Page 28 of Something Unprofessional

“I’m not seeing anything.” The desk clerk looked at where Ev was drumming his fingers on the counter with a slight frown.

Ev stuck his hand into his pocket and heaved a sigh. “Any chance you have an extra room available?”

The desk clerk was already shaking his head. “We’re fully booked. I could check some of the other hotels in the area if you’d like?” From the way he was eyeing the line behind Ev, he definitely didn’t want to do that.

Ev risked it and asked him to anyway, getting pursed lips and a nod in return. Finding another room somewhere else was the only solution. It would be inconvenient, but there was no way Ev would survive sharing a room with Gabe for the next three days. The six-hour flight with adjoining seats had been bad enough.

“Is there a problem?” Gabe asked, his hand landing on Ev’s shoulder.

Ev fought not to jerk away. “They can’t find the second reservation. And the hotel is sold out.”

“I’m searching other hotels in the area for you now, sir, but I’m not seeing anything,” the front desk clerk said, sounding much more sincere now that he was talking to Gabe in his nice suit rather than Ev in his sweats, messy hair, and leather jacket. He looked like a disaster, but fashion hadn’t been a priority at fuck-o’clock. A little understanding would be nice.

Gabe gave the desk clerk a dismissive wave. “It’s no problem. We can share the room.”

Ev tensed. “But—”

“Having you across town would be much more inconvenient than having to share a bathroom for three days.” He took the pen the desk clerk handed him and signed the paperwork, then pocketed the room keys, his hand never leaving Ev’s shoulder.

“Apologies for the mix-up, sir,” the desk clerk said, then leaned toward Gabe conspiratorially. “I’ll put a voucher for the hotel restaurant on your account. Please make use of the bar if you have the time, and let me know if you needanythingelse while you’re in town.” He handed Gabe a business card and seemed to make an effort to brush their fingers together in the process. Ev narrowed his eyes. The guy might as well have said “please make use of me while you’re in town.” Gross.

Gabe thanked him with a smirk that looked a little too friendly for Ev’s taste, then steered Ev to the elevators.

Ev liked the hand on his shoulder too much, but he couldn’t figure out a good way to dislodge it without drawing attention to that fact. “I could swear I reserved two rooms,” he grumbled.

“It’s not a problem,” Gabe said. “Besides, we have more important things to focus on this weekend.”

Ev kept his sigh to himself. Sure, not a problem for Gabe. Ev was the one struggling to keep his thoughts out of the gutter. How much worse was it going to be if he didn’t even have a room to escape to at the end of the night?

They stepped off the elevator, and Ev followed Gabe to their door. He was so lost in “what-if” scenarios that at first he didn’t register what he was looking at when he stepped into the room. When he did, he nearly marched back downstairs to demand a different hotel after all.

The room was moderately sized, clean, modern—and held only one bed. Ev checked twice, but a second bed, or even a pullout, refused to materialize. “Oh, fuck me,” Ev groaned, shutting his eyes and opening them again. Nope. Still not hallucinating. “Is this a joke?”

Gabe crossed the room with his suitcase and lifted it onto a wooden rack. “It doesn’t appear to be. Unless you’re the one making it.”

“Me?” Ev squawked. Anger rushed through him but got interrupted when he sucked in a breath to yell and his spit tried to kill him. “I had nothing to do with this,” he choked out when he managed to stop coughing.

Gabe just hummed. He was already unpacking his clothes into the dresser, while Ev stood frozen in the doorway. “Come in and unpack your things, Everett. You don’t want wrinkles to set in.”

Ev grumbled all the way over but dropped his suitcase on its back and started to free the hanging bag folded inside. How was this his life? If it were anyone else, he would have shrugged and warned them that he was an…acrobatic sleeper and they’d better be ready for some aggressive cuddling. But no. He was stuck sharing a room—and now a bed—with the one person he was determined to stay away from.

With his formal stuff hanging safely in the closet, Ev pulled a change of clothes and his toiletries from his suitcase, then closed it and shoved it into the corner. Unlike Gabe, he didn’t see the point in unpacking everything for just a couple of days. “I’m gonna shower and get changed. Unless you need the bathroom first,” he called, already heading in that direction. They had a bunch of people to meet up with today to make sure everything was on track for the rest of the weekend.

“Wear something you’ll be comfortable in for dinner as well,” Gabe replied. “We won’t have time to stop back in between.”

Ev rolled his eyes. He knew that already. Gabe didn’t need to remind him. He bit his tongue to keep from responding with a sarcastic, “Yes, Daddy.” After a quick shower to wash off the stale airplane air, he took the time to blow-dry and style his hair.He was just finishing up when there was a knock on the door. “Yeah?”

Gabe opened the door.

“Hey!” Ev exclaimed. “I didn’t say you could come in here.” He tested the knot holding his towel in place around his waist.

“My mistake.” Gabe gave him a once-over that made Ev’s skin go warm and tingly, then set a folded pile of clothes on the counter.

Ev frowned. The clothes were his, but not what he’d been planning to wear. “I promise I can choose my own clothes. I’m a big boy after all,” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“The jury’s still out on that,” Gabe said in a tone that made Ev’s hackles go up, then he left the bathroom with the clothes Ev had originally brought in, shutting the door behind him.

Jeez. Could he be any more of a condescending prick? Ev pulled on the fitted slacks and olive-green button-down anyway. It was faster than arguing, and they had a meeting to get to. He stepped back into the room, and Gabe gave him an approving nod before taking his place in the bathroom. That nod didn’t cause the butterflies in Ev’s stomach to start fluttering. Not at all.

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