Hang It Up | ONC 2023

5. Marriage is What?

The next morning comes sooner than I'd like, my alarm waking me at the crack of dawn to remind me I have rehearsals all day again.

I hit the table, searching for my phone as it grows louder and louder.

Rafael lets out a groan and reaches for his own phone, silencing the alarm. The room goes quiet.

"What time is it?" I mumble. "My alarm usually goes off before yours."

His eyes squint against the bright light from his phone. "Six," he groans, throwing his phone down on the bed. "Hadn't reset it from yesterday's early wake up call."

"I would have been up in fifteen minutes anyway," I whine. "I guess I should get going."

He pulls the blankets up over his head and mumbles something I can't hear.

"You know, now that we've agreed to get married, you'll be extra stuck with me this year. You might have to get used to my alarm going off forty-five minutes earlier than yours."

"Or you could learn to appreciate the value of sleep," he grumbles, popping up out from under the blankets wearing no flipping shirt.

"Put those away," I point. "This isn't the beach."

"That's accurate, Piper. This is my bed."

"And it's my hotel room so I'm going to need you to put those away."

He lifts his shoulder in a shrug, hopping out of bed and revealing way too much.

"Gah!" I shout, covering my eyes and turning toward the dresser we've been using for my hair supplies.

His laugh is hearty and gravelly, perfectly matching his bed-head hair. "You asked me to get a shirt," he teases. "What you saw after that was your own fault."

As though dancing with the man doesn't leave enough to the imagination. I keep my eyes firmly closed and my back turned toward his bed as he moves around doing goodness knows what. "Is it safe?" I ask, when the rustling stops.

"Is what safe?" Rafael hums from the bathroom.

"Are you decent?" I ask again. "Tell me you are or I'll have to use my other senses to find the bathroom. I desperately need a shower."

"You do not desperately need a shower." I can hear his eyes rolling. "But I've been decent the whole time."

I turn around and glare at him, but he's right. He's wearing a shirt, sitting cross-legged on the bed scrolling something on his phone.

"Hey," he says, popping a chocolate into his mouth. "We should do a couple pictures in the park by the house when we move you in. Good Insta fodder for people back home and nice cover story for people here to start believing we might be married to each other."

"That's really smart," I say, picking up my towel and pausing at the bathroom door.

"I've been known to have good ideas on occasion," he laughs. "Go shower. If you aren't ready on time I'll be forced to leave you. Not all of us are the company darling."

"I am not the—"

"Go!" he shouts, bouncing off the bed and stepping toward me.

"I'm going. I'm going."

The one good thing about fancy hotels is it takes no time at all to get the whole bathroom behaving like a sauna once the shower is turned on. The steam relaxes my still aching feet and shoulders and after a quick shower I'm feeling much more relaxed and awake. Unfortunately, I didn't think to bring any clothes into the bathroom.