Shade walked away as Viper drew closer. Reaching them, Viper handed her the plastic key card. “It’s room 12. We can see your room from the restaurant.”
Jewell took the card from him. “Okay. We shouldn’t be more than thirty minutes. Do you want me to check out before coming to the restaurant?”
“No. Keep it until we’re done, in case we need it. I’ll check out online and pay the cost of the key not being returned.”
“I’ll get our bags,” Rory said, moving to the trunk.
Viper gave her the same look Shade had. “Feeling better?”
“Much. Sorry about—”
Viper held up his hand to stop her excuse. “You’re good, and that’s all I care about.”
“I am.”
“Okay.” Viper’s gaze traveled to where Rory had moved to stand next to the hotel room door. “Listen, I know this time of the year is hard for you. I should have had Rory pull over when I saw it was sleeting.”
“I made a mountain out of a molehill. Just forget about it. Just another couple of months, and winter will be over.”
“It’ll roll around again next year. You lied to me about your phobia getting easier to deal with. Clearly, judging by last night, it has gotten worse.”
“Don’t start. Viper, please, there is nothing to talk about. I’m not the only person in the world who doesn’t like to be out in sleet during the night.”
“They might not, but they don’t exactly have your reason, do they?”
Her shoulders reared back as if she had been struck. “I feel groggy as hell and need a shower. I’ll see you at the restaurant.”
Jewell took off to the hotel room as if the hounds of hell were after her. She knew Viper wouldn’t let her escape so easily once they were back at the club.
Rory moved aside as she shoved the key card in the slot. Then, grabbing her overnight bag from his hand, she went inside, leaving him to follow.
“You mind if I go first?” Flicking the lights on in the queen-sized room, she sighted the bathroom. Rushing forward, Jewell didn’t stop until the door was closed behind her.
“What clothes are you planning to change into?”
The dude was seriously becoming a thorn in her side. Coming to the conclusion he would know better than her at what to wear, she opened the door. “Move.”
Rory arched his brow at her and moved away from the doorway. She walked back into the bedroom and laid the small suitcase on the bed to unzip it. Taking out the two outfits, she waited for him to choose.
“Wear the black jeans and white sweater. Bring the black bodysuit with us. We can tell him you need to change. It will give us the opportunity to go into another room. The more rooms we see, the better.”
“I didn’t think of that.” She nodded in agreement.
Picking up the change of clothes, she left the rest on the bed and headed back to the bathroom.
“Jewell, there isn’t a need to be embarrassed about last night.”
Arching her shoulders back with what dignity she had left while wearing rumbled clothing, she said, “I’m not embarrassed; I’m irritated at myself.”
Confusion filled his face. “Why are you mad at yourself?”
“Because I was weak. I threw up over fucking wet roads.”
“You held it together in the car. More than I would have been able to do if I were so terrified about something.”
She narrowed her eyes into slits. “I wasn’t terrified.”
“I saw your face as the lights came on when you opened the door to get out of the car. You were terrified. Whatever caused that reaction is your own business. I can understand not wanting to talk about it with me, because you don’t know me that well. But not admitting you were to yourself will make it worse the next time it happens.”
Just because he was right, didn’t mean she was going to agree with him out loud. She had dealt with her phobia for years. Nothing was going to be able to change the root cause, so there was no reason to discuss it with anyone. Certainly not an outsider.
The only ones who previously knew about her phobia, before last night, were Reaper and Viper. Fucking hell, all the brothers who had witnessed last night’s debacle would make a point of sharing their concern for her.
While all of the original members were married, they still took the welfare of all the members of the club seriously, which was why she couldn’t imagine a life without them. They were a family.
“I’m hungry. I won’t be long; then you can have the shower.”
Shutting herself in the bathroom, Jewell made quick work of showering. Thankfully, she had worn her hair up last night so she wasn’t tasked with having to make the effort to shampoo.
Drying off, she put on the tight, black jeans and midriff sweater that came just below her stomach. The low-rise jeans showed her belly button with the skull belly button ring.