Hallelujah

We took a small plane to the Las Vegas airport, being quite the ego boost. I mean yes, we were rich people (or more, the band is rich. I just got absorbed into it all.), but it was still pretty damn cool to ride in a Concord jet in luxury, leaning against Matt the entire 35 minute ride. From there, Matt got a cab but refused to tell me where we were staying, despite how hard I kept poking him in the chest.

I gave up and stared out the window, watching cars pass by on the busy avenue before my eyes drifted. It was only about 6:30, but the sun was already sinking below the Sierra Nevada mountains. The sky turned breath taking shades of red, purple, and orange. I smiled. By God, I loved this city.

"Oh, we're having dinner at Spagos tonight," My eyes widened. A five star restaurant for me? But I'm not even your girlfriend! Instead of saying that, I turned to the window again and said.

"The sunset is so beautiful," I said, leaning my head on Matt's broad shoulder.

"Yea," He agreed, placing a hand on my knee. "But the most beautiful girl in the world is sitting in the cab with me," I looked at him in a confused way.

"Who? Me or the blow-up doll in the passenger seat?" He snorted at my effort to make a joke, then actually looked and saw the blow-up doll, trying his hardest not to laugh and squeezing my knee.

"No, I meant you, Catalyn." Wow, he said my full name. He was so damn sweet it made my heart ache a bit, for I remembered that that was one of the many reasons I fell in love with him in the first place. I pecked his cheek as the cabby made a violent stop (he'd been going about 55 miles per hour) in front of the Belagio, letting us off at the entryway. My eyes widened. This place was definitely different from where our group usually stayed, much, much ritzier. Our hangout was the Palms. Matt paid the cabby and we got out, I was still confused, but now incredibly excited as I rolled my suitcase through the doors and to the check-in.

"Holy fuck, I forgot how awesome this place was..." Matt elbowed me as two old nuns glared vehemently. Whoops, I guess I'm not too ladylike or as god-fearing as I should be. While we stood in line for the check-in, a tall skinny, red-haired boy in his late teens bounded over to us. The pimply teen was obviously one of the bellhops. As easy as that, our luggage was put on a cart and wheeled away. A few minutes later, we arrived at the front of the line, a matronly woman smiling widely at us as she asked for the hotel reservation. She checked her computer and smiled even wider (if possible) as she handed us our room keys.

"Why, are you two newlyweds?" The woman asked. I blushed considerably and shook my head no, not able to reply. "Oh, I just assumed, since you booked one of the honeymooner's suites." Both Matt and I shrugged as we walked off, my cheeks still somewhat flushed as I viewed the surroundings, my right hand encased in Matt's comfortably. The high ceilings and utter vastness of the room made all sounds echo, I noticed as we stepped into an empty elevator.

He pulled me close as we entered. I would've thought he'd kiss me, push me against the old-Italian style wall with his narrow hips and tangle his fingers in my hair, but he'd been sweet to me all day, very odd for him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled my body until it was flush with his, kissing the top of my head and never saying a word as the gravity in the quickly ascending room increased.

After a quick moment I took to breathe in the delicious smell of his skin, the stainless steel door slid open at what I assumed was our floor. Matt pulled away from me, walking through the threshold as I stared at the rich-coloured carpet.

"Babe," Matt asked, I could hear the amusement in his voice.

"Mm?" This is a nice colour.. Somehow the thought of being completely alone with Matt in a city where few knew us was harrowing to me. Something was going to happen, something that would make me guilty for a long, long time. I didn't trust myself to know when to stop.

"You coming?" I shrugged, at which he grabbed my hand and pulled me out, leading me through the winding corridor, our footfalls thumping lightly in the hallway. I laced my fingers with his and swung our connected hands back and forth while we walked. It was an old habit of mine to do so, something that managed to calm my nerves, even if he was the reason for them to begin with. I watched a small smile form on his full lips, his hand tightening slightly on mine. "We're here," he declared, pulling a plastic key card out of his back pocket and sliding it into the slot in a door. It blinked green after a few seconds and unlocked. I wonder what awaits?

My hand free, I walked into the room first, then stopped short.

"Holy shit, Matt. We're only here for the night and you booked a fucking house!" He chuckled, and I jumped in surprise. The nerves were back, bringing a tension on me tighter than an overtuned guitar string. He was closer behind me than I realized, his arms wrapping loosely around my waist as he agreed. I could feel the sweetness in him fading into palpable lust. Lust is not your friend when you feel the guilt weigh on you as though you'd managed to swallow a lead balloon. But at the same time, the familiarity of his touch brought a dull ache to my chest. I pulled away and turned toward him, his face was expressionless.

"So.." I began, wringing my hands together as I tried to think. "When is, uhm.. our dinner reservation for?" he glanced quickly at the clock.

"About 45 minutes," My eyes widened in urgency. I had to go get ready. I ran off toward the bedroom, where the suitcases we'd brought were already waiting thanks to the gangly busboy, digging through my small one for the garment I'd chosen to wear and ignoring the spectacle that was the lavish room itself.

I stepped out of the bathroom almost 40 minutes later, completely ready, dolled up to the extremes, and flipped my bangs out of my face as I walked closer to an astonished-looking Matt and turned around,

"Could you zip me up?" I asked, my voice sounding throatier than I'd meant it to. It was wrong to lead him on like this, when I had no intention to even kiss him tonight. I felt his fingers trace lightly down the bare skin on my back before zipping the back of the dress up. His hot breath blew softly against my neck tightening the skin in goosebumps. His lips grazed gently against me, I realized he's taken out his lip ring, changing the way it felt completely. His tongue glanced against the sensitive skin of my neck once, twice. I tightened up. This was wrong. Tell me, did you just figure that out? Well, I've been repressing it, you see...

I pulled out of his gentle grip and turned around quickly, pushing him backward with my hand. He stumbled into the wall, a look of amusement and slight confusion lighting his features. I looked at my hand and then at the material around it. He was wearing an Armani suit jacket.

"Is that the-" He nodded. As a Christmas present last year, I'd gotten him this jacket, custom-made, black with pinstripes and midnight silk sewn into the inside. It fit him like a glove; a thousand-fifty dollar glove that added an intense amount of sex appeal to an already sexy man... I shook my head to get back in focus. Bad dumbass, Bad!

"Listen," I started, my hand sliding slowly off his sculpted chest, "We can't do this." Ah, now with the morality.

"Why, we're finally alone and-" The look I was giving him cut his words short.
"Can I at least hug you still?" I rolled my eyes and nodded. There was nothing wrong with hugs, right? He stepped forward and wrapped him arms around me in a tight embrace. I relaxed against him and Matt nuzzled my neck lightly. I didn't object.

"You look absolutely beautiful tonight," he stated. I winced, knowing he was ignoring most of what I just said, but thanked him, pulling away as my eyes caught the clock.

"We should go.." My voice drifted off, eyes glued to the metallic silver of my toenail polish.

"Yeah... Oh, and one more question about the whole boundaries thing," I switched tactics, stared at my rouge nails, grabbed my tiny clutch purse, and said,

"Shoot." He reached his hand toward mine and I instinctively laced my fingers with his.

Whoops. Not supposed to happen.

"I'll take that as a yes." He smiled, his dimples showing through in that adorable way only he could pull off. We walked out of the grate room, back through the short hallway, and out the door looking very much a rich, powerful couple. I tightened my fingers on his, wondering dimly just how long I'd be able to hold out against Matt's infallible charm.