Ashton and the rest of the group turned around toward the entrance, watching as two familiar figures sauntered across the sleek marble floor carrying heavy sports duffels.
It was Marcus and Reid.
“Man, if it weren’t for Reid here forgetting to double-check his car’s engine oil before we hit the highway, we would’ve been here an hour ago,” Marcus complained loudly as he reached the group, casually slinging an arm over Ashton’s shoulder.
Ashton grinned, shaking his head.
“Hey, I was starting to think you guys flaked on us!
Thought you were gonna spare us the extra chaos.”
Jace frowned, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked between Marcus and Reid.
“Dude…
I thought this was supposed to be a small Bulldogs-only trip.
What are they doing here?”
Marcus’s smile faded, his eyes narrowing as he turned to glare at Jace.
“And what is that supposed to mean?
Are we not part of the exact same hockey team?”
Jace didn’t back down.
He smirked, looking Marcus straight in the eye without flinching.
“No, I think you two belong to a completely different team.
The Bullydogs.”
“You piece of shit—” Marcus growled, his face darkening as he dropped his bag and took an aggressive step forward, pulling his fist back.
Before things could escalate into a full-blown fistfight right in the middle of the lobby, Keegan instantly stepped directly between the two of them, putting both hands up flat against Marcus’s chest to hold him back.
“Hey, hey, hey!
Cut it out!” Keegan warned sharply, his voice firm.
“We’re standing in the middle of a five-star hotel lobby.
Save the arena drama for the ice.”
Marcus glared past Keegan’s shoulder at Jace, but he begrudgingly stepped back, picking his bag back up off the floor.
Keegan let out a breath and turned to Ashton, raising an eyebrow.
“Ash…
why didn’t you tell us that Marcus and Reid were coming along too?”
Ashton rubbed the back of his neck, letting out an awkward laugh.
“Ah…
yeah.
I ran into them yesterday and invited them.
I totally meant to inform you guys, I just…
kind of forgot to mention it.”
Reid tossed his bag over his shoulder, shifting his weight awkwardly as he felt the heavy tension hanging in the air.
“Look, man, if it feels like we’re crashing your little private crew, we can just grab another room somewhere else or head back.”
“Okay, come on now,” Kira stepped up, raising her hands to smooth things over.
“We’re all from the same university and literally same team and we’re all here to have a good time.
There’s no point in ruining the trip before we’ve even unpacked.
Let me and Chloe handle our thing, you guys handle yours, and let’s just enjoy the two days, okay?”
Ashton beamed at Kira, giving her an appreciative nod.
“See?
That right there is why you’re the captain of the cheer team.”
Kira tossed her braids over her shoulder with a playful smirk.
“I know.
I’m almost too perfect.”
Ashton turned back to the counter, holding up the three gold-embossed key cards in his hand.
“Alright, so here’s how our rooms are gonna work.”
He handed the first key to Kira.
“Kira and Chloe get the suite 501.
It’s perfect for the girls.” Next, he tossed the second key card to Marcus.
“Marcus and Reid, you guys take 502.”
Then, Ashton stepped right up beside Keegan, wrapping his arm around his shoulder and pulling him close to his side.
“And me and my best man here will share the last suite, 503.” Jace immediately crossed his arms, pouting dramatically as he stared at Ashton.
“Oh, so y’all just don’t love me, huh?
My name wasn’t even worth a mention!” Ashton burst out laughing, shaking his head. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Hey, stop that pout!
It makes you look ridiculous.”
He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, explaining, “I didn’t say your name because I wanted to give you a choice!
I didn’t want to force you into a crowded room, so you can choose whether you want to bunk with me and Keegs or go with Marcus and Reid.”
Jace rolled his eyes with a reluctant smirk, gesturing toward Marcus and Reid.
“Fine, fine.
I’ll stay with Marcus and Reid.
If I choose you two, everyone’s gonna accuse me of picking favorites anyway.” With room keys officially handed out, the group turned as one toward the floor-to-ceiling glass elevators at the back of the lobby.
“Alright, let’s move out before Marcus tries to tackle Jace into a potted palm,” Kira said.
Ashton hauled Chloe’s designer bag along with his own, while Jace and Marcus kept a tense, silent distance from each other as they stepped into the elevator.
The doors slid shut, and the elevator surged smoothly upward, offering a panoramic view of the massive theme park stretching out below them under the bright afternoon sun.
When the bell chimed for the fifth floor, they stepped out onto a plush, carpeted hallway lined with sleek mahogany doors.
“VIP section…
now this is what I’m talking about,” Jace muttered, whistling softly as he checked the door numbers.
“Suite 502.
That’s us, boys.”
Marcus snatched the key card from Jace’s hand without a word and unlocked their door, sliding inside with Reid right behind him.
Jace rolled his eyes at Keegan before trailing after them.
A few doors down, Chloe unlocked Suite 501.
Ashton set her luggage down inside the entryway, leaning down to press a soft kiss against her forehead.
“Get unpacked, babe,” Ashton murmured with a warm smile.
“We’ll head down to the main park gates as soon as everyone’s ready.”
“Don’t take forever, my love,” Chloe cooed, wrapping her arms around his waist for a quick hug before letting him go so Kira could roll her own bag inside.
Once the girls’ door clicked shut, Ashton turned back to Keegan, tossing their key card up and catching it with a grin.
“Finally.
Just us.” They walked down to the end of the hall to Suite 503.
Ashton tapped the key card against the sensor, and the door unlatched with a soft beep.The suite was massive.
A wide living area with a plush sectional couch opened up into a bedroom featuring one king-sized bed, framed by a massive floor-to-ceiling window that offered a stunning, unobstructed view of Everything Kingdom’s famous inverted roller coaster.
“Damn, this is what I call a good reservation,” Ashton said, tossing his bag onto the bed and sprawling out flat across the mattress with an exhausted sigh.
“I feel like I haven’t relaxed in a month.” Keegan set his bag carefully against the wall, making sure it was safely out of the way.
Then, he picked up the insulated cooler bag he had carried all the way from his house and set it down on the glass coffee table in the center of the room.
“Before you drift off,” Keegan said smoothly, unzipping the top of the cooler, “my mom packed something for the trip.” Ashton pushed himself up on one elbow, his hazel eyes lighting up the second he recognized the cooler.
“No way…
is that Aunt’s boba?”
“Yep,” Keegan chuckled, reaching inside and pulling out the sealed plastic cup.
“Extra brown sugar and oat milk.
She specifically remembered how you like it.” Ashton swung his legs off the bed in an instant, crossing the room in three quick strides and grabbing the cup like it was made of solid gold.
He popped the straw through the sealed top and took a long, greedy sip, letting out a blissful groan right after.
“Dude…
your mom is literally a saint,” Ashton said softly, sinking onto the edge of the coffee table with a look of pure satisfaction.
“Tell her I’d marry her if she wasn’t already your mom.” Keegan broke into a genuine, soft laugh, pulling out his own cup of boba.
“I’ll be sure to pass that along, Ash.”
Ashton leaned back against his knees, looking over at Keegan with a sudden, quiet warmth in his eyes.
The reckless, cocky athlete persona dropped completely, leaving just the boy Keegan had grown up with.
“Seriously though, Blue-line,” Ashton said, his voice dropping into a sincere, quiet tone.
“Thanks for coming on this trip.
I know the whole portfolio incident yesterday was a nightmare…
but having you here makes this feel like real life again, you know?”
He reached out, punching Keegan’s shoulder with a gentle, playful tap.
“I don’t say it enough, but…
I don’t know what I’d do without you, man.
Keegan’s chest tightened, that familiar bittersweet aching returning with full force. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
He took a slow sip of his drink, burying the sharp flare of longing before it could show on his face, and offered Ashton a quiet, steady smile.
“You’d probably be lost in a parking lot somewhere,” Keegan replied lightly, nudging Ashton back with his shoe.
“Now drink up before Jace finds out we have these in here and raids the room.”
Right on cue, three heavy knocks rattled the suite’s door, followed by Jace’s loud voice echoing through the wood.
“Yo!
Blue-line!
Ash!
Put some clothes on if you’re naked, we’re hitting the rides!”
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
A few minutes later, the group was standing right outside the grand archway of the main park entrance, surrounded by the roaring sound of roller coasters, cheerful park music, and crowds of eager visitors.
Jace was already strutting a few steps ahead, pointing dramatically toward the towering steel spirals of the mega-coaster in the distance.
“Alright, you suckers can stick to the kiddo rides!”
Jace called out over his shoulder with a sharp grin.
“I’m heading straight to where the big dogs play!”
Kira laughed, shaking her head as she picked up her pace to catch up to him.
“I’ll go with him and make sure he doesn’t get kicked out or break a bone before noon.”
“Good luck!” Ashton yelled after them with a chuckle.
Reid nudged Marcus’s arm, pointing toward a massive interactive arcade building they had spotted near the entrance while driving in.
“Hey, Marcus, let’s go check out that VR setup we saw earlier.”
“Yeah, let’s start at those racing simulators,” Marcus agreed, and the two of them trotted off into the crowd without another word.
That left just Keegan, Ashton, and Chloe standing by the fountain.
Ashton shook his head, a playful smile on his lips as he looked between Keegan and Chloe.
“Okay, okay…
so everyone officially abandoned us.
Guess it’s just the core crew.” He turned down to Chloe, nudging her gently.
“Baby, where do you think we should go first?”
Chloe smiled sweetly, tapping her manicured nails softly against Ashton’s chest as she looked up at him with bright, excited eyes.
“Baby, I would really like to go to the water slides!
I heard they have that super, super long one!”
Ashton smiled down at her before slinging an arm casually over Keegan’s shoulder, pulling him into the loop.
“Wanna come with us, Keegs?
We can hit the water slides first and then head over to the arcades after.” Keegan offered an easy, relaxed smile, adjusting to Ashton’s arm against his neck.
“Let’s go where Chloe wants.
I think the water slides sound pretty fun.”
Ashton’s grin widened, giving Keegan’s shoulder an enthusiastic squeeze.
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
Let’s goooo!”
A short while later, the three of them had changed into their swimwear and were making their way up the endless, spiral wooden stairs of the park’s main aquatic tower.
Standing high above the water park, the slide was legendary—known as one of the longest, fastest double-tube water chutes in all of Africa itself.
The rushing water roared down the clear, twisting fiberglass tubes below them, offering a dizzying view of the entire resort layout.
As they reached the very top launching platform, Chloe gripped Ashton’s bicep tightly, suddenly looking down at the drop with a tiny shudder.
“Baby…
don’t let go of me, okay?” Chloe cooed, clinging tightly to his side as they stepped up to the loading line.
The ride operator standing by the raft bay held up a hand, looking between the three of them before gesturing toward the double-seater rafts lined up along the water jet.
“Ah, ma’am, I’m sorry,” the attendant said politely.
“Safety regulations for this specific double-raft slide don’t allow opposite genders to ride together in the same raft.
But you can pair up with this young lady right here who’s also riding solo, and the two gentlemen can go together in the second raft.”
Chloe’s eyes went wide, her soft expression turning into instant outrage.
“What the actual fuck?!” she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest as her voice raised over the sound of rushing water.
“What kind of stupid rule is that?!”
“Ma’am, it’s just park safety code—”
“I don’t care about your code!” Chloe barked, her face turning bright red as she took a step toward the attendant.
“We paid for VIP tickets!
You know I could literally get you fired for this?!”