~Nolan~
Reid and I immediately dropped our bags in shock.
Newly weds!?
"I have to make a call-"
"-I gotta call Griffin."
We both spoke at the same time. Reid practically charged for the bathroom and I plugged in my phone. Once it powered on I rang Griffin.
"Hey dude, what's up?"
"Don't 'hey dude' me, what the hell? Why'd you book this room?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"The honeymoon suite? Really? I know you like Claire but this is really-"
"Hold up, I didn't book the honeymoon suite. Claire and I have been waiting for you guys for the past 20 minutes. What hotel are you at?"
"North Oceanfront Beach Hotel." I answered.
"You sure?"
I checked the pamphlet sitting on the nightstand. And all color drained from my face.
Oh no...
Reid
I headed for the bathroom - which was huge, by the way. The hot tub alone would take over more than half of my bedroom - it actually would've probably been nice to stay somewhere with a bathroom like this.
I pulled out my phone and quickly called Claire.
She answered.
"Hey! How's it goin'? You two-"
"Claire, what the hell!?" I whispered into the phone.
"What? What's going on?"
"Did you and Griffin do this on purpose? Is this some sort of prank?"
I made sure my voice was below a whisper.
"Claire I love you but you can't go... trying to play Cupid like this!"
"Reid, take a deep breath. I have no idea what you're talking about. Wanna tell me?"
I sighed.
"We got to the hotel and were basically handed over the honeymoon suite."
"What!?"
"You sound surprised."
"Reid, we didn't book the honeymoon suite."
"What do y-"
"Hold on. You thought I was 'playing Cupid'. Did something happen between you and Nolan!?"
"What!? No! I mean not really..."
Claire gasped out of excitement on the other side of the phone.
"Something totally happened! Tell me! Tell me!"
"I'm hanging up now."
"Wait n-"
I ended the call and let out a sigh.
This is insane. I can't share the honeymoon suite with Nolan, I hardly know him! Plus if he's straight, the whole thing probably freaks him out. And if he's not...
My face grew hot.
I damn near jumped out of my skin as Nolan bursted into the bathroom. His phone in one hand, and the hotel's pamphlet in the other.
"Reid! We have a problem!"
"D-Don't just barge in like that!"
"Look!" Nolan handed me the pamphlet.
I read the hotel's name out loud.
"South Oceanfront Beach Hotel... what about it?"
Nolan sat on the counter top leaned back, looking up at the ceiling.
"The hotel we were supposed to be meeting Griffin and Claire at..."
His eyes returned to me.
"...Was North Oceanfront. We're at South."
My eyes grew wide as the realization hit me.
"Nolan... why are we at the wrong hotel?"
He rubbed the back of his neck, nervous.
"The guy that gave me directions must've confused the hotels... I'm sorry. I screwed up."
As badly as I wanted to be mad at Nolan, I couldn't. The look on his face showed how bad he truly felt.
"It's... okay."
We were quiet for a couple seconds until I thought of something.
"Why did the lady at the front give us the keys to this room? We didn't-"
I quickly covered my mouth with my hand, my heart hammered in my chest once I figured out what happened.
I gave him my jacket in the lobby... we were holding hands... we totally looked like a couple.
I hid my face in my hands, too embarrassed to look up. Once I did, I saw that Nolan was wearing the same sheepish look on his face, and painted a bright red.
He must've put the pieces together too.
I ran my hand down my face, thinking.
"Okay, it's fine. We'll just go and meet up with Claire and Griffin at the other hotel."
"R-Right... I'm sorry, again." Nolan spoke softly.
He got up from the bathroom counter with his head down, leaving to get our bags.
Did he really feel that bad about it?
"Nolan-"
Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed his wrist, stopping him.
He turned around to look at me, the red in his cheeks brighter than ever.
My heart was beating fast in my chest, but I kept calm.
"Don't worry about it, okay? It's all right."
It felt weird being the one to reassure someone else for a change. Usually I'm the worried mess.
Nolan gave me a small, shy smile of affirmation.
We took our bags and headed for the lobby, the woman who gave us the keys must've went into the back because she wasn't at the desk, so we left our keycards on the counter.
After getting into Nolan's van, Nolan put the key into the ignition and turned it.
It sputtered... and sputtered... and sputtered.
We waited for the engine to turn over and be on our way, but the van wouldn't start.
Nolan tried again.
"Not today, baby, c'mon!"
All that came of it was the sound of the faltering engine, refusing to start.
"Damnit!" Nolan rested his head on the steering wheel, upset.
I figured we could call Griffin and Claire to pick us up, so I pulled up the directions to the hotel we were supposed to be at. It was over an hour drive in the opposite direction. I groaned, I didn't want to have to ask that of them, and Nolan already felt guilty enough.
"Hey..." I spoke. Nolan lifted his head.
"If we didn't pay for the suite, who did?"
Nolan leaned back in his seat.
"I'm guessing the guys in the parking lot when we first came."
"How do you know?"
"You couldn't tell? They were husbands."
How in the hell would he know that?
As if he read my mind, he continued.
"You don't hold someone like that unless you love them. Plus, they had rings. I figured something bad must've happened to one of them from the way he was crying. My guess is they left for an emergency."
This guy was so observant it was almost scary...
Suddenly, a thought popped into my head.
I got out of the van and headed back for the hotel. Nolan followed behind me.
"Where are you going!?" He called out.
"I wanna see something!"
I went to the front desk and rang the bell, a few seconds later, she came out from the back.
"Hello again! How can I help you?"
"Sorry, I just wanted to double check: how long did we book our stay again?" I asked.
Nolan stood beside me, absolutely confused.
"Of course! Let me pull it up."
With a few taps on her keyboard, she had the answer.
"Looks like you two have the suite for the week."
Perfect.
"Thank you!" I swiftly grabbed the keycards we had previously left on the counter, then snagged Nolan's hand and led him outside.
"R-Reid! What're you doing!" Nolan stuttered.
"Don't freak out, I have an idea," I let go of Nolan's hand. He gave me a curious look.
"We stay here for the week."
"What!?"
"Hear me out, okay? If you're right, the guys who rented out the room didn't go inside to check in. Which means it's basically a free stay in a fancy ass suite with a massive tub and complementary wine and chocolates... we just have to play the part."
"'Just'? You make it sound easy!" Nolan exclaimed, "look, you're cute and all, but I'm not about to marry you!"
"We're not actually going to be married. Just prete- wait did you just call me cute?"
"That is not the subject at hand. Focus, Reid!"
"What the f-"
"-Shh."
"...Did you just 'shh' me?" I cocked an eyebrow.
"Just... let me think." Nolan crossed his arms, suddenly serious.
After a couple moments, he grew a smirk.
"We stay... on one condition."
"...I'm listening."
I noticed Nolan's cheeks turn a faint pink.
"You buy me dinner."