Only You by K.T. Quinn

26

Molly

The Day We Got Caught

The cop escorted us back to the hotel in silence. When we got there, Donovan thanked him profusely and waved the bottle of cough syrup as if it were a shield. The officer nodded, then walked back the way he had come.

Donovan sighed and leaned against the front door. “Shit. That could have been bad.”

“So that’s why you brought the cough syrup. As an alibi.”

“I’m kind of surprised it worked.”

I peered out the window at the dark plaza. “You don’t think he’s going to report us, do you?”

“I hope not. But just in case, we should probably get out of the lobby.”

I was still riding an adrenaline high from our excursion to the Colosseum. “Want to have a night cap in the lounge? There was a cabinet full of DVDs. I bet we can play them in English, too.”

He let out a long, shuddering sigh. “I dunno. After getting caught, I think I’m done for the night. I’m going to go to my room and think about what I’ve done.”

I snorted. “You sound like a grounded teenager.”

“That’s exactly how I feel! The cop letting us go feels like the pandemic version of wait ‘til your father gets home. And in this case, dad is the long arm of the Italian judicial system.”

We grabbed cookies from the kitchen and took the elevator upstairs. Outside our rooms, Donovan gave me a peck on the cheek.

“Sweet dreams, Feisty.”

“Goodnight, Donovan.”

I felt jittery with adrenaline as I went inside my room. I had never gotten in trouble with the police before. Heck, I had never received so much as a parking ticket. Breaking the law in a foreign country, during a nationwide lockdown, felt as serious as murder.

But everything was fine. They let us go. It was over.

I needed to take my mind off the police run-in. It was still the afternoon back home in Indiana, so I decided to call my best friend Sara. I had been having a lot of fun with Donovan, and I really wanted to tell someone about it.

I can’t believe I gave Donovan a blowjob in the Colosseum, I thought while the phone rang. She’s never going to believe me. Usually she was the one with the exciting sexual adventures. I had lived vicariously through her my entire life without doing anything fun myself. She would lose her mind when I told her.

But after five rings it went to voicemail.

I still wanted to hear someone else’s voice, so I called the store next.

“Nellie’s Boutique, Andrea speaking.”

“Hey, it’s me. How is everything in Elkhart?”

“It’s weirdly normal,” Andrea told me. “I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop on this whole thing. How is Italy? It looks really bad there!”

“Rome isn’t too bad yet,” I said while sinking into my bed. “I’m quarantined in my hotel. There’s only one other person stuck in the hotel with me, a guy named Donovan. We’re pretty bored, but we’re finding things to do…”

My relationship with Andrea was professional. I had met her boyfriend twice, but she didn’t share personal details. I wanted to talk to someone, though, and I was hoping she would ask about Donovan.

She didn’t take the hint.

“You could always get started on the fall order catalog!” Andrea said. “Your mom always tried to get that done by March, and you didn’t finish it before leaving for your trip…”

There was a lot of administrative work to be done at the boutique. I had been putting it off because I didn’t want to do it. It was the kind of work my mom loved to do, but I didn’t have the same passion for the boutique as she did.

“I don’t have my laptop here, so I would need to do it all on my phone.”

“Yeah, good point. I guess it can wait until you get back… Oh! A customer just pulled up! I’ve got to go. Bye, Molly!”

I sighed as I hung up the phone. I considered calling one of my other girlfriends, but it didn’t seem worth the effort now. I didn’t really want to talk to them.

The only person I want to talk to is Donovan.

I could hear him moving around over there. It didn’t sound like he was getting ready for bed.

Molly: You still up?

It seemed kind of silly to text when we were only separated by a single wall, but he stopped moving around in his room and replied within seconds.

Donovan: I’m kind of wired. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug.

Donovan: I’m getting all my clothes together to run a load of laundry. This button-down is my last clean shirt.

Molly: I keep forgetting you’ve been here a week longer than me. I thought I was going crazy, but you must REALLY be getting impatient

Donovan: Honestly, I’m trying not to think about it. I’ve learned to focus on things within my control, and to ignore everything else

Molly: Right now NOTHING is in your control, though.

Donovan: Laundry is!

Donovan: And you, of course

Molly: I’m in your control?

Donovan: Oh yeah. You totally are.

Molly: My mouth had control over YOU about an hour ago

Donovan: That’s just what I want you to think

I giggled at the memory from the Colosseum. With my exes, blowjobs were things done with reluctance after a lot of pestering. A chore that I tried to ignore until finally I couldn’t put it off any longer. Like laundry.

But with Donovan…

Oh, it felt so good to be in control! Dropping to my knees and totally catching him off guard. Hearing his groans of surprise, feeling his fingers lace into my hair as he urged me along. And then the warm, salty explosion in my mouth that proved I had succeeded in my task. That I was better than Donovan expected.

What I liked most about Donovan was that he made me feel so sexy. Like I was a different woman when I was around him. The kind of woman who sneaks into the Colosseum to fool around.

Our first kiss was pretty good, too.

My phone buzzed.

Donovan: I’m about to run a load of colors. Got any laundry you want to toss in?

Molly: Yes!

I hopped out of bed and began collecting clothes. Most of my dresses would need to be washed on their own, but I could throw my shirts in with his laundry. I had an armful when I heard him knock. I opened the dividing door and he was standing there with a basket of clothes.

“Make sure you wash them on cold, please and thank you.” I tossed the shirts in his basket.

“Molly,” he said softly. There was a weird expression on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “What is it?”

“Molly, I can’t do this anymore.”

My heart sank. “What do you mean?”

He blinked while searching for the words. “I can’t do this. The stupid games and playful flirting.”

In the space of a heartbeat, a dozen intrusive thoughts ran through my mind.

He doesn’t want to fool around anymore.

I came on too strong at the Colosseum.

Our first kiss was so bad that he never wants to touch me again.

And then, the worst thought of all: he was never really interested in me. He was only fooling around with me because I was literally the only other person in the hotel.

The thoughts were crippling. I couldn’t bear the thought of ending things now, not when we had come so far together, especially in the last day. I didn’t know what I would do without Donovan at my side.

“Okay,” I said, voice trembling. “If you want to stop then I respect that. We can stay in our separate rooms…”

“No,” he said emphatically, dropping the basket of clothes to the floor. “I don’t want to stay in my room. I don’t want to sip wine by myself and text you from the other side of this fucking wall. I can’t do it, Molly. It’s not enough.”

I held my breath. “What do you want, then?”

He stepped across the divider into my room.

“I want this.”