Anywhere With You

by Stephanie Hoffman McManus

  “The whole Cinderella thing just isn’t me. Fairy-tale isn’t my style, but that jacuzzi tub back in the room is. So, you guys go, have fun, enjoy your ride, and I’ll just grab one of those cabs back to the hotel.”

  Ci couldn’t be talked out of her decision and when we crossed the street, she snagged a cab like she said she would and took off for the hotel, leaving the four of us.

  “Is she okay?” I quietly asked Shae.

  She shrugged. “I think this was just a little too whimsical and fanciful for her.” I got the feeling she was giving me a bullshit answer like Ci had. I might have bought it too, if I hadn’t clearly seen excitement on Ci’s face for a moment. No one would ever question that Ci was all woman–feminine in every aspect of her appearance; hair, nails, and make-up always done to perfection. Girl owned more shoes and purses than a department store, and pink was often a prominent color with her, whether it was her lips, her nails, her shoes, or whatever other accessory.

  That’s where she stopped being a girly girl though. Under the surface, she was rough and tough as nails, belying that sweet face of hers. Cursed more than Lil’ Wayne, Ludacris, and Eminem combined. Had a steel backbone and did not like to let anyone take care of her. She was as independent and stubborn as they came and would rather watch shit get blown up on the big screen than see whatever Nicholas Sparks book had been made into a movie that year. In fact, when it came to love and romance, she was probably the most cynical person I’d ever met.

  And yet, maybe it wasn’t as simple as that. How much of her persona was really her, and how much of it was who she thought she needed to be?

  “Your carriage awaits, milady.” Kellen had already paid the driver of the first carriage while I was still staring after the cab that had taken Ci away, wondering if I knew her as well as I thought I did.

  “You two coming or getting your own?” Kellen and Shae had settled in next to each other all cozy and the driver was waiting to take off.

  I glanced at Meg and then back at the happy couple. Either way it was going to be weird. Either we were going to barge in on their romantic ride, or it was going to look like I was taking Meg on a romantic ride. Meg’s demeanor was entirely unconcerned as if it made little difference to her as long as she got a carriage ride out of the deal.

  “We’ll grab the next one.” I decided to let them have the time together and hoped Meg wouldn’t think I was being presumptuous.

  The next carriage was the same Cinderella style, white pumpkin shaped cage, all hearts and plush white cushion seats. It was the least masculine ride I would ever take, but after insisting on paying, because unlike Meg I wasn’t a struggling musician, I climbed in behind her and then faced a half-second mental dilemma of whether to sit beside her or across from her. Instead, I did neither and sat perpendicular to her since the bench curved around in almost a full circle. I was looking out the opening and she was watching out the back as the driver urged the horses into traffic just behind Kellen and Shae.

  Unlike Ci, Meg was easy to read. She wore her emotions plain as day on her face and nothing about her seemed complicated. She wore a relaxed smile and kept up easy conversation between us. She didn’t hold anything back either. What you saw is what you got, and she said what was on her mind as quickly as the thought entered her head, no filter. I found myself laughing hard several times throughout the ride.

  Her nose would scrunch and she’d tilt her head and say “What?” like she didn’t even realize what she’d said was funny, which only made me shake my head and laugh harder.

  “I’m glad I met you,” she said at the end of the ride when we were dropped off on the corner by the hotel. “This entire day has been fun.”

  “Did you guys enjoy your ride?” Shae and Kellen, linked together by their hands, were already waiting on the sidewalk when we climbed out.

  “I thought it was a great way to see the city,” Meg answered, still wearing that perpetually warm smile.

  “I agree. I don’t think Kellen thought it was anything special, though,” Shae teased him and then leaned into him with her shoulder. He dropped her hand and then snagged her around the waist, sliding his hands in the back pockets of her shorts.

  “I was with you. I don’t need anything other than that for the night to be perfect.” His words, soft and low, had Shae snuggling into his chest and pushing up on her toes to kiss his lips.

  “Thank you for the arch and carriage ride today. They were both fun, but it’s doing them with you that made today unforgettable.” Then she dropped her voice even lower. “And the night isn’t over if you want to get our own room.”

  I didn’t know whether to cringe, blush, or move out of earshot.

  “I don’t know about you,” I turned to Meg, “but I could do with finding the hot tub right about now.”

  “I didn’t bring a swimsuit,” she said through disappointment.

  “I packed a couple extra,” Shae chimed in, prying herself from Kellen, who seemed reluctant to let her slip out of his arms after that bit about them getting their own room. I didn’t blame the guy one bit. “You can borrow one if you want.”

  We moved the conversation inside the hotel. “Why don’t you see if you can get us another room, and I’ll go up with Meg,” Shae suggested to Kellen.

  “Or you two can just take our room, and I’ll get my own,” I offered. It would be easier for me to move my one bag than for Shae and Kellen both to move to another room.

  “Or,” Shae looked hesitant, “maybe we could just swap. Unless that would be weird?” She put that to Meg, knowing if anyone were going to be uncomfortable with it, it would be her. I didn’t care where I slept.

  “I don’t have a problem with it. There’s plenty of room and enough beds if Celia won’t mind.”

  “She won’t care,” Shae told her. I wasn’t worried about Ci either. Privacy and modesty kind of went out the window with us a long time ago. In fact, I’d say we took care of that the first night we met.

  It took me no time to change into my swimming trunks and grab my single duffel before heading across the hall. The door to their room was propped open and Kellen was helping Shae gather her things to move across the hall. She had several suitcases full of books and things for her signing. “This way, when I go down to set up in the morning, I won’t wake anyone either.”

  I noticed Ci wasn’t in the room, but a loud beat could be heard reverberating off the bathroom walls through the closed door.

  “Is it alright if I go change in the bathroom in the other room? She must have been serious about wanting that bath,” Meg said.

  “Go ahead,” I told her and slid my phone out while she went to change into the swimsuit Shae had provided. I sent a simple text.

  Hot tub?

  A second later the music in the bathroom cut out. A reply came shortly after.

  No thanks. I’m good where I’m at. Got wine and bubbles.

  A slight smile tugged at my lips at first, and then I had to mentally scold myself when I started to picture her in there, beneath the bubbles. Before she could start the music up again, I texted back.

  You should have come on the carriage ride.

  I waited for her response, tossing a glance out in the hall to see if Meg was back.

  I’m sure you guys had a good time without me. I needed some quiet time. And the bath. And the wine.

  “I’m ready.”

  This time when I looked, Meg was standing in the doorway in a red bikini hidden only slightly beneath the fluffy white towel she’d draped around herself. The color made me think again of Ci. Like pink, it was one I associated with her. It was her signature color on stage after all, but I didn’t need to be thinking about what Ci looked like in red.

  “Guess the lovebirds aren’t joining us.”

  Meg shook her head. “Looked like they were putting a movie on. I don’t think it will take them long to make it to the bed. I doubt much of the movie will get watched.” A slight blush touched her cheeks and she mo
mentarily ducked her eyes.

  “Then I guess it’s just you and me.” We went in search of the hot tub.

  “Can I ask you something?” Meg turned to face me as the elevator carried the two of us down.

  “Shoot,” I told her, curious what she would ask.

  “Are you and Celia …” she let the implied question hang in the air. It caught me off guard for a second, but I suppose it shouldn’t have. It wasn’t the first time someone had wondered, or assumed.

  “No, we’re not. Ci and I are just friends,” I told her truthfully and hoped that would be the end of the conversation. It was, and Meg was quiet until we reached the pool deck.

  We weren’t the only guests that had the idea for a late-night dip, though. There were a handful of others making use of the pool and hot tub. We only had an hour to enjoy ourselves before it closed.

  We made small talk in the hot tub with a couple from Chicago and found out they were in St. Louis for the same book signing event Shae was. The woman was another author, and when we all finally dragged ourselves out of the hot tub before we were kicked out, they told us to find them tomorrow. We wrapped ourselves in our towels and padded down the hall to the elevators.

  “I wasn’t tired before, but that hot tub really relaxed me. I’m already imaging crawling into bed,” Meg yawned when the elevators let us out on our floor.

  “Yeah, it’s been a long day.” A few twists and turns down the hall and we made it to the room. I keyed us in, pushing the door open. Right as we stepped inside, the bathroom door opened and Ci emerged; damp hair pulled up in a knot on top of her head, her face and neck flushed with heat. I noticed the same pink glow reached all the way down to her toes when I got a look at the rest of her, clothed only in a pair of pink, boy shorts panties sticking out from under a soft, grey V-neck. Everything about her standing there was soft and warm and a little too inviting, though she looked slightly surprised to see me standing inside the room.

  “Oh gosh, sorry,” Meg started apologizing profusely. “We should have warned you about the room swap.”

  “Room swap? Lemme guess, Shae and Kellen wanted to get freaky across the hall?”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, so you guys get me for the night.”

  “You snore and I’ll throw you out in the hall.”

  “You could try,” I grinned.

  Meg watched the two of us oddly. I think she’d expected Ci to dart back in the bathroom upon seeing me. Instead she sauntered over to the first bed and plopped down. Meg went to the pull out at the far end of the room and started digging through her bag there. I was left with the bed in between the two. Rather than get mine wet, with a smirk I dropped down beside Ci.

  “Hey, you’re getting my bed wet. Move your ass.” She tried to shove me off the bed. My bulk was too much for her and I flopped backward.

  “I’m just going to rinse off and change real fast,” Meg said before she ducked inside the bathroom.

  “Seriously, get your wet ass off my bed or I’m going to take your bed and you can have the wet one,” Ci groaned, giving me another shove.

  “Fine,” I hopped up. “But don’t peek, I’m going to change.”

  I toweled off and then retrieved a pair of basketball shorts from my bag. If it were just Ci, I’d have no problem sleeping in my boxer briefs as usual, but for Meg’s sake I’d wear the shorts.

  “I said no peeking,” I repeated in a low voice over my shoulder. Her eyes were still on me. She grinned and shrugged and scooted back against the headboard as if preparing herself for a show. “I think it’s only fair after all these years.”

  With a shake of my head I grinned to myself. “You asked for it.” I pulled the string and shoved my trunks down to my ankles and then kicked free of them.

  “Damn. I see you’re keeping up with your morning runs. I could bounce a quarter off that ass.” I chuckled at her praise and pulled on the grey boxer briefs.

  “Eat a friggin cupcake once in a while, would ya.”

  “You’re one to talk,” I tossed over my shoulder as I stepped into the shorts and tugged them up before turning fully to face her.

  “Why, Luke, are you saying you like my ass too?” she teased.

  “Only if you’re admitting you like mine.” I winked and she chucked a pillow at my head in return, which I caught. I flopped down beside her, pulling the pillow into my lap and swinging my legs up on her bed.

  “How was your soak in the hot tub?”

  “Very relaxing. How was yours?”

  “Very relaxing,” she smiled and this was good. She was back to being Ci. No weirdness or awkward tension between us. I guess a bubble bath really was all she needed.

  “And the carriage ride, was it magical?”

  “The girls enjoyed it.” Just then the door to the bathroom opened and Meg reappeared, the red swimsuit replaced by polka dot pajamas. Her eyes took note of me and Ci on the bed but didn’t linger on us.

  “I’m beat, so I’m just going to go to bed, but if you two want to watch something, the TV won’t bother me,” she announced, pulling the covers back on her bed.

  “That’s alright. I’m ready for bed too.” And with that, Ci gave me a hard shove I wasn’t expecting, and I toppled right over the edge of the bed, catching myself with my hands before I ate the carpet. Ci’s amused face poked over the edge of the bed. “Night.”

  I picked myself up and shot her a disgruntled look, half tempted to flip her mattress up and dump her on the floor. “That was not nice.”

  Her only reply was a self-satisfied smile as she pulled the covers up higher around her chin and burrowed deeper under them. Then she reached out and flipped the switch on her bedside lamp.

  I grabbed my small toiletries bag and shut myself in the bathroom. When I came back out, Meg was also settled and had flipped off her lamp. The room was dark but for the soft glow emanating from the lamp beside my bed. I shoved the blankets back and climbed in, not bothering to pull them up. I didn’t know how they could go to sleep beneath the mound of sheets and heavy comforter when the thermostat was on seventy-four. Girls. I swear it could be eighty in here and they’d still want the covers.

  I drew in a deep breath, letting it out and trying to relax into the bed, which I thought would be easy, considering how much the soak in the hot tub did for my limbs and muscles. My mind was still wide awake though.

  Some time later, I was still lying there, sleep evading me. I turned over and tried again.

  And repeated the process minutes later.

  I reached for my phone on the nightstand. When it lit up, the clock showed that it was nearing midnight. From the low, heavy breathing behind me, I surmised Meg had fallen asleep a while ago. Ci lay still in the dark in front of me, facing the wall away from me. I couldn’t tell if she was asleep or not. I’m not sure why I went to my messages next and typed out the text that I did. After I hit send, I hoped that she’d turned off the volume on her phone.

  A second later I heard the low hum of vibration on her bed. A second later I heard the rustle of blankets and then the glow of her screen filled the room with a soft illumination. A second later she rolled over and faced me.

  Seventeen

  Cici

  Present

  “Yes, I’m awake,” I whispered into the darkness, barely able to make out his face only feet from mine.

  “Why can’t you sleep?” Came his barely audible reply.

  “Because someone just texted me,” I shot back.

  I swear I could hear him smiling. “Whatever, you were already awake.”

  Sighing softly, I turned the question around on him. “What about you? Why are you still awake?”

  “Restless mind, I guess.”

  “Me too.”

  “What are you thinking about?”

  Nothing. And everything. “Why do you want to know?”

  “I’m hoping whatever you’re thinking about will bore me to sleep.”

  I reached behind me for one of the extra pillows and
then launched it at the shadow of his head. It landed with a soft smack and he let out a quiet “oomph,” and then a soft chuckle.

  “Shhh, you’re going to wake Meg. Go to bed, Luke.” I rolled over, giving him my back again, hoping he would take the hint. I heard him rustling, and then I felt my mattress dip. I flipped onto my back and sat up. “What are you doing?”

  “Scoot your ass over. You’re the one who was worried about waking Meg. Now we can be quieter.” He didn’t give me a choice as he climbed in, shoving me over. Grumbling under my breath, I scooted.

  “Why won’t you just go to sleep?” I asked.

  “Can’t.”

  “So you’re going to torture me by keeping me up as well?”

  “Yep. I want to talk.”

  “About?”

  “You. And what’s been going on since the start of the trip.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked softly.

  “You’ve been off. Up and then down and all over place. It’s not like you. So, what’s up?” He rolled from his back onto his side and I could feel his eyes fixed on my face in the dark. It felt like someone cranked the temp up in the room by a few degrees.

  “I guess I just have a lot on my mind with this wedding and having to see my family again,” I admitted, giving him a partial truth. I left off the part where I’d also been having some seriously conflicted feelings about the two of us. He didn’t need to know about that, for precisely the same reason he was lying next to me. This closeness we had that meant he could climb into my bed without it being weird or sexual, meant too much to me to screw it up.

  I’d thought a lot about it between glasses of wine in that bathtub, while in the forefront of my mind also wondering if he was having a good time with Meg. I’d hated that he probably was. I’d hated that I’d practically shoved him at her for something as romantic as a carriage ride through the city, but if the alternative meant losing this with him, and it inevitably would, because unrequited feelings always complicated things when they were let out, then I’d deal with Meg, or any other woman in the future.

  “I thought that might be it. So, talk to me. Tell me about them.” He nudged my shoulder softly. With my eyes adjusting to the dark, when I risked turning my face toward his, I could see not only the whites of his eyes but the tenderness in them.