Three thirty we pulled up outside Amore Hotel, that coincides with the time school lets out and all I could think about was how I wasn't going to have a home after this.
Arlo interlocked our fingers and walked me towards the entrance, I was a mix of negative emotions.
"Good afternoon Sir, how may I assist you?" The middle-aged receptionist lady asked with crinkled magenta lips. I thought about blurting out that I needed help, but at this point, who would come to my aid?
Liam and Olivia wouldn't give me another chance. Janet already loathes me. My father would kill me if he found out I was at a hotel miles away from home, alone with a boy. Not just any boy, brown skinned, bisexual, compromised my innocence already, boy.
"My girlfriend and I would like a room for the night." My head flung in his direction but he didn't acknowledge the shock on my face. Instead he placed the card down on the counter and pushed it towards the lady.
"Of course Sir" she started typing into her computer and then peered up at Arlo "do you have any form of ID on you?"
"Listen sweetheart, I'm booking the presidential suite don't insult me by asking for ID or I might be inclined to look elsewhere and you'll lose out on the commission."
Her facial expression changed to coyness but she didn't respond.
"I want the presidential suite, a room service menu, all of the pay per view channels and someone to get me a Mac computer immediately." He glanced at me quizzingly "Fearne you want an in-room massage?" I shook my head. "Just a massage for me then, send someone up in four hours."
He pushed Liams Amex towards the lady again, this time she didn't hesitate to take it and swipe it though.
"Your key Mr Maines." Arlo grabbed it and took my hand again, pulling me towards the elevators.
"This is so wrong Arlo." I whispered. "She just charged thousands of dollars to his credit card." A couple joined us in the elevator, Arlo smiled and gave them a head nod like everything was normal. When the elevator reached our floor he took my hand and guided the way.
Enveloped by the smell of potpourri, the presidential suite took up an entire floor complete with a full bar.
Arlo opened up double doors leading off to the balcony and inhaled the fresh wintery air, raven hair whipped above his cheekbones. His curls wildly untamed today and messy.
"This is our life now Fearne, soak it up." He said smoothly.
I hovered behind him, unsure on what to say or do. What was wrong with him?
"Arlo, I think we need to go back to school, your parents will be looking for you and Cam will wonder why I'm not on the bus." He spun around to face me and furrowed his brows.
"No. I'm going to treat my girlfriend like the queen she is." Twinges of anxiety crept through me. I picked at the skin around my finger nails nervously.
"I'm not your girlfriend." He froze for a second, a mix of anger, hurt and confusion dressed his face but then he wiped them all away with a small smile and headed to the closet. I watched him take out a white robe and slippers, each with the hotel logo embroidered on.
Someone knocked on the door and I prayed silently that the staff had seen sense, realised we were teenagers with a stolen credit card.
"The Mac computer you requested Sir." Arlo took it and slammed the door in the bellboys face. He fired up the computer and scrolled through an airlines website.
I watched as he booked two first class tickets to Las Vegas, he was an unstoppable force of chaos and destruction - like an earthquake.
"Done, we leave in the morning." He closed the lid and pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was on silent but I caught wind of the screen before he tossed it aside.
'Dad calling.'
He disappeared behind the bar and fixed two drinks, I have no idea what they were but he swallowed it down instantly and then gestured for me to take the second one.
"No thank you." I politely declined and he shrugged, tipping the second one down his throat.
"Let's get some music on, make this a real party." He flicked through his phone and then hooked it up to a speaker system throughout the suite.
It was loud music and he kept turning the volume higher. "Dance with me Fearne." He grabbed my arms and started spinning me around, just like he did in performing arts class.
"Arlo stop, we're gonna get complaints." I begged. He climbed up onto a table and continued dancing.
He swirled his hips around and sung to the music. His moves were erotic and I couldn't help but giggle to myself at his dance moves.
"Ahh, what was that? Was that a smile?" He teased. I shook my head and wiped any trace of fun away from my lips. He started stripping his clothes off in sync with the music and nervousness started fluttering up inside of me.
"W-what are you doing?" I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks and I wanted to look away, I just couldn't seem to take my eyes off of him.
He threw each item of clothing at me until he got down to his boxer shorts. Then he teased the waistband, lowering it at the hips slightly, revealing a yellow something on his shaved pubic area.
"What's that?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me. He jumped down from the table and shut off the music before walking over to me and grabbing my hand.
"That is" he used my fingers to pull down the waistband of his boxer shorts, revealing the full picture. "A tattoo."
I gasped, beneath my palm, hidden behind the material of his underwear I could feel him. He stepped back and the elastic pinged to his skin once more. I processed what I had just felt and seen.
"Pinocchio." I worded quietly.
"My uncle Zak owns a male strip club and I used to spend hours there as a kid watching them practice the dances. I would put on my own show, it was terrible but I would make all my family watch and throw me dollar notes." He laughed to himself.
"I'm gonna go shower before the massage lady comes." He disappeared into the bathroom and my eyes fixated on his phone screen.
'Uncle Liam calling.'
I could hear the running water and Arlo singing. I bit into my finger nail, contemplating answering the phone but it rang off. Seconds later the screen illuminated again.
'Dad calling.'
It kept ringing silently, the screen lit up every second with an influx of text messages. They were obviously worried. I picked up the phone and hit the accept button.
"Hello?" I asked timidly.
"Hey, it's Arlo's dad. Are you with him?" Suddenly I felt emotional, like I wanted to cry. There was just something in his voice at that moment, pure undoubted love and concern.
"He's here, he's in the shower but he's not acting like himself." My voice sounded shaky, damn, I was shaking. "He stole Liams credit card and he's just booked flights to Vegas for tomorrow morning."
"Where are you?"
"Amore Hotel." The water stopped running and my eyes widened knowing my time was growing short.
"Liam, how long to the Amore Hotel?"
"About one hour thirty, less if we speed."
"We will be there in an hour, don't tell him okay? Just act normal, can you do that?"
"Yeah." I replied just as the bathroom door opened, I hung up the phone quickly and threw it on the bed.
Arlo walked out, completely naked.
"Oh my god!" I shielded my eyes and looked away. "You're naked!"
"I'm not naked Fearne, I just have no clothes on." I turned to face him again, very slowly. "It's very easy to take your clothes off, being naked however is something entirely different."
My mouth fell open. He was indeed as naked as the day he was born and I couldn't help but look at his genital region. The tattoo on his shaven pubic area was of Pinocchios face. The nose was 3D, no need to be inked and I liked to bet it grew accordingly.
"You're - you - I - how?" He cocked his head to one side and stared at me.
"What are these sounds coming from your lips?" He slipped the robe on over his body and loosely tied it.
"I don't understand ... how." I mumbled, still in a dazed trance. I've never, ever seen a naked man. Not even in pictures. The only boy I have ever seen with no clothes on was my baby cousin Beau, this was different. Longer. Thicker. Scarier. That full blown snake was supposed to fit inside of me, how?
"How?" He repeated seeming puzzled by my inability to form a sentence. "Ohhh." He realised as he looked down at himself, he smirked his trademark smirk and stepped closer to me. "Do you want me to show you how?" I stepped backwards a little too hard and fell down onto the bed.
"No!" I shuffled back in a panic trying to get away from him but he kept coming closer.
"Are you sure? You'd look real good between my legs." He kneeled down on the bed in front of me and I shuffled so far up that I got stopped by the headboard.
"Stop it Arlo, it's not funny. I said no." He laughed to himself and then got off the bed. He sat in the chair looking at the room service menu. I regathered myself and calmed my raging fear.
"What do you want to eat? I'm starving." He ignored the last few minutes like they didn't happen.
"I'm not hungry." I felt brave enough now to shuffle closer to him. I was starting to realise the fear was in my head. He wasn't violent or compromising, he was just unpredictable.
"Sure you are." He dismissed my comment. "Two burgers?" He asked, still keeping his eyes on the menu.
"I'm a vegetarian." He looked up from the menu and buried his mahogany eyes deep within me.
"Why?" He asked slowly, like being vegetarian was abnormal and the poorer choice of living. I thought about the fox instantly and my stomach churned.
"Because I care about animals."
"Then why are you eating their food?" He curled his lip up at me and I narrowed my eyes at him. "So you want a bowl of grass?" He glanced down at his menu again "they don't do that but maybe we can take you for a walk through the gardens, get you fed?"
"I'll just have a baked potato with whatever non-meat filling they do." He used the hotel phone to call down and place our order, then he fired back up the Mac. I sat on the arm of the chair and watched over his shoulder at the screen.
"Vegas is famous for their wedding chapels" He googled the chapels and scribbled down a few addresses. "We should get married." I let him know his suggestion was ridiculous with the look on my face. "awọ awọ rẹ jẹ iṣoro gidi fun mi." My jaw fell open.
(Your skin colour is a problem for me.)
"What was that? Was that another language?" He turned back to his computer and smiled.
"We're gonna need somewhere to live when we get to Vegas. I'm buying us a condo. Mo ma se ke e" I sprung to my feet.
(I will look after you.)
"Arlo, what? No! What's wrong with you?" He waved his hand to shoo me away and clicked on the trackpad a few times.
"I've just bought us one located not too far from the strip, it's a small one bed. If we don't like it when we get there we'll find somewhere else. This is a fresh start for us Fearne." I snatched the laptop from him and he got up onto his feet.
"Cancel it." I glanced at the screen not knowing what to do. "Why are you being like this?"
"No, don't be stupid Fearne." He tried to grab the laptop back so I ran into the bedroom and he chased me.
He wrestled me for the laptop until we both fell down onto the bed. I let go of the laptop and he pinned my hands above my head and searched my eyes.
"Arlo." I whispered, conscious he was pressing his whole body weight down onto me, wearing nothing but a practically open robe. I felt his thumb skim over the ridged skin of my wrist and then he looked up at my hands, more specifically my wrists.
He could feel the scars under his fingers, I tried to wiggle myself free. But now he was fully focused on my cuts, a small 'V' appeared in the centre of his brows.
"What the fuck Arlo?" His attention broke as two men pulled him off me. I sat up quickly and pulled my sleeves down to hide away my scars. Liam and Jordan stared at us both in absolute silence.
^^ his tattoo. 🙈