Good Girl(46)

"This is some life you've got here," I tell him. "Housekeeping. Room service. Killer views."

"It's something," he says, dropping onto the sofa beside me and pulling my legs into his lap. I freeze for a moment because it's such a weird couplish thing to do, but Rhys doesn't seem to notice, his attention on the television. "What are we watching?"

We.

I've never been a we. I've always wanted to be one, even in high school when I was too busy and too shy to do much of anything about it. I remember during my junior year, the Monday after a dance I hadn't attended, another girl looked at me in the hallway and said, “Oh, look, there's that girl who couldn't get a date to the dance.”

She was a sophomore, someone I only knew in passing, but her words devastated me for—well, for a long time. But here I am, with the most attractive man I've ever laid eyes on, lying on his couch with my legs in his lap while we wait for room service.

So what if it's fake? It could be real. It feels sorta real. Rhys starts massaging the arches of my feet and that feels pretty real. Unless he's got a foot fetish and I've finally cracked his code.

"House Hunters," I finally answer.

"What is House Hunters?"

I stare at him, unsure if he's joking or not. He's not. "You don't know what House Hunters is?”

"Nope."

"It's been on for like a hundred seasons."

"A hundred?"

"At least. You are the only person in the universe who hasn't seen House Hunters. You really need to live a little, Rhys."

"So what is it I'm missing?"

"Okay, so every episode features a couple buying a house. In a different city in the United States. Unless you're watching House Hunters International and then they could be buying a house anywhere! Like Paris or Prague or Edinburgh or Heidelberg."

"Heidelberg?"

"It's in Germany. You'd know that if you watched House Hunters International." I'm more than a little smug about my knowledge of a random city in Europe.

"I know where Heidelberg is."

Oh.

"Why is watching someone look for a house interesting?"

"How is it not?" Rhys laughs at the expression on my face but I really don't get how he's not getting this. "Every couple has a different budget, different priorities, in a different city. And you get to see what kind of house they can buy for that budget in that city. They view three homes and then they pick one. But before they pick they recap all three and you guess which one they're going to pick."

"Uh-huh."

"It's very interesting. You'll see."

"Couldn't you just look up some houses on Zillow and save yourself twenty-five minutes?"

"Pffft. That's not the same."

"Okay." Rhys nods. "So what city are we watching now?" His thumbs continue to knead the bottom of my foot and this might be the most blissful moment of my life. Well, second. Those orgasms he gave me last night definitely rank first.

"You, my friend, are in for a special treat."

"Am I?" His lips quirk in amusement. He can be as amused as he likes because he has no idea how lucky he's about to be. "These are nice, by the way," he says, fingering the material of my pajama pants. I'm still not sure if he's serious about this ‘wear what I'd normally wear’ nonsense so I keep the fact that I made these pants out of an old sheet to myself.

"You are. Up next is an episode of House Hunters Renovation. Which means we get to see them pick their house and renovate it. Whew!" I fan myself with my hand like I need to cool down. I'm joking. A little bit. It is my favorite of the House Hunters.

We're halfway through the episode—a couple in Austin, Texas have selected their house and renovations are just beginning—when our food arrives. Rhys gets up to get the door and a guy from food and beverage wheels in a cart exactly like they do in the movies. It's probably exactly like they do it in real life too but I've never had room service before. I've been on plenty of family vacations with my dads, but room service was never a thing we did.

The guy from food and beverage is an older gentleman named Mitchell. He was in one of my orientation groups a couple of weeks back and I know he recognizes me as he's moving the trays to the island countertop in the kitchen per Rhys' direction because he says, "Good evening, Miss Clark."

"Hi, Mitch." I wave from the couch. "How has your day been so far?"

"No complaints. We're not too busy what with the hotel not being officially open yet. Suspect that's about to change real quick."

"It better," Rhys agrees. He escorts Mitchell to the door and then tells me he's putting my ice cream in the freezer.

"Okay. I hope there's room in there," I tease.

"Oh, you think you're funny, don't you?"

"You have a full-size top-of-the-line refrigerator filled with water and ketchup, so yes."

He places our food on the coffee table and sits back down beside me and, not for nothing, I see him eyeing the television. He'd never admit it, but I bet he's just as curious as I am if that kitchen wall can come down easily or if the couple from Austin is going to have to spring for an expensive beam.