“Two burgers? Z, hit me. I’m in heaven.”
I had my own plate in my hand and lifted the lid. A single third pound patty rested between the two halves of the toasted bun. I glanced at everyone else’s plates. Michelle, Charlene, Bethi, and Gabby also only had one cheeseburger. I scowled at Ethan as I took a bite of my puny patty. Stacked with lettuce, tomato, fried onions, and two slices of cheddar, it made my mouth happy and lifted my mood a little. In all likelihood, I wouldn’t have finished a second burger. Ethan would probably be hard pressed to finish his. But I still would have liked to try.
Charlene turned on the TV. I appreciated the noise. It covered the sound of fifteen people chewing.
I watched TV with everyone else and gradually cleared my plate. Ethan drastically slowed down halfway through his second burger. I was half-tempted to steal it but knew what it would be like sparring on a packed stomach.
“Hey, Ethan,” Jim said. “If you’re not going to finish that, I will.” Jim had been checking out everyone else’s plates as soon as he finished his. Charlene shook her head but said nothing.
“All yours,” Ethan said, handing over the plate.
Everyone started passing their empty plates and lids back toward the door. Grey stacked them in the hall.
“If that’s all, I want to go check out the fitness room.” I stood, waiting for someone to object.
At Winifred’s nod, I left the room before everyone was done passing their plates.
Ethan left with me, as usual. Once the door closed behind us, I sighed in relief.
“Want company?”
“Nah. I’m going to run on the treadmill for a while.” Despite his amazing blocking, I needed some distance, even from him.
We walked back to our room. I changed into my three-quarter length exercise pants, then left him watching TV.
The fitness room was empty when I found it. I closed the door behind me, found the stereo, and turned on a local pop station. There was a certain smell to the exercise room—plastic, sweat, and metal—that relaxed me. I went to the treadmill and studied the panel. It had a bunch of preprogrammed options. I chose to control my own speed.
After ten minutes of warm up, I opened up to a run.
When I opened the door to our room, I found Ethan passed out on the bed. The room was otherwise empty. I quietly shut the door behind me and grabbed my bag so I could go shower.
Ethan hadn’t moved by the time I reemerged. He lay on his back, one hand on his shirt over his stomach and the other almost behind his head. It was a familiar position.
Wisps of emotion drifted from him. Worry, mostly. After I set my bag on the floor, I eased myself onto the mattress beside him. I let myself take his worry until only happiness remained. He needed more of those kinds of dreams.
“Z, they’re going to leave without us.”
Ethan’s voice penetrated my dreamless sleep.
“Good. Let ‘em.”
I rolled over, away from him. He swatted my butt, hard. My eyes popped open.
“They’re going to dinner. Still want them to leave without us? It’s an Italian place around the corner. All-you-can-eat pizza.”
That had me sitting up and rubbing a hand over my face. All-you-could-eat pizza sounded good. I was happy until I noticed we weren’t alone in the room. Carlos and Grey waited by the door. Grey had a hand on Carlos’ shoulder, and Carlos was completely focused on Ethan. My stomach flipped before I tore my gaze from Carlos. Nothing flavored the air but Ethan’s twisted humor and Grey’s concern.
What was up with Carlos? He acted so detached most of the time. Not when someone touched me, though. Then he went all weird. Michelle’s words came back to me, and I shook my head. Nope. That wasn’t it. It definitely wasn’t attraction. I didn’t do attraction.
“I’m up. Let me brush out my hair.” I hadn’t done anything to my hair before falling asleep.
They all waited as I yanked a brush through the tangles until it pulled through smoothly.
“Let’s go,” I said, tossing the brush back into my bag.
Carlos led the way. Ethan and I followed. Before we reached the lobby, Ethan reached over and took my hand in his.
“Thanks, by the way.”
I knew he meant the dreams and shrugged away the thanks then gave his hand a squeeze. His love poured out for a moment before he let me go.
The rest of the group waited in the lobby. As soon as we appeared, they started out the doors. The walk to the pizzeria was short, and the aroma inside the place made my mouth water. Several long buffet tables were set up with different pizzas, and another table had salad and bread sticks. The best part was that we were the only people there. Heaven.
One of the waitresses saw our large group and started pushing tables together. I ended up sandwiched between Carlos and Ethan. Once everyone ordered drinks, it was a mass exodus to the buffet. I stayed sitting, unwilling to let Ethan trample me on his way to his favorite food.