Kevin is so fed up with his boyfriend, he’s willing to drive off into a massive rainstorm in order to go see a client. Anything to get away! But the weather has other ideas, and strands him at a closed motel where Shelby, the sexy maintenance man, is locking everything down ahead of the major squall.
Kevin is helplessly drawn to Shelby as the storm finally moves in, but he still feels a reflexive loyalty to his boyfriend. However, when fate intervenes and seems to be giving him the signal to go with Shelby, will he succumb to his desires?
I hadn’t imagined the lit sign out front. But after three more minutes went by, I wondered if I was the only person on the premises. Why the unlocked office, though?
Just then, a figure raced by the pool. He was dressed only in sneakers and cutoffs. I got a glimpse of red hair plastered to a skull, and a wan toned body. He disappeared around a far corner.
I thought of phoning the motel, in hope somebody on the property would pick up. But I didn’t know the name. Thought of GPS, but finally I was tired of high-tech solutions. There was a living person on the grounds, and I would go find him and ask if this place was open or not.
This time I left my jacket on the counter, and went out into the downpour through the back door.
I splashed through the water accumulating on the brickwork tile around the pool. A wicked burst of lightning lit the darkness overhead, and as I reached the place I’d last seen the man in cutoffs, the thunder followed. A great solemn, awesome Ka-boom. I ducked involuntarily, but pressed on, now truly drenched.
Around the corner, I found an open door into a utility room of some sort. A light was on, and I thought I saw movement. I knew better than to sneak up on anybody, but I was almost blinded by the rain standing out here and --
“Whoa!” a voice said behind me, and I about jumped out of my skin. “What’re you doing out here, bro?”
I pivoted around. And there stood cutoffs man, the water pouring in endless rivulets off his bare torso and legs. He was all sinew and bone, not a hint of fat on him. His navel was like a dime, pressed into his flesh. His red hair was a skullcap. Despite the deluge, he offered a feral sort of grin, like I was playing a practical joke.
“I thought you were open!” I shouted over the cacophony of rainfall.
He barked a short laugh. “Nope. Oh. Did Phil leave the sign on? Damnit!”
His amiability came across, in spite of the circumstances. I said, “I guess Phil did. Say, you wouldn’t have a room to rent anyway ...?” I offered a wheedling smile. My clothes were now a second skin on me.
The redhead shook his head. “Sorry, dude. I don’t work the desk, just maintenance. Besides, we’re gonna lose power here in like the next ten minutes.”
I gave him a disappointed face. “Was on the highway. Had to pull off. Was hoping to rest somewhere.” I didn’t know what had happened to the subject nouns of my sentences. I was growing more and more aware of the man’s half-naked state. He was quite a nice slice of taut masculinity.
The rain, of course, was still pouring down on us.
He tugged my arm. “C’mon, let’s go back in the office.”
I followed, and we stood dripping on the floor. Another flash of blue-bright lightning. Another guttural roar of thunder.
“You were driving in this?” he asked.
“I needed to reach a client.”
“You couldn’t figure out that was a bad idea?” He looked amused, if anything.
I shrugged. “Plainly, I didn’t think it through.”
His laugh was a grunt this time. He went behind the counter. “I’ve got to shut off the sign…”
But before he could reach the switch, the office lights flicked off.
“Well,” the red-haired man said, “that’s that. My name’s Shelby, by the way.”
“Kevin,” I said.
“Okay, Kevin.” He gave me a measuring look, as though gauging me against some internal chart of his own devising. He was late-twenties, my age. He had a savvy, can-do air about him. “Tell you what. I am declaring you marooned here. I’ve got no choice to put you in a room. Mind you, no ‘lectricity, so no lights, no TV. But least you won’t drown.”
