“That sounds like something you’d need to write down.” He was relieved by Angus’s apparent enthusiasm.
“Nah. That’s like having an itinerary. That’s the last thing I want to do.” Angus shook his head.
Reece remembered Brad was a big itinerary person on vacation, so he could easily see why Angus would want nothing of the sort.
“No itineraries.”
“Oh, and we’ll need to buy swimsuits. The pool will be open, and it’s always nice to swim.”
“Swimsuits.”
“Yeah.”
Reece always had the hardest time with Angus in a suit, when his little star tattoo peeked out the top and he looked like a pale sprite that had ventured out of the forest for some sun. He also needed to get his shit together. He imagined that holding Angus for two hours the night before hadn’t helped with his ridiculous crush. But he didn’t know what to do about it. The crush seemed like it wasn’t ever going to go away.
“Where did you get us a room again?” Reece asked.
“Planet Hollywood. Tonight and tomorrow. I wanted to stay there last time, and it’s in a great spot near the fountains and a bunch of other stuff. You’ll like it.” Angus yawned.
“Cool. Hey, you look tired. You want to take a nap?” Reece asked.
“That would be rude. Ditch you out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Don’t worry about it. We didn’t sleep much last night.”
Angus reached over and patted Reece’s thigh. “I’m not going to take a nap. Tell me about the books you’re editing.”
Angus knew talking about his books was a weakness for Reece, so of course he asked. Reece loved his job, and he’d always been more than happy to talk about it. Angus had always told him he liked it too, liked hearing about books before they were out, discussing plots and characters and action sequences.
“So you think Georgia’s next book is going to be pretty big?” he asked.
“Yeah, I actually do. She’s been doing amazing things with her sci-fi settings. I’m really impressed.”
“Good. I hope she hits it big.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
REECE WAS
already overwhelmed by Vegas about five minutes after they got there. It was dinnertime, since they hadn’t managed to get out of Indio until after lunch, but there were so many lights and so many people, and everything was flashing at him all over the place. They hadn’t even found the entrance to their hotel’s parking garage yet, and Reece was wishing he was back out in the desert.
The strip was a cacophony in every sense of the word. Music came from nearly every surface, and all the buildings were a clash of colors. It felt like they were all fighting to draw him in, get his money, his attention, his time. Reece turned forward and focused on the street itself, which was stop-and-go traffic under pedestrian bridges and through a million stoplights.
“Isn’t it great?” Angus asked. He practically had half his body hanging out the window of the car. “There’s our hotel, right next to the Eiffel Tower. The parking garages are usually in the back.”
Reece was frankly relieved they were near their hotel. He didn’t know how much more driving he could take in Sin City. They circled around behind the casinos until they found the parking entrance for Planet Hollywood, found a spot in the garage, and dragged their bags from the back hatch.
“Fucking hell, it’s hot here.”
“It was pretty hot at Coachella too,” Angus said.
Maybe it was all the huge buildings and the lights and the desperate lack of anything resembling grass, but it just seemed way hotter in Vegas to Reece. Stiflingly hot. Suffocatingly hot. All of a sudden, he wanted nothing more than to dive into a pool and stay there forever. “We might need to move the swimsuit buying part of the agenda up to the front of the list tomorrow.”
Angus chuckled. “There’s a mall inside our hotel. Let’s get checked in, stretch our legs a bit tonight, and that can be the first thing we do in the morning.”
“Of course there’s a mall.”
Because every hotel has a freaking mall inside of it….
The inside of the casino was another barrage of color, noise, and light. Reece nearly tripped a few times from staring up at the ceiling at the array of purple and pink and blue lights. The ceilings were high and dark behind the lights, and it was cool in there compared to the heavy heat of the parking lot. Even with the incessant dinging of the slot machines, he had to admit it was much, much better. Reece wasn’t convinced Vegas was for him, but he was willing to give it a fair shot.
“I am so not cool enough to be in this place,” he muttered.
“Right.” Angus rolled his eyes. “That’s why every chick we’ve walked past has stared right at you. Because you’re such a huge dork.”
It took a while, but they finally found the front desk and checked in to their room. After another long trip through the maze of the casino, they found the elevators that took them up to the twentieth floor. Their room was pretty nice, actually. Reece raised his eyebrows at Angus.
“It’s fine,” Angus said with a smile. “I could’ve tried to get us a room at the Bellagio.”
Reece knew enough about Vegas to know the Bellagio was one of the priciest options on the strip. “I would’ve strangled you.”
They dropped their suitcases and used the sinks to scrub off the four hours in the car, then grabbed their wallets and headed out the door.
“Why don’t we walk around the Paris tonight? It’s close, and you look exhausted.”
“I am,” Reece admitted. “Not very Vegas of me.”
REECE WAS
impressed with the Paris. He liked how they had the legs of the Eiffel Tower going right through the main casino floor, and how they’d decorated a whole street
inside
the building to look like something right out of Paris.
“This is small potatoes too. Wait until you see the bigger ones. They’re incredible.”
“Tomorrow, right? I’m beat.”
“Yeah. Tomorrow is fine.” Angus looked like he could’ve walked around for another three hours, looking at the lights in awe. Reece felt a little bad, but he was falling asleep on his feet.
“I can’t wait,” Angus said with a grin.
THEY ORDERED
room service the next morning when they got up. Angus insisted on getting Reece a fruit bowl and a cheese omelet. They went on a sightseeing mission to the MGM, the Luxor, the Excalibur, and the Mandalay Bay, which was Reece’s favorite of the four. It seemed like the heat, which hadn’t been too bad, just got higher and higher as they walked. By the time they were back to their hotel room, it was approximately hotter than hell.
Angus organized an appointment at the spa to get a massage, and offered to pay for Reece’s as well, but that wasn’t something Reece did. Ever.
“Um, I think I’ll go on a mission to the drugstore we passed on the way back here. Grab us some water bottles and a few snacks for tomorrow.”
“You sure you’re okay with that? Your face is pretty pink.”
“Yeah. We’ll need the water, so I’ll go.”
“’Kay.” Angus got up on his tiptoes and kissed Reece on the cheek. “Be safe, okay? I’ll meet you back here in an hour or so? Maybe a little longer.”
The drugstore had looked close from the front of their casino, and it had seemed fairly close earlier, but Reece learned very quickly that distance in Vegas was deceiving. By the time he got there, grabbed what he wanted, and made it back, Angus was nearly finished with his appointment. He tossed the water bottles and snacks on the floor and flopped back onto his newly made bed. He didn’t know what heatstroke felt like, but he thought he might be experiencing it. Reece must’ve passed out for a few minutes, because he woke to Angus poking him in the belly.
“What happened to you?” Angus asked.
“Drugstore. Heatstroke.” Reece stumbled off the bed and grabbed one of the waters he’d bought. He uncapped the thing and chugged it down.
Angus giggled. “It can’t be that hot.”
“Ninety-four. Unseasonably warm, according to weather dot com.”
“So what are we doing? I vote for Starbucks,” Angus said. “And swimsuits.”
“Yes, and can we get some actual food too? Breakfast was a long time ago, and I can’t survive until dinner on a Frappuccino.”
“Yes, we can grab some food too. I stayed way down at the other end of the strip last time, so I only remember this area from wandering through, but we’ll do our best.”
“’Kay.”
THERE HAPPENED
to be a Starbucks in their hotel, which was fantastic and very convenient—Reece seriously didn’t feel like going to one of the other casinos on the strip in search of Angus-approved coffee. He was more than grateful that they wouldn’t have to wander out into the desert heat. Reece got Angus caffeinated, and he grabbed a huge cold drink himself. Then he realized all the shops were wonderfully indoors and air-conditioned, so he had no problem wandering around the mall until they found a place that carried swimsuits and board shorts.
Angus skipped into the shop and started rooting around the racks of board shorts. Reece looked for a few minutes and picked up a navy blue pair that seemed like they’d be his size. He was about to turn toward the sales register when Angus put a hand on his arm.
“You are so not getting those,” Angus said.
“Why not?”
Angus made a face. “Because, whether we meant it to be one or not, this is an adventure. We’ve never done anything like this before, and who knows when we’re going to do it again.” He glared at the blue shorts. “Those are not adventure trunks. They’re an abomination.”
“He’s right, you know,” the girl who worked the shop said. “Plus, you could definitely pull off something brighter with your skin and hair.”
“See?” Angus said. He rifled through the racks until he found a bright green pair with a yellow-and-blue Hawaiian print. “Try these on.”
“Those look a lot more fitted. And they’re not exactly in my color range.” Reece hadn’t ever been as comfortable as Angus showing off what he had.
“What, you mean forest green, navy blue, and khaki? What a tragedy.”
“Ang, I can’t wear those.”
Angus ignored Reece. “Could we please have two fitting rooms?” he asked the girl.
She grinned at him. “Sure. And don’t let him get away with those boring blue shorts. I didn’t even like them when I put up the display.”
“Not a chance,” he told her with a wink.
Angus grabbed a pair for himself that had blocks of pink, black, and turquoise with a few turtles on them, and followed the girl back to the changing area. Reece’s belly got all squirrelly at the thought of how these shorts would hug his legs once they were wet. They weren’t very long either. Still, he wasn’t about to tell Angus no. As usual. So he figured he’d try the shorts on and humor him… before he got the plain ones.
He and Angus slipped into their respective dressing rooms, and he pulled off his shorts and T-shirt to try on the swimsuit. It was just as short as he expected in the legs, and the colors screamed for people to look at him.
“I want to see it,” Angus called.
“Ang….”
“C’mon. Please?”
Reece reluctantly opened the door to the dressing room and peeked his body out. “It’s really skimpy.”
“Let. Me. See.”
He stepped out into the thankfully empty hallway of the dressing area.
“Uh, damn. You’re getting those.” Angus dropped his mouth open.
“They’re too short.”
“You look fucking hot.”
“Let me see yours.”
Angus made a face and did his own little twirl in the hallway. He was so tiny, maybe a touch more filled out than he’d been when they left home, but
so
tiny. He was also pale and dark-haired and beautiful, and the bright colors contrasted with his skin in the most perfect way. Of course the stars, those damn stars, peeked out over the waistband of the trunks like they were telling Reece’s tongue to taste them.
“I like it a lot,” Reece said quietly. He didn’t know what else he could say without giving away just how much he wanted to touch everything on Angus’s body.
“Please get that one, babe,” Angus said to him. “It’s the best suit I’ve ever seen on you in our lives.”
“Okay, fine. I will.” He thought he might die of embarrassment wearing them in a crowded pool, but he was a sucker. “Hand me yours too. It can be a late birthday gift.”
“You got me a birthday gift.
Your
birthday is in less than two months. Maybe I should buy you your suit.”
He reached out and snagged the tag off the board shorts before Reece could protest. Then he dove back into his dressing room to get changed.
Reece chuckled but also tried to change just as quickly.
He found Angus up at the front register paying for the two pairs of shorts. He handed his to the girl so she could remove the security tag and laughed when Angus whipped out his wallet.
“You win,” he said.
“I know. It’s a long-standing habit,” Angus replied. Reece groaned. “Are we going to go swimming after lunch? We can do some sightseeing after it gets dark.”
“Yes. But lunch first.” Reece looked up at the cashier. “Anything good in here?”
She shrugged. “Yeah, of course. There’s just about everything you could possibly want—burgers, Mexican, sushi. What are you into?”
“Burritos,” Angus said decisively.
When did Angus ever not want burritos?
“There’s a Mexican place. Just keep following the mall back until you get to the part that’s still decorated like Aladdin. There’s Mexican back there. La Salsa Cantina, I think it’s called.”
“Is it good?” Angus asked. He was a bit of a burrito snob, if Reece was going to tell the truth. There were only certain places at home he deemed good enough, and most of them were holes-in-the-wall and run by single families.
She smiled. “I have no idea. I never go out to dinner on the strip.”
They paid for their shorts and headed back into the depths of the mall. At some point the décor changed from modern and all brightly lit shiny silver to much darker, with a painted sky and sandy desert-colored buildings.
“This is amazing,” Reece said.
“A lot of Vegas is like this. Paris, Egypt, Venice, Rome… you name it. I don’t think the new ones are being built as themes anymore, more just straight-up luxury. But the cheeseball in me doesn’t like those as much.”