When you fall into a pool with a very hot movie star, surrounded by paparazzi, you start to question your life choices. 

Maybe I should have taken every penny I had ever saved and run away to Scotland, searching for the Loch Ness Monster with Carter when I had the chance. Spending our days by the loch, binoculars in hand, sharing theories about our soon to be best friend. 

Or maybe I should have rented a boat, tucked Carter away on it and sailed to the Bermuda Triangle, welcoming the mist and fog, wondering where we would end up. Perhaps stumbling upon Atlantis, an isolated paradise, where Carter would be free from the chaos I had dragged him into. 

Or maybe gone hunting for Bigfoot who would then become Carter's bodyguard, keeping him safe from all harm while we set up a cabin in the forest. 

All of those would have been better than staring at Luke at the bottom of the pool, both of us trying to decide how long we could hold our breath before we were forced to come out of the water and face the paparazzi. 

I wanted to tell him how sorry I was for dragging him into the pool, but there wasn't a big enough facial expression for... 

OH MY GOSH. I AM SO SORRY FOR DRAGGING YOU INTO THE POOL AND FORCING YOUR TO FACE THE MEDIA SHARKS. HOW LONG CAN YOU HOLD YOUR BREATH BY THE WAY?

Luke managed to shake his head, shooting me a look of exasperation.

I shrugged helplessly.

He looked up at the surface with a look of trepidation, closed his eyes for a beat, and then broke for the water's edge, sending more flashes washing across the water. 

Luke was already out of the pool by the time I popped my head above the water. The paparazzi all but swarmed him, leaving me with a window to get out without much attention on the other side of the pool. Luke glanced back at me with an imperceptible nod, urging me to take it. 

I began to swim to the other edge, and paused as I took another look at Luke. He was smiling, doing his best to dry off with an abandoned towel by the pool side while people shouted questions at him. Several people demanded that he pose, going crazy over his soaked appearance. 

But I noticed new details under the smile. A slight shift to his posture as several people shouted for him to take off his shirt. The way he ducked his head when others whistled. I glanced back towards my exit and sighed. 

I couldn't leave him there. Not when he was a lone wet t shirt contest contestant because of me. He didn't deserved to be gawked at. 

So, hating that I was still wearing a very white— very wet dress, I climbed out of the pool next to Luke, and found myself suddenly pulling the attention away from my male co-star. 

Luke glanced over at me, surprised and a moment later, wrapped his towel around me, giving the cameras a lot less of me to capture. The gesture, Luke wrapping his arms around me with the towel however, earned a frantic level of flashes, capturing an entirely different scene.

My heart raced faster at the kindness in his gesture, and my eyes met Luke's, our gazes stumbling over each other for a moment, self conscious but connected in a moment of necessity. Then I turned back to the paparazzi, giving them my best smile as I shouted over their chatter.

"Well that was fun. You get one question before I go." I gestured to all of them. "Ten seconds to fight amongst yourselves before I walk away with this guy," I said, gesturing to Luke.

The paparazzi all blinked, surprised. Then they began to talk over each other, fighting to ask a question. I shrugged, smiling helplessly. "Sorry, can't hear all of you at once. Try again."

I had learned this trick while writing an article about Allie Winters. Her sass and lack of patience with the paparazzi had lead her to do the same thing. A trick that worked flawlessly, because if there was one thing that all gossip columnists had in common, it was their need to get their question answered before everyone else. To make their story juicer than everyone else's. And that led to infighting. Something I counted on. 

The paparazzi were still arguing, screaming over each other in a chaotic, jumbled mess of voices when I glanced down at an invisible watch on my wrist. 

"Well... this was also fun. Great questions. Couldn't understand any of them." I pulled Luke's hand in mine and began to push through the crowd. "Time to go. Try to play nice next time." 

Then I dashed into the lobby, Luke in step with me as we bolted for the elevator and slid inside, shutting it before they could follow. I slunk against the wall, breathing heavily, pulling the towel tighter around myself as I let go of Luke's hand. "Well that was ridiculous." 

Luke let out a tired laugh, tugging his fingers through his hair in frustration as he settled against the opposite wall. "Welcome to my life."

We stood in silence as the elevator moved, passing floor after floor, the beach shrinking below, the elevator music calming after the last few minutes of shouting. 

"Why did you do that?" Luke asked. 

"What? Help you? They were ogling you like a piece of meat."

"I'm used to that. You should have taken your out." 

I laughed, exasperated. "Why did you try and help me Luke?"

"You said you needed support. People to count on... A security blanket."

His words floored me. 

Luke Walker... someone to count on? A warm fuzzy blanket? 

The idea felt strange in my mind. I had never considered him as someone to trust. To lean on. Was he really offering that?

He looked at me, tentative. "If you want..." He shook his head, changing his phrasing. "No, need something easy. Something... simple. Something un-messy, then that's what I can give."

The silence stretched as I took him in, waiting for the punch line, for what he expected out of the deal. For some catch that he was keeping hidden. But after a moment, I realized he wasn't expecting anything. 

I crossed my arms, trying to shield myself from his kindness. From his stupid suggestion that he couldn't honestly mean. "You can't promise that."

Luke raised a brow. "I wasn't aware that you were in charge of what I was and wasn't capable of." He rocked back on his heels. "Look we are working together for a while and the last time I did this, things ended terribly. I want to do better this time. And if friendship is the best way to keep things steady, then I can do that."

I laughed a deprecating laugh and looked away. "You don't want to be friends with me."

Luke moved to stand next to me, leaning against the wall with one shoulder as he looked down at me, making my cheeks burn as he tilted my chin up to look at him with his index finger. "And I thought we settled on the fact that you aren't in charge of what I am capable of doing," he said softly.

I blinked several times, trying to regain my focus, finding it hard to think with him standing so close, all wet and perfect looking. I was half tempted to hand him back the towel, but then he would know what was on my mind and I couldn't have that.

I cleared my throat, taking a step back, fighting to keep my breath even. "Friends? Really?"

Luke nodded, wearing an expression of both relief and disappointment. "Friends."

The elevator door opened and I moved towards my hotel room door down the hall before pausing, reaching into my dress pockets. My phone was trashed, waterlogged, my room key was missing and the lobby was crawling with paparazzi.

Craaaaap.

I slowly turned to look at Luke who stood in the elevator, waiting for it to close. "Um... you didn't happen to lose your room key too did you?" 

Luke reached into his board shorts and pulled out his room key in a quick fluid motion. "Let me guess... yours is gone?" 

Before I could say a word he placed his hand on the elevator opening to keep the doors from closing. "Come on, Bermuda. You can wait in my room for them to bring you a new key."

I moved to protest, but he cut me off with an unreadable expression. "What are friends for."

...

His room turned out to be the largest suit of the hotel. It made me burst into laughter as I walked inside, clutching my towel tightly as I took in the marble columns, chandelier and dining room table that sat in front of a large window with doors that opened up onto a balcony. 

"I'm sharing a room with your ex-girlfriend and you have an entire wing of the hotel to yourself."

I laughed so hard that I snorted as I took in his bathroom, with a bathtub big enough to fit five people. Moonlight streamed in through a large window that made up one wall. All of Luke's toiletries sat perfectly straight, in order of height next to the marble sink in front of a large LED framed mirror.

"We could fit the entire cast and crew into your living room!" I said, grinning. 

Feeling bold and nosey, I walked over to the door that lead to his bedroom and giggled. "I take that back. We could fit them all in here." His bedroom was almost as large as the living room. The windows were open, sending long white curtains fluttering in the night ocean breeze. The light sheets were bright, nearly aglow from the starlight outside. 

A small love seat sat along one wall, and a fireplace sat along the other. 

"Who has a fireplace in a hotel in a tropical climate?" I started laughing again. "This hotel room is ridiculous." 

Luke leaned against the wall to his bedroom, watching me move around. "Are you done mocking? Or should I leave you alone to continue your critique?"

I poked one of the pillows on the loveseat, pretending to be a hotel room critic. "A few more minutes. Can't decide how I should rate this room on my very popular hotel blog."

Luke surprised me by snorting before clearing his throat, attempting to hide his laugh as he pushed off the doorframe and walked out of the room. "You are a strange girl, Bermuda." 

Taking a moment, I looked around the rest of his room, noting how perfectly organized everything was. His suitcase was empty, sitting next to his open double door bamboo closet. All of his clothes were perfectly pressed and hung up in a color coded order. From lights to darks. Even his shoes seemed to have a similar arrangement. 

"Wow... he's very organized," I murmured. 

Walking back out of the bedroom, I found Luke appearing out of the bathroom, a set of towels, and a robe in hand. He held them out towards me. "Here... You can get cleaned up while you wait for them to make you a new key."

I shook my head. "That's okay. I'll just... wait until I'm back in my own room."

Luke continued to stand there for another beat, hands full of supplies, unsure of what to do. Then he gestured to the hotel phone on one of the side tables. "Feel free to use the phone." 

Then he ducked back into the bathroom and closed the door. A moment later I heard the water running, which magically sent my face burning red. 

Okay, call the front desk and get out of here. 

Scrambling for the phone, I made the call and they promised to get me a new key in the next five minutes. 

Those five minutes were WAYYYYY too long. 

They eventually came and I slipped out of the room right as the water in Luke's bathroom shut off. 

I made it back to my room, key in hand, towel still wrapped tightly across my shoulders, relieved when there were no paparazzi lurking in the hallway to find a soaked girl trying to sneak back into her room from a higher floor— Luke Walker's floor. 

I quickly slid my card across the card reader and shoved the door, eager to get inside. But something blocked the door, keeping me out. "Lavender?" I called. "Are you in there?" 

I was met by silence. "Something is blocking the door... can you let me in?" 

Nothing. 

I pulled out my phone and stared at it helplessly, wishing I could call Delle. I didn't know her room number and I couldn't go down to the lobby. The front desk had confirmed that paparazzi were proving to be a challenge to kick out. 

I stared up and down the hallway, trying to decide if shouting for Delle was a good idea. The only other room number I knew was... 

I spun and hit the door to my room. "LAVENDER! LET ME IN!" 

Silence.

"Lavender..." I said in a pleading voice, leaning my head against the door. "Please let me in. Don't leave me out here... in my wet clothes... all night..." 

More silence.

Swearing, I made my way down the hall and back towards the elevator. "I can't believe I am doing this..." 

...

Luke answered his door with a look of surprise, a towel strung over his shoulders, and not wearing anything but a pair of grey sweatpants, which just seemed unfair.

Have mercy... 

"Bermuda?"

I flailed my hands back towards the elevator— momentarily speechless— like waving my arms was enough evidence to explain my sudden second arrival. "I... My door is kinda stuck... Can I borrow your phone to call my room and see if Lavender can open it for me?" 

Luke took a step back, gesturing for me to come inside. 

"You're staying with Lavender?" he asked as I picked up the room phone. 

I punched in the numbers and waited for her to pick up. "Yep." I played with the long curly phone cord, twirling it in between my fingers as I continued to wait for Lavender to pick up the phone. 

"I like her. She's..."

"Dramatic?" Luke guessed as he walked out of the room and walked back in a moment later, pulling on a white shirt self-consciously. 

 "Honest," I corrected. 

Luke placed several towels and a robe down on the table next to the phone, wearing a frustrated smile. "She certainly is opinionated."

I burned to ask him questions about his relationship with Lavender. About how he felt while they dated— well fake dated. If any of it had ever felt real. But that seemed like dangerous territory. 

The phone continued to ring, unanswered. "What is this for?" I asked, gesturing to the towels and robe.

Luke settled down in a large plush chair in the living room, plucking up a worn copy of a book. He flipped the pages casually, looking up at me for a brief moment over the rim of the book. "Lav tends to get freaked out by potential paparazzi break ins. She barricades the door and puts in headphones so she can sleep." 

His brow furrowed for a brief moment as a memory surfaced. Then his eyes cleared and he looked back down at the pages. "She had a bad break in a few years ago at a hotel during a shoot." 

He gestured to the towels and robe. "She won't be answering the phone or door for a while."

I stared at him, shocked, the ringing phone still at my ear. 

I had no room. No place to sleep. Lavender barricaded me out of our shared room. The hotel was completely booked and there was no other place to stay.

"Seriously?" 

The phone continued to ring, declaring the truth. 

Luke offered me an apologetic look. "She probably forgot." 

I put the phone down and slunk down on a loan chair opposite the one that Luke sat in. "How can she forget?" I was more confused than hurt. Lavender seemed nice enough. I couldn't imagine her doing that on purpose. If she wanted to be mean, she would have started that a lot earlier. 

"She normally gets her own room, but..." Luke shrugged. "Not this time I guess."

I pulled the towel I still wore tighter around myself, lost. What do I do now?

"You can stay in my bedroom."

My head snapped up and I stared at Luke wide eyed, my own eyes mirroring his surprise. Apparently he was just as startled by his words as I was. 

We stared at each other in a heated silence for a long moment. 

"Um... what?" I said a little too loudly.

Luke stood up, yanking his gaze away, rubbing the back of his neck, color crawling up his face. "I won't be in there with you, Bermuda," he said, tone husky. 

Clearing his throat, he gestured to the entire hotel suite. "There's enough room out here... You said so yourself. This place could fit everyone in the cast and crew."

Then why does it suddenly feel like there isn't enough room?

---

Thank you for reading chapter twenty three! I hope you are enjoying the story! Or are at least curious to see where it goes!

UPDATE DAYS - A NEW CHAPTER EVERY FRIDAY!

OHHH SNAP. Are these two sharing a hotel room? 0.0 Will anything happen?

Will Lavender realize she locked Em out of their room and come looking for her?

Will the paparazzi find out about the room sharing and write something steamy about it?

What will happen next?

CHAPTER QUESTION - Have you ever had a roommate or shared a room with someone? How did it go?