A loud horn sounded, the type that was attached to a large transport ship. "Fuck! We have to go now." I grabbed Kansas's hand and pulled him down the street. He jogged after me, holding Mr. Boots in place with his other arm.
"If that's the ferry you're worried about, we aren't going to make it. I don't even have my bags! Didn't you drive here?"
I gritted my teeth together. They'd chip off soon at this rate. I'd operated in a fog when I'd gotten off the ferry, using my intuition and sense of smell to track Kansas while ignoring the landmarks along the way. That meant I didn't know the fastest path to the ferry, and by the time we got to the docks, Kansas panting with his cat clinging to his shoulders, it was over fifty feet from the end of the dock, fading into the evening fog.
"Dammit!"
"The motel isn't bad," Kansas chirped several minutes later after I'd stood there in stunned silence.
My nostrils flared, and I took several deep, slow breaths. Kansas scratched his cat between his ears, ignoring the fact that it was his search-and-rescue mission that had made us late in the first place. I shoved my hands deep inside my pockets and clenched them into tight fists. At least the guys weren't here to witness this moment. They'd never let me live it down. They already wouldn't let me live down the fact that I'd been robbed by a man I'd given a blowjob to.
I watched the ferry fade into the fog and then stood there for a few moments after. When I turned from the water, Kansas was still there, only now he had Mr. Boots cradled in his arms. The cat blinked at me, one eyelid moving faster than the other. "Come on," I growled out, stomping passed them to the street that would lead us back.
We turned around the last corner, and I spotted the motel looming ahead in the middle of the block. I looked at it with new eyes, ones that intended on needing to sleep there. They better not have bedbugs.
As we approached at a much slower pace than we'd left, I spotted the sign on the street. The place was called The Glencliff Motel, but that wasn't the most important information I gleaned from looking at their sign. The No Vacancy light was.
How in the hell was a motel in the middle of nowhere sold out on the one night I required an emergency room?
"Wait here," I growled to Kansas before stomping inside the office only to be informed by the cheerfully pleasant woman inside that there was a mushroom festival happening nearby and that they always sold out around this time of year.
I returned to Kansas waiting on the street. He kissed Mr. Boots on the nose and then rubbed their noses together. I waited for the unsettling display to be over before interrupting. "They're sold out."
"Where will you stay?" Kansas asked, not really seeming to be paying attention.
"With you."
Kansas stopped making out with his cat and looked over sharply. "You can't do that!"
I scowled and took the first of the steps back to his cabin. No use in delaying the inevitable. The first ferry left at five AM. We'd last that long in a room together. But, judging from the way both man and feline glared at me, you would've thought I'd asked them to sleep outside.
Inside his cabin there was a single room that contained the bed and a couch that was about three feet too short for my frame but would be better than nothing. There was a small, circular wooden table with two chairs sitting on the carpet at the mouth of a small kitchenette. Between the sleeping area and the kitchenette, there was a short hallway with a door that I assumed went to the bathroom.
I plopped down on the couch and gave it a little bounce to test out the cushion. My ass hit the wooden frame. Awesome. I glanced over at the queen bed. Even that mattress would be a tight squeeze, but I'd be more comfortable there. Could I demand to have the bed?
"They didn't have any space? Not even an extra closet?" Kansas asked as he lightly bounced from foot to foot in the center of the room. He clearly liked to keep moving, but right now he was making me dizzy.
"No, there's a mushroom festival."
"Bunch of fun guys."
It took me an extra moment to get that was a joke. A horrible one, but a joke all the same.
"Tough crowd." Kansas shrugged.
Mr. Boots took his position draped over the other side of the couch. He glared at me and I pushed down the desire to growl in reply. He was a cat, an animal. I didn't have to stoop to his level. Still, I flashed him some teeth.
"So, you're going to just… sleep here? In this room? With me? Until tomorrow?" Kansas paced the space as he spoke, walking until he touched one wall and then turning around to touch the other.
"That's the plan." I stretched out longways on the couch, forcing Mr. Boots to vacate or be squished by my feet.
"Are you hungry?"
I'd expected him to argue more and had to peek at him from under my lashes. He stared at me with his hand on his hip. His other hand threaded through his hair, causing it to stick out in every direction.
"I could eat."
Kansas nodded, looking relieved by my answer. "I'll go get us dinner." He strode around the bed to a small nightstand. He opened the drawer and pulled out the Bible, sliding a familiar envelope out from between the pages.
"You kept your stolen money in a Bible?" I sat up quickly. "You're going straight to Hades."
Kansas scoffed. "I've got far better reasons for my descent into endless torment. Besides, like I told you, I was going to give it back. I never meant to take so much."
"Right, because you only steal enough to get by."
"No." Kansas shook his head. "Sometimes I steal a lot. Once, I snagged this painting from this guy's house that ended up being worth…" His words trailed away as his eyes took in my face. "Anyway, the amount doesn't change anything. But you aren't the type of guy I normally take from. I was desperate. I know that doesn't fix anything."
I leaned forward, grabbing my knees to keep from jumping to my feet and shaking the answers I wanted from Kansas. "Why were you desperate?"
He stumbled backwards and then began to pace again. "Wouldn't you be in my place?"
That wasn't an answer, but I had time to get one of those. In fact, Kansas and I had six months together. That was more than enough time to do repairs, learn why he was so desperate, and make Kansas do the gross tasks around the bar that weren't hard but that no one else wanted to do.
"There's a pizza place nearby," he said, walking toward the door.
I beat him to it, sliding between him and the handle. "How can I trust you? You'll run off the first chance you get."
He'd run before. I had zero reason to believe he wouldn't again.
One of Kansas's eyebrows dipped lower than the other. "You said you have me on video. What would running do if it just brings the police after me?"
I crossed my arms and leaned over him. "So the police aren't the ones chasing you now?"
Kansas's face turned red, and he whipped around. "Not currently, no," he snapped, and I could tell I wouldn't be getting more information for a while. He was mad I'd tricked that much out of him.
I knew there wasn't a ferry that could take him from me, but I kept picturing him in the position I'd found him in, cowering beneath the aggressions of a stranger. He'd clearly been doing this for a while and had likely racked up a number of enemies. The only one he needed to worry about now was me. "I'll get the pizza. You stay here." I stopped at the door and put my hand out. Kansas stared at it. "My money?" I prompted.