Wrestling

There was only quiet in the hotel suite. The only sound in the room was the steady rush of cold air blowing from the ceiling vents.

Jey lay flat on his back, staring up at the smooth white plaster. The intense heat that had consumed them just minutes ago was finally starting to recede, leaving behind a very comfortable exhaustion.

Bambietta was resting halfway across his chest. Her breathing was deep. One of her legs remained tangled with his, her bare skin warm against his thigh. She had her eyes closed, her hair scattered across his collarbone in a mess.

Jey didn’t want to move, and his body wasn’t screaming at him to shift positions so why would he. His neck rested flat against the mattress without a single spark of pain shooting down. He didn’t even twinge when Bambietta shifted her weight against his side.

He reached up, lightly running his fingers through the ends of her hair.

"You asleep?" Jey asked, his voice very low in the quiet room.

"No," she mumbled, not opening her eyes. Her hand slid lazily across his stomach, her fingers coming to rest against his ribs. "Just trying to remember the last time we did this here," she said, smiling.

"It’s been a while," Jey admitted. "I’m sure Fenrisha is fed up with us."

She hummed in approval, pressing her face closer into his neck.

They lay there for a long while. The yellow line of sunlight coming through the windows was slowly shifting across the carpet. Jey watched the dust motes float through the beam of light. Once in a while Bambietta made him detach himself from the violent, high-stakes world he had been living in. She made the noise of his usual world all feel like it belonged to a completely different lifetime.

Right here, in the quiet of Fenrisha’s third-floor suite, he was just a regular guy.

Bambietta shifted again, lifting her head to rest her chin on his chest. She looked at him, her eyes clear and alert. The post-coital haze had faded, replaced by her usual focus.

"You know," she said quietly. "We should probably be getting home. We kind of forgot about mother."

Jey frowned, processing her words. He looked around the dimly lit space. The room had no clothes thrown over the backs of the chairs. There were no shoes kicked off near the door.

His eyes widened. He sat up so fast Bambietta had to catch herself against the mattress to keep from tumbling off him.

"Shit! Our bags."

She blinked, looking around the room. The realization hit her a second later. "Oh my god. We left them."

"On the mats, maybe?" Jey was trying to confirm, running a hand over his face. "Our clothes, my phone, car keys. Everything is sitting down there."

Bambietta let out a groan, dropping her face into her hands. "We walked out of the steam room and came straight up here in towels--"

"In the stalls, along with our clothes." Bambietta realised.

"We need to go get them," Jey said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

He stood up and looked around the room, spotting the two white spa towels they had discarded in their rush. He picked one up and wrapped it around his waist, tucking the corner in tightly. He grabbed the second towel and tossed it onto the bed.

"Put that on," Jey said. "I’ll see if the hallway is clear. Maybe I can sneak down the stairs without being noticed."

"Walking through the lobby in a towel, wow," Bambietta warned, wrapping her own towel around her torso. "What if someone snaps a picture of you wandering around Lifestyle in a towel."

But Jey insisted, walking barefoot toward the door. "Just stay here."

He pressed his hand against the door, leaning his ear against the panel to listen for any footsteps in the carpeted hallway outside. It was silent.

Jey grasped the metal handle, pressing the latch down slowly to avoid making a sound. He pulled the door inward, opening it just a fraction of an inch to peek out into the corridor.

As soon as he opened the door, Fenrisha was outside with their belongings.

She was standing dead center in the hallway, less than two feet from the doorframe. She held Jey’s gym bag in her left hand and Bambietta’s in her right. She wasn’t wearing her athletic gear anymore too. She was dressed in a white shirt with rolled up sleeves, paired with dark trousers. She looked like she was prepared for anything.

Fenrisha stared at Jey, her expression showing annoyance.

"Every damn time you guys come here," Fenrisha said. Her thick French accent clipped the edges of the words.

Jey froze, his hand still resting on the door handle. He looked down at the bags in her hands, then back up to her face. He pulled the door open a few more inches, offering a highly embarrassed, apologetic smile.

"Fenrisha," Jey started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Listen--"

"I don’t want to know any details," Fenrisha interrupted, holding both bags out toward him. She refused to look past his shoulder into the room. "I found these sitting exactly where you left them both before and after I used the steam bath. The front desk attendant informed me you passed by. It did not require complicated investigation to know you were here."

Bambietta stepped up behind Jey, peering around his shoulder. She didn’t look embarrassed in the slightest. She offered her friend a wide, unrepentant grin.

"Thanks for bringing them up, Fenri," Bambietta said cheerfully.

Fenrisha let out a suffering sigh. She shoved the bags into Jey’s chest, forcing him to catch them awkwardly with both arms.

"You are both menaces to my establishment," Fenrisha stated, adjusting the sleeves of her shirt. "I am leaving for something important. I have a flight to catch, and I do not have the time or the patience to lecture you."

Bambietta leaned against Jey’s back, peering at Fenrisha’s tailored outfit. "Something important? Or someone important?"

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