Page 42 of Flights and Sights

“What? No.” The words tumbled out of me in a rush. “That’s not what I meant.” When I glanced at Pax, he was laughing hard.

“Good. I wouldn’t—” He stopped and didn’t finish his sentence, pivoting again. “Have you ever been to Santa Clara?”

I blinked a few times, trying to mentally catch up. “Not in years. You?”

“Same. What’s the best destination you’ve ever been to?”

“Believe it or not, I haven’t really traveled outside the US. But the West is my favorite. I know it probably sounds silly, since we’re from the West, but… Arizona, Utah, Wyoming. The Grand Canyon, Zion, Grand Teton—all the national parks. They’re amazing. Don’t get me wrong, the East Coast is beautiful, too, in its own way, but there’s something special about the topography out here. It’s just… bigger.”

“You know, the Appalachian mountains are old old. Older than bones.”

“Wait, what?”

He nodded again and put his hand on my knee gently. “That’s what I’ve read. They’re more than a billion years old. That’s why they don’t look as impressive and craggy as the Rockies. They’ve eroded over time.”

I shook my head incredulously, impressed by his seemingly random stash of information on East Coast topography. “What other hidden knowledge do you have in there?”

He laughed and shrugged. “You’ll just have to stick around to find out,” he said teasingly. It made my chest ache and my shoulders tighten, though, immediately reminding me that I was leaving sooner than later. “Tell me about the Grand Canyon and everything you were mentioning.”

I glanced at him and smiled, Paxton watching me with his curious brown eyes. He seemed genuinely interested, so I let myself start talking. We chatted about our favorite national parks and places to visit, and gradually that drifted into things we’d seen or done while traveling before going way off course. We talked about everything. For the whole two hours, we chatted, and when we arrived in Santa Clara, my heart was full.

I parked us in front of the hotel the investment group had arranged for us for the two nights and as we headed inside, my whole body was warm and fuzzy. We grabbed our overnight bags and headed inside, where there were college kids milling around, lounging on the furniture and laughing loudly. I frowned, confused, but turned my attention to the desk clerk.

“How can I help you?”

I smiled at the desk clerk and pulled out my ID. Pax did the same. “I’m Callum Sinclair and this is Paxton Lowell. We have a reservation for two nights.”

She nodded and started typing into her computer, taking both of our IDs and nodding as she entered whatever information she needed. “Okay. Here are your keycards. Room number and Wi-Fi password are written on the folder. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“Sounds great.” I gave her a little wave as we made our way to the elevators. Our room was only on the fifth floor, and it was right by the elevators—easy to find. I swiped the card in front of the reader, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

Behind me, Paxton flipped on a light switch, which illuminated the room. There in the middle was exactly one king-size bed.

My stomach fluttered with excitement over the possibilities, but I kept my tone neutral and I turned to Paxton. “It looks like there’s been a mix-up.”

He sighed softly and rubbed his fingertips on the spot between his eyebrows. “Do you think we should go back down and see if we can get it straightened out?”

I thought about it for a second and shook my head. “I think it’ll be okay, if you do.”

“It’ll be fine,” Paxton reassured me.

“Fine,” I agreed. I wasn’t afraid of sharing a bed with Pax. If anything, I was afraid of just how excited I was to share a bed with him.

Chapter 21 - Paxton

One bed. I swallowed hard, tension ratcheting up in my body, my stomach trembling with nerves—not because I wished we had two beds, but because of the potential for what could possibly happen in that one bed. I wanted it more than I cared to admit.

“Well, I’m going to hop in the shower, if that’s okay.”

I turned to Callum, who’d put his overnight bag on the floor next to the bed, and nodded slowly.

“Unless you want to go first?”

I chuckled, hoping it sounded relaxed. “No, go right ahead.” I took my bag to the other side of the bed and toed my shoes off. “I was going to shower tomorrow morning, anyway.”

“Great.” His voice was tight. A moment later, he’d disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door firmly behind him.

I sat on the bed and tried to get comfortable, pulling out my phone to scroll mindlessly while he showered. The sound of the shower turning on did things to my insides and made me squirm. As I sat there, I became hyperaware of the fact that Callum was in the next room, naked, hands gliding over his slick, wet skin as he washed himself.