By the time they got in the car, they were both completely soaked from head to toe. Elle's hair was starting to come out in horrendous bundles as they clump together because of the rain. But there was one thing that the rain left her as a sort of act of apology, and that was the fact that it also drenched Jack's shirt. You could see his ripped body as it oozed out in tempting waves. Elle believed that she has already mastered the art of sneaking glances without him noticing as well as the control of her inner self shrieking.
"What now?" Elle snapped her head to look at him as he panted from their unsuspected and unplanned jog through the rain. As soon as the drizzle evolved into a full blown rain storm, everyone evacuated back to their vehicles to seek refuge from the unforgiving bite of the freezing temperatures. Elle soon averted her head and stared at the window outside, but she could hardly see a thing because of how hard the rain was falling that it masked the entire outside behind a white and blurry veil.
Silence soon consumed them once more as their tired pants came to an end. Elle knew that Jack was trying to think of the most strategic and executable plan right now that they were stranded as he kept opening and closing his eyes rapidly, whilst looking around every once in a while. "We have no choice but to look for an open motel or something and spend the night there. I'm pretty sure that there's one fifteen minutes away from here."
Her thoughts stopped for a moment as her emotions took the wheel to her mind. She didn't know whether or not she could bear it. It was already a war trying to keep herself under control with only spending a few hours with him, but she wasn't so sure how she would do if it would be the whole night. Both emotion and reason fought in the battlefield that was her mind as she concealed it by continuing to stare blankly outside the window.
Elle knew that he had made up his mind as he revved up the car and started driving. But even with the windshield wipers and the headlights on, Jack was still having a difficult time maneuvering the car through the slippery road. It took a few curse words that slipped out, a few agitated groans here and there, as well as a few stops at the side of the road for time to calm himself, but Jack finally got them there.
What stood before them was definitely not a five star hotel, not that anyone was expecting it to be. It was the typical motel you saw in television shows with the tall sign that would do a better job at luring in people if only it were able to stay lit long enough for anyone to actually notice it. It looked like it only had around three floors, and there was also the typical Open 24 Hours logo as it flashed red and blue. But that wasn't what Elle was worrying about.
"Come on." Jack said as he reached his arm behind the driver's seat to reach for his road trip bag and his jacket, while also unknowingly giving Elle a massive heart attack now that his practically exposed chest was now taunting Elle. She felt a lump on her throat start to grow and forced herself to swallow it before it made her choke. She soon whipped her gaze away from his tempting gorgeousness and reached for the door handle and opening it with all intentions of going out of the car as she felt it suddenly get warmer despite the rain, but an arm grabbed her by the crook of her elbow when she was halfway.
She composed her inner thoughts before she slowly turned her head and looked at the hand holding her there before trailing up the arm and into his beautiful eyes. "What?" She said below a whisper with caution written all over her face. He retracted his hand and grabbed his leather jacket by the collar before he gently draped it over her shoulders. "You must be freezing right now."
Elle clutched the leather jacket closer to her body as she savored the warmth it gave her as well as the scent of him that engulfed her. She looked up to his face once more and muttered a small thank you before jumping out of the car and feeling her sandals hit the cold ground with a splash.
"Come on." She was startled at the voice that erupted from beside her ear, as well as the arm that instinctively wrapped around her shoulders. She didn't even hear him come out of the car or walk around it, but these thoughts were pushed back as they started walking towards the entrance of the motel.
The lobby was a total gave yard. There were only a few lamps that lit the huge room at the corners here and there, but the creepy part was the fact that the man behind the desk seemed like it was totally normal as he dragged his own around and scribbled words down in his notebook. The both of them walked towards the front desk. "One room please." Jack slammed down a few bills, which the manager calmly room before giving them a key card without so much as a word or a glance.
They both rode the elevator up before putting a massive distance between themselves by standing on either sides of the elevator. And all the while, Elle tried to wring the water out of her hair with a little towel she had in her bag. "I'm definitely having a shower." She muttered to herself, but it bothered her how easily the both of them dropped the memory of the kiss. Neither one of them brought it up, and it definitely wasn't because he didn't remember. She was willing to bet her life that he wasn't drunk enough to not know what happened.
The doors slid open to reveal the epitome of a horror movie as the eerie hall gave off the vibe of it being haunted with the dull lighting that flickered here and there. Every horror movie that Elle has ever watched flashed before her in light speed, and she knew that she would absolutely die if a ghost papered in front of her. But as she looked up to Jack's face, he didn't seem all that bothered. His face was stern and straight as his arm once again wrapped around her like her favorite scarf in the beautiful snow. She felt his arm tighten around her, which definitely scared away some of the monsters in her head as he sucked her into an undeniable warmth.
The machine finally flashed green after Jack swiped the card over the sensor, and Elle made a swift turn towards the bathroom after she threw her bag somewhere on the floor as the sound of the bed bouncing told her that Jack chose to chill for a moment. She took the drenched clothes off of her before letting the warm water hose the chills off of her as she breathed out a sigh of relief as she felt the liberation from the rain's cold clutches.
Elle found a towel and wrapped it around of her freshly washed hair and wore a robe before wrapping the waist pieces around her. She found a toothbrush that must have been provided by the hotel as a form of hospitality and brushed her teeth. And as she spat the foam out, she realized something. "Crap." It escaped her mouth as a sharp sound.
"What's wrong?" The volume of his voice meant that he jumped off of the bed and was outside the door. Elle tried to look for an alternative way, but none of them would go well. "I don't have spare clothes." Elle whispered softly but was definitely loud enough for Jack to hear.
Elle jumped up, when the door opened as the thought of Jack seeing her like this, but she was relieved when the only thing that entered the bathroom through the small opening of the door was his arm that was delivering to her a white shirt. "You brought extra clothes?" She asked curiously as she grabbed it from his hand and putting her underwear back on before throwing his shirt over her head. It may have looked like the right size on him but it was way too big on her. She spread her arms out and examined it from the mirror before coming to the conclusion that it could have looked like a dress on her in a weird way.
"You could say that." Elle's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, but as she reached for the door and slid it open, she immediately knew what he meant. Elle's breath hitches when she realized that she was standing inches away from the muscular body that she adored a few hours ago, but it had no shirt to cover all its glory this time. Her eyes briskly drew out all the beautiful details of it before pulling her gaze up to his face. "My other shirt was soaking wet. I changed in the car before jumping out." He explained in a husky voice as he looked down into her eyes as the smirk on his face screamed confidence.
"Thank you." Elle whispered before pursing her lips into a tight line and escaping his hot stare by sliding back away and finally getting the space she needed to breathe. But her eyes also caught onto the single bed that was in the middle of the room. And with that ale the realization that she would have to sleep in it. With Jack. Who was very much shirtless.
Elle turned around, but no words came out of her mouth when she saw Jack leaning against the wall as he looked her over head to toe with the same hunger that she knew she had when her eyes stared at him. The tension in the air was making Elle nervous as his eyes continued to just look at her. But as he pushed himself off of the wall, she was snapped out of whatever it was that she was one. "One bed?" She said in a sassy tone as her thumb went behind her and pointed towards it.
"You look good in my shirt." Jack said, and her mind soon flossed with how impossible it may have been that he grew more and more attractive. Maybe it was the fact that he was shirtless. Maybe it's the fact that they're in a room together. Maybe it's because his shirt was on her just like a sign that screamed that she was his. All the while, she pondered at what he was saying to her. His shirt drowned her as it was undoubtedly too big on her, and her hair was still kind of damp as it was thrown over her shoulder.
Her eyes followed Jack as he walked around to one side of the bed after exiting the bathroom and watched him drop his body on the bed before throwing the duvet over himself. She was frazzled, since she was pretty sure that she didn't even notice him enter the bathroom due to her distractions of her mind that pulled her out of time for one ecstatic moment.
"Come on. Let's call it a night, shall we?" Jack said, and his sleepy voice made her knees want to give out, but they obeyed his words and she was soon laying down next to him. "Goodnight, Jack." She whispered while her eyes laid on his face, taking in how effortlessly beautiful he was even when he was trying to sleep.
"Goodnight, Elle." It was the only lullaby she needed to help her join him in sweet darkness.