Work Text:
It was coming up to midnight and Kate was sitting at the reception of the shithole motel in her hometown of Bumfuck, Missouri, marking a particularly pertinent phrase in her textbook in pencil. It wasn’t the most exciting of jobs, but she needed the cash. Working the late shift meant plenty of downtime to work on papers for her community college classes, and the only other employment in town was the canning factory. Long shifts alone bar the occasional drifter were better than that could ever be, so she stayed.
It was a freezing January night, which meant the blast of freezing air hit before she saw them. Two tall guys — one very tall — in military surplus gear, looking like a pair of models who’d taken a wrong turn. She checked them out as subtly as possible. Attractive guys were pretty thin on the ground out here, and her textbook was dry as kindling. These two were the most interesting thing that had walked through the door in a while.
The shorter one was… pretty. There was no other word for him, with huge eyes and lashes she was instantly jealous of, lips full and pink, and the shape of his cheekbones outlined with freckles. The other guy wasn’t quite such a pretty boy, but his cheekbones were sharp enough to cut glass, and his eyes, upturned at the outer corners, were attractive. His hair was on the longer side and suited him, bangs just out of his eyes but still unruly enough to make Kate want to brush them aside. Both were encased in so many layers their body shapes were hidden, but they moved with an easy purpose that suggested lean, trained muscle underneath.
“Hey, sweetheart,” said the shorter one, all over-the-top charm and smiles she was all too used to seeing. “Looking for a room for tonight. Two queens.”
She shook her head in faux regret. “Sorry, none left, I’m afraid. Jimmy Thompson’s youngest is getting married tomorrow, so we’re near full up. The only room left’s a king.”
The taller one spoke up then. “Let’s just take it. We’re exhausted.” He was more soft-spoken and understated than his companion, and now that he mentioned it she could see faint dark circles under his eyes.
“Be dealing with your octopus arms in my face all night.” His tone was grumpy, but he pulled out his wallet anyway as his companion rolled his eyes in a matter that struck her as more fond than annoyed. “Alright, we’ll take it.”
The name on the card he passed over was Jack Hitoff. She raised an eyebrow at the obvious fake, but at minimum wage she didn’t see it as her problem. She processed the payment then grabbed the only key left.
“Room 15. Door’s right over there.” She gestured to the right side of her desk as the pretty one took the key and thanked her. She turned back to her book, but didn’t focus on it. Instead, she watched the two hot strangers as they both headed back outside to the car that she’d missed pulling up — huge, black, and very old-looking — and grabbed duffels from the trunk and a grocery bag from the back seat. They walked back in on another icy gust of wind and went straight to their room. As she heard the door click closed behind them, she tried to pay attention to her textbook. They might be interesting, but they weren’t going to get her the grades she needed to get out of this town.
Kate hated it when there were guests in room 15. The air vent from that bedroom opened up into the reception, and every little noise the guests made carried through. Everyone who worked here — usually after hearing something they really didn’t want to — knew that it should always be the last room assigned. She hoped that these guys were as tired as the one with the long hair had claimed. Her paper was due in three days, and she didn’t need the distraction. At least they weren’t likely to be having sex, since they’d asked for two queens. She didn’t need that embarrassment tonight.
“Just gone midnight, Sammy!” She cursed to herself as the voice of the shorter man echoed out of the vent. “You promised.”
“Dude,” the long-haired guy began, long-suffering and weary right from the first word, “I’m all gross from the road.”
“Don’t care. Clothes off. C’mon man, it’s my birthday.”
Kate cringed. She might be a bit more open-minded about that sort of thing than most people out here, but that didn’t mean she wanted to hear it. Listening to other people’s sex wasn’t her idea of a good time, regardless of whatever plumbing was involved. So much for her deduction that those two wouldn’t be having sex. They’d obviously just wanted two beds for extra sleeping space.
She heard a long, exasperated sigh, then the unmistakable sound of belts being undone. Damn it. This was the last thing she needed right now. The bedsprings, old and worn, screamed under the weight of two large men, and then the moaning started.
Kate tried — with little success — to ignore the porno sounds and focus on her chemistry assignment.
A few minutes later the moans suddenly stopped, broken off by coughing and spluttering. “I just got a mouthful of your happy trail.” The pretty one, it sounded like.
“How do you think I feel? It’s all sticky, and there’s crumbs in my navel,” his partner groused.
Her eyes widened in confusion. Crumbs? ‘Sticky’ fitted in with what she’d been unwillingly picturing, sure, but crumbs didn’t. What the hell were they doing in there?
“Only you would actually say ‘navel’, you nerd.” The tone was teasing, but tinged with fondness. “Okay, Sammy, I’ll admit it. Pie might be awesome, but it’s not sexy.”
“Sorry. How about we head to the shower and you can help me wash this mess off? At least we know that is pretty hot.”
The bedsprings clinked again, and she heard the bathroom door open. “At least I can’t hear them in there,” Kate thought to herself with relief. She went back to her textbook and picked up her pencil.