Page 125 of Break Point
Got it. Not open to negotiations.
“It will complicate things.”
“She says it’s close by,” I remind him. “It’s?—”
“No,” he says, shaking his head in that stubborn, distinct way that usually gets on my nerves.
“I will not leave you here alone. I’m fully responsible for you on this trip. And the things I’ve read about the security issues this city is going through right now …” He stops to take a deep breath. “I will not stay at a different hotel.”
“We could both move to another hotel.”
Henry shakes his head.
“This hotel is the headquarters for the tournament. It makes sense,security-wise. Drew also sent me your press agenda earlier this week, and you have a few interviews scheduled to happen here. The transportation logistics would be a nightmare, and?—”
“So what are you suggesting?”
The part of me that knows him better than I do myself knows what he’s going to suggest. If there are no available rooms here, and he refuses to move to another hotel, we’re only left with one option. An option that makes my breath hitch and my blood pressure rise just thinking about it.
“I’m staying here,” he says, his eyes boring into mine like he’s trying to let me know he’s not fucking around. “With you. We’re sharing that room. I don’t see what the big deal is. We live together.”
Yeah, but you sleep in your room, and I sleep in mine.
“Joe would prefer this,” he says, as if wanting to believe it himself. “Most rooms have two beds. It won’t be an issue.”
For you.
I look over my shoulder, and Lydia is talking to two other tournament staff members, her hands moving effusively as she explains the problem.
“Lydia!” Henry calls out, darting her way with determination.
I scramble behind him, heart hammering against my chest, pretending I’m just casually following and not about to short-circuit on the spot.
“Yes, Mr. Mitchell,” Lydia says with a strained smile, but I can see it’s about to cause her an aneurysm. The two other staff members peel away from the scene.
“Belén and I will share the room,” Henry says without further preamble. “Problem solved.”
He smiles at her, and it’s the visual equivalent ofta-da!
“Oh!” Her neck perks up, and her eyes fly open as she lets out a nervous chuckle. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware you two, um … you know.”
“We’re not,” Henry says pointedly, and too fast for my liking. God forbid someone thinks we’re an item for more than two seconds.
“We’re like brother and sister,” he adds. “We’ve known each other since we were born. It won’t be a problem.”
A sharp, sudden pain slices through my stomach, so fierce it nearly knocks the air out of me. I would’ve fallen to my knees if we weren’t surrounded by so many people.
We’re like brother and sister.
It won’t be a problem.
Right.
Tell that to the part of me that flinched like he’d just taken a bat to my chest.
“Oof!” Lydia rests her hands on her hips and lets out a breath she’d probably been holding since she walked up to the front desk to check us in.
“That settles it then. Please follow me,” she sings.
