With a furrowed brow, Laurie pressed down on the mattress with both hands, and the springs within the old bed creaked out a wailing dismay. "My lower back," she complained softly, ".. is not getting along with this bed." Darkness had descended upon their hotel room, and the window was left partly open - the sound of an acoustic guitar wafting through the air from somewhere further down the streets. "Brayden, honey? Do you think I could bother you for a massage before bedtime?"

Under the luminescent light of his phone screen, the young man did his best to appear nonchalant about the idea, though the slightest hint of excitement...