Rose & Thorn: Renee/Seth

Chapter 4

"Thanks." Seth didn't take long in the shower, figuring he could have a proper one in the morning at the hotel. It was nice to get all the stickiness off him, though, and he wound his hair up in a bun as he walked back into the bedroom. "All yours."

"That's sweet of you," Renee laughed, smacking his ass as she walked past him, "but you never know. You might meet someone one day." Then she paused in the bathroom doorway. "You think the lube bottle is safe to take back just like that? I know they can't reuse it, so we're free to take it, but I don't want it leaking in my purse."

"I've got some plastic bags in the rental from when I bought snacks," Seth replied. "You can just stick it in one of those."

"Great. Thanks."

While Renee was in the shower, Seth got dressed, wincing a bit when he pulled his jeans over his ass. Then he took the sheets off the bed, setting the damaged one in a separate pile from the rest. "I'll let the front desk know," he said when Renee came back in, wrapped up in a plush robe.

"We could probably just put it in the bin," Renee pointed out. "I mean, you stripped the bed down, so they're going to assume something's up."

"True." Seth tried not to watch while Renee was getting dressed, but he was used to having his phone to keep him occupied. "Hey, um... did you want to get a coffee or something before we go back to the hotel?" he asked. "I don't know if their restaurant will be open and I really don't want to go to the lounge in case some of the guys are there drinking...."

Renee grimaced. "Ugh. Good point. Is anything open anymore?" She went to the security panel and checked the clock. "Probably not. But the visitors' cafe here is, so we should be able to get something to go. It won't be Cesaro approved," she added with a wink, "but it'll have caffeine."

"It'll do. So... got everything?" Seth glanced around the room, but nothing stuck out. He guessed that was one of the fringe benefits of not being able to bring in cell phones: there were fewer things—especially incriminating things—for people to leave behind.

"I'm good. How about I get the coffee and you talk to the front desk?" Renee offered, pointing to the room number so Seth would remember it.

"Sure." The near silence between them as the elevator descended to the main floor wasn't exactly strained, but there was a weight to it that Seth wasn't sure what to do with. The drunken threesome years ago had been one thing: fuelled by alcohol and the heat of the moment, a haze of memory. This was different, more deliberate. He was going to have to think about how to reconcile it with the type of person he was trying to be. He worried that he must have looked conflicted, but the clerk at the front desk seemed as blandly pleasant as any Rose & Thorn employee. "Hi." He handed over his card. "We ripped some of the sheets, so I was just wondering what the replacement fee was."

"Thank you for reporting the damage, sir. Let me check that for you." The clerk scanned the card and brought up the room information. "It looks like it will be forty dollars, sir. Do you want to have it deducted from your card balance or would you like to pay for it separately?"

"Uh. Separately. I should probably add some funds to my card too." When he spotted Renee coming over with two take-out cups of coffee, he added, "And we'll need to retrieve our phones as well."

"Of course." The clerk processed the replacement fee first, handing Seth the wireless payment terminal. Then he took their cards and came back with their phones. Noticing that Renee had the lube bottle sticking out of her purse, he added, "Would you like a bag for that? It's not branded, so you don't need to worry about people knowing where it came from."

"That would be great, thank you." Renee set the cups down and accepted the bag gratefully. "I'd already forgotten about it, to be honest. I probably would have dropped it in the parking lot and made a mess."

"Your receipts, sir." Once Seth and Renee had taken their cards and phones, the clerk bowed slightly. "We hope you enjoyed your evening. Take care."

"Thanks. You too." When they got to the car, Renee took out her phone. "I'm just going to check for messages. Is that okay?"

Seth nodded, pleasantly surprised that sitting in the driver's seat wasn't too uncomfortable. Just out of practice, he reminded himself as he left the parking lot, waved at the attendant, and merged into the traffic. "Miss anything important?"

"Not really. Jon called, so I'll call him back when we get to the hotel. Don't worry: I won't give details. And my mom texted." Renee chuckled. "She definitely won't get details. She's heard enough about me and Jon that she doesn't ask anymore."

The laughter helped Seth relax a bit, and he even completely forgot his coffee until they got to the hotel. "Shit. Oh well. I guess it's... almost-iced coffee now."

Renee took a small sip of hers before stepping out of the rental. "Nah. It's still warm. You'll live."

As they crossed the foyer, Seth noticed a shock of bright orange hair. "Becks?" he called out.

Becky turned around warily, probably worried it was a fan. When she saw Seth and Renee, she brightened up considerably. "Hey. Where were you—coffee! Where did you find coffee?" She looked forlornly back at the hotel's main restaurant, closed up for the night as Renee had guessed. "I could order room service," she added, "but if I'm paying ten dollars for a coffee, it better be something Cesaro picked out, you know?"

Renee held out her cup. "Have it. I only had a sip."

Becky started to reach for it before her manners caught up to her. "No. You stopped somewhere for it. I'll be fine."

"Really, Becks. Take it. I got it out of habit. I'll be good with a water." When Becky still hesitated, Renee grabbed her hand and wrapped it around the cup. "Enjoy. I need to go call Jon and return some messages, but we should do breakfast tomorrow." She glanced at Seth too so he knew he was included. "What time do you have to leave?"

Becky rubbed at her eyes. "My flight's... at noon, I think."

"Mine's just after eleven," Seth reported.

Renee did some quick math in her head. "So... eight should work, yeah? I'll text you in the morning. Enjoy the coffee, Becks. And get some sleep. You look wiped." Lifting her discreet Rose & Thorn bag in a sly salute, she added, "And thanks for taking me to get this, Seth. I appreciate it."

"Any time." Seth waited until Renee was on the elevator to turn back to Becky. "Can't sleep?"

Becky shook her head. "My da's not feeling well. He went to the doctor, but he hasn't got any results back yet." She sniffed at the coffee through the take-out lid and took a long sip. "But I'm still worried. It just... it doesn't seem like the normal type of doesn't feel well, you know?"

Part of Seth wanted to go back to his room and just relax. He could stretch out, go over the surreal evening in his mind, maybe jerk off before getting some sleep. But Becky's worry ate away at him like acid. "If you want to chat," he offered softly, "I have time. Nothing's open down here, by the looks of it, but there's your room or mine." Realizing how that sounded, he quickly added, "Or we could go for a walk. It's a good neighbourhood...."

"My room's fine." Becky's nose twitched. "I mean, if you're fine with it. I'm liable to fall asleep at any second, so at least if I'm in my own room, you can just toss me on the bed and pull the covers up."

"I could do that in mine too," Seth pointed out, "but sure. Let's go." He followed Becky over to the elevators, sipping at his rapidly cooling coffee and hoping he wouldn't give anything away about his wild night. For something he had considered a joke at first, he was now taking his time with Renee very seriously.