my eyes but smiled. "It's fine. Thank you for waiting."
We said our goodbyes to Uncle Ben, Kiki, and of course, Winter before heading to the car. I was glad the snow had melted, and the smell of spring was finally here. The day was still cold, but the threat of snow finally felt over.
The drive started with low music in the background as we got on the highway, but my mind turned back to the gold and black striped box hidden under the bed. When did King put it there? After I drunkenly told him I wanted to have sex with him?
I did. I wasn't lying about that, but seeing that box must mean King had things to prepare for it, making me think he was eager to take that step. I didn't want to make him wait longer. I didn't want to keep disappointing him. I needed to try to do it. I couldn't keep letting Charlie win.
We arrived in Casper City just after three, so we headed straight for the hotel. I checked us in while King parked and started getting our luggage. When I found his truck and hurried over to help, he had all four large duffel bags over his shoulders.
"I was going to help you with that," I told him, trying to reach for one of the bags.
He stepped away from me with a laugh. "You paid for this trip, so the least I can do is carry the begs. What did you pack? The whole dresser?"
My face started to heat as I thought about the small bottles I stuffed inside my bag at the last moment. I knew King didn't know they were in there, but I was nervous about what he would think once he did.
"No. I packed just as much as you did. I'll just get the food bags from the back seat." I moved quickly to the side of the car to hide my heated face, questioning why I was so embarrassed about a playful joke and knew he didn't know anything.
"Why are you acting shy all of a sudden? I didn't mean to offend you. I was just joking, babe."
I couldn't look at him. "I'm not offended. I just feel bad you're carrying everything. Come on, let's get to the room before you collapse or pass out." I smiled at him, pulled out the begs of food, and started leading the way inside.
The place was big on the outside but felt huge as we walked through the lobby to the elevators. A grand staircase was on the far end, leading to the second floor, and a large fireplace on the opposite wall from the front desk. It looked like an electric one but still gave the entrance a warm, homie feeling. One of the workers ran over and asked if we needed help carrying our begs, but King brushed them off with a smile as soon as the doors opened for the elevators.
We were on the top floor, six stories up. Walking into the room, I nearly dropped the bags in my hand while King whistled. To the left was a small kitchen area, with a two-burner electric stove, a fridge, a small two-seater table, and even a dishwasher.
The living room had a large TV, one couch, two wide reclining chairs, and a footrest stashed under a glass coffee table. Letting the sunlight in were two windows with the curtains drawn back.
"Nice view," King said as he looked out one of the windows.
Walking to his side, the city was in full view. Cars and people were on the move to their destinations and looking busy, the sun beaming high off the tall buildings. I never had a chance to soak in the city back home like this, to take a moment and see the beauty of it. I was always too busy running errands for my dad or with Ava, either finding a new place to go or worrying about finding a way to stop the shaking of our withdrawals.
"Let's go check out the room," King suggested before turning away from the window.
My stomach lunged, and my fingers started twisting together as we headed for the room. I needed to stop letting this affect me so much, but I couldn't help the thoughts creeping back into the front of my mind.
Walking through a door that separated the room from the rest of the hotel, my mouth dried at the king-sized bed as King dropped the duffel bags on it. Two dark wood nightstands on each side held a lamp and two drawers underneath. A long dresser against the wall across from the bed had another TV, smaller than the one in the living room area but a good size to see if you were lying in the bed.
I turned around to find a small area with twin sinks, a hair dryer on the wall, and hand towels on a rack next to it. We found the closet through the sliding doors next to it, and in the last door was the larger-than-expected bathroom. On one side was a stand-up shower, a toilet straight ahead from the doorway, and on the other side was a large, deep-looking bathtub.
"Damn. We could fit in there with room to spare," King pointed out as he walked over and started picking up some of the bottles. "Okay, first things first. We order room service for an early dinner and then take a nice, warm bubble bath."
He smiled as he turned to show me the lavender-scented soap. I grinned at how relaxing that sounded. "Sounds like a great plan."
King pulled me into a warm and welcoming hug. "Thank you. These next two weeks, we will do nothing but take a break from all the crazy things back home and just focus on us."
"Well, when you're not with your dad," I pointed out, moving away from him just enough to caress his cheek. "Are you nervous about seeing him tomorrow?"
King leaned into my hand. "Not at all. I'm so excited. I may burst tonight." He laughed, but when our eyes met, his green eyes softened. "Thank you for all of this."
Our lips were together before I could get any more words out.
**********
Thank you for reading! Support me more by subscribing to my Patreon!
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
