Page 19 of Rough Choice

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“Shh,” Eliana giggled as they stumbled back to the hotel. Damned him for booking rooms on the second floor! Grier’s arm was dangling over her shoulders, and they both struggled up the steps and into the hallway. “Shh!” she said harshly again. About ten minutes before closing time, Grier had decided he could sing better than the guy in the band and hadn’t stopped singing the entire way back. “Give me the key,” she said, holding out her hand.

“I got it,” he slurred and dug around in his pocket before fishing it out. He went to put the key in the lock, but missed and ended up punching the wall instead.

“Give it here,” Eliana said, laughing. She moved Grier so he was leaning against the wall instead of her and unlocked the door. Stepping inside first, Grier was right behind her. He draped himself over her back, and she nearly collapsed under his weight.

“The room is spinning,” he groaned with his cheek pressed to her shoulder. Eliana grunted as she turned and pushed him onto the bed. “That’s better,” he sighed, closing his eyes.

“You’re so drunk,” Eliana laughed as she helped him out of his boots. “God you’ve got massive feet,” she noted and tossed his size thirteen boot into the corner.

“You know what they say about big feet,” he chided with a grin.

“Yeah,” she said, looking down at him, “they smell!” Grier chuckled and grabbed her arm and yanked her down on the bed beside him. “What are you doing?” she asked, feeling flushed when he rested his head on her chest.

“You’re soft,” he murmured and nuzzled against her. “You remember what I said before?” he asked vaguely. “About not wanting a girl?”

“Yeah…” she replied, suddenly very worried he’d gotten the wrong impression about their evening and was expecting more from her.

“It’s true… never wanted a girl following me around everywhere, at least not girls like the ones at the club,” he said and yawned. “But if I found a girl who was more like you… I could be okay with that.” Eliana felt sincerely touched by his words. Grier wasn’t the type to bestow a compliment on anyone, especially if he didn’t like them.

The answer to her question if he was expecting more was answered when he rolled away from her, resting his head on his pillow instead, and in moments he was snoring. She chuckled. They weren’t all that different. She’d needed to get out of the hotel, put on a dress and some makeup to feel human again, and maybe Grier had needed just a brief moment of human contact to feel the same.

She stood on unsteady legs, the room spinning for her as well, and made toward her room. Knowing she’d need water, she left Grier’s room into the hall and filled a bucket of ice before walking back to her room. Even in her inebriated state, she thought it was off that her motel room door was unlocked. She distinctly remembered Grier locking it before they left.

Not daring to go into the room by herself, she slid back into Grier’s room and began shaking his shoulder. “Grier, Grier, wake up! My door is unlocked, and I think someone is inside!” she whispered harshly. He was dead to the world, however. Didn’t as much as flinch when she shook him as hard as she dared. “Fuck,” she cursed and set the ice bucket down.

His duffle bag was still on the floor, so she decided it was better to arm herself with a gun than a motel ice bucket. Grabbing the easiest handgun, she cocked it and slowly slinked to the door between their rooms. Every noise she made seemed like the roar of a semi-truck. The handle wobbled, the door creaked, and the floorboards shifted underfoot.

When she managed to get the door open, she stepped inside the dark room and aimed the gun at anything and everything. Nothing seemed out of place and nothing moved. That is until the pillow on her bed shifted. Gasping, Eliana realized it wasn’t a pillow but a person. Someone was in her room!

Debating whether she should shoot, run, or call the police, she stood there for much longer than reason would have dictated was safe considering there was an intruder. Needing to make any decision, she stepped forward and reached for the bedside lamp. Her hands were trembling as she fumbled with the switch until the light turned on.

“Too bright…” the figure on her bed muttered. Eliana gasped, much louder this time and aimed the gun directly at the person and fired. The empty gun clicked. “What the fuck!” she barely had time to register the yell when the gun in her hand was sent flying across the room. Staring up at her in panic was the most perfect set of blue eyes.

“Kye?” she breathed. His face was brandishing a few bruises and there was a bandaged cut under his left eyebrow, but it was definitely him. Flinging herself onto him, she buried her face in his neck and wept. “Kye, you’re here, oh my God”

“Yeah, I’m here,” he said in a tight voice. Holding her at arms-length she could see pain run across his face. “If you’re so happy to see me, why did you try and shoot me?”

There were only a few times Grier had been able to admit he’d had too much to drink. This was one of them. Maybe it was the handful of long days on the road, poor hydration, lack of sleep and stress, but the beers from the night before had gotten to him. He could feel his headache before he was fully awake. The throbbing pain pulsed behind his eyes, and he was desperate for water.

Rolling out of bed, groaning in pain as every joint in his body hurt, he made his way to the bathroom for a glass of water. The lukewarm tap water from the bathroom tasted gross, but it helped quell his headache. The throbbing in his ears subsided enough that he could hear more than the pounding of his own heartbeat.

Too much.

The paper-thin walls did nothing to spare him the moaning from the room next door. That was exactly what he didn’t need. By the sounds of it, they were really going at it. He didn’t know whether it annoyed him that two people were having sex at nine in the morning while he had a hangover or the fact that he wasn’t having sex at nine in the morning when he had a hangover.

Stepping back into the bedroom, he moved toward the wall opposite the adjoining door, but the moaning grew quieter. His eyes narrowed at the door. The sex noises couldn’t possibly be coming from Eliana’s room. Could they? Crossing the room in two long strides, the increase in volume confirmed his suspicions. Grier paled. There could only be three options as to what was happening, and they all required the gun he was pulling from his duffle bag.

The first, some guy from the bar last night had followed them back and was raping Eliana. In which case, Grier would shoot him. The second, Eliana had invited some guy from the bar back to the room, and they were having consensual sex in which case, he would shoot Eliana for cheating on his best friend. The third, Eliana had taken off leaving her room vacant and two strangers were having sex in the room to which Grier would shoot both of them for waking him up and making his head hurt worse.

Slamming the door between their rooms open, gun aimed, blood rushed to his face as he met a full view of Eliana’s bare chest bouncing as she straddled someone underneath her.

“What the fuck?” he cried finger twitching on the trigger. So, she was fucking some guy!

“Grier!” Eliana screamed and clutched her hands over her chest.

“Grier!” The distinct barking anger of Kye resounded through the room. Hands still clutching her hips, Kye sat up and pulled Eliana flush against him to shield her bare torso from his eyes.