Seven Letter Words #Wattys2016

Part 16

Juliet

That had been a lot of fun. Garret hated when I joked around or exaggerated my accent. He always thought I was being manipulative, and maybe he was right, but it was just fun sometimes. I'd grown up in Texas and loved the way we spoke. He might have dreams of moving out of state and dropping the small twang from his voice, but I embraced mine. It could be a lot of fun.

We discovered upon entering the small room that the hotel boasted a small hot tub out back. "That would feel great on my back," Liam said, running his finger or the type written letters on the small information sheet we found near the old rotary phone. I even picked the old phone up and held it to my ear. I hadn't seen one like it since my grandparents finally upgraded to a new model three years ago. It even smelled like old plastic, just like I remembered.

"When we were younger, Ken and I would stay at my grandparents' when my parents went out to dinner. They had an old phone like this in the kitchen, but the chord went on for miles. I swear I could walk around the whole house with that phone." I set it back in its cradle and twisted the rotary one time to hear the tick of it as it dialed back. "Ken used to wrap it around my head when I would talk to my mom after dinner." I remember him twisting it so fast it tangled in my hair. I used to hate that, but I would take it back in a heartbeat if it were offered to me again.

Liam came up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. "You're brother was a pain in the ass." I laughed and nodded my head. "But a great guy. He might have wrapped you up in that, but I bet he felt like shit when it got tangled." He was right. Ken had tried to untangle it himself immediately, but had to give up and get grandma.

"He was the best." I answered. Letting my finger tangle in the chord and wrap around it like I used to do. His strong, comforting hands gave my shoulders a squeeze. He didn't even need to talk to soothe my heart.

"I'm going to get ready and head down to the hot tub. Want to order a pizza? We could have them deliver it over the back fence." He let me go and moved over to his bag. I missed his hands on my skin.

"Sounds good. I'll get my suit on." I pulled my finger from the chord and headed to my bag.

"You can have the bathroom. I'll just slip these on when you're in there." He held up a pair of board shorts. I grabbed my bikini and headed into the old bathroom with 70's décor.

"Eww," I said as I stared at the fake wood paneling. It was awful.

"Is it the wood paneling?" he asked from outside the door. I made a face even though he couldn't see me. "I was thinking Mrs. Busybody might know where we could get our hands on some...you know for our new home we're having built." He drawled the words like a Texan cowboy and I snickered a little.

"See!" I yelled back, "You can tell a pretty good one too!"

"Yes, ma'am."

I opened the bathroom door, my clothes rolled into a ball in my arms and watched as he tied the string on his shorts. His chest was even better than I imagined. Ever little dip and strong curve looked formed out of stone. He was in perfect shape, just like most men when they graduate boot camp. Over the years, though, I'd seen a few of my brother's friends gain back more than a few pounds. Liam clearly had not.

He looked up and paused as I set down the clothes. The bikini wasn't anything special, just a small blue string two-piece I'd got along with a few other girls on the squad. We used them to sunbathe. His eyes seemed to follow me as I moved around to find my sandals. When I finally slipped them on and turned back around, he quickly looked away. It didn't stop my skin from flushing a little with the excitement of his attention.

"We should bring our towels." He said after clearing his throat. "It doesn't exactly look like this place is on top of all the amenities." He grabbed two towels, his phone, wallet and our room key. He opened the hotel room door and waited for me to walk through it. My phone rang from its position on the nightstand near my bag. I turned back for a quick second, but decided there was no one I really cared to talk to.

I looked up at Liam as I walked past. He smiled down at me and my heart leapt right into my throat as my stomach took a little dive.