Irish Throwdown (What Happens In Vegas Book 4) by Matt Lincoln (short books for teens .TXT) 📕

I stepped outside toward the group. I felt terrible having to turn them away, but I really didn’t have anywhere to put them.

“Whoa,” one of the young men gasped as he saw me approaching. “You’re that guy, right? The old guy?”

“Excuse me?” I snapped, confused and a little annoyed by his remark.

“Dude,” one of the girls in the group scoffed as she attempted to swat him on the back of the head. She missed by about a foot. “That’s so rude. Seriously? Sorry about that. He’s just excited that we’re actually here.”

“Yeah,” another girl giggled. “We were all so excited about seeing this motel. We read about the little girl ghost that walks around at night.”

“Christine,” a fourth boy drawled. “That’s, like, totally an urban legend.”

I looked around at the group. Their eyes were bloodshot, and they were each wearing dopey grins on their faces. They were high.

“Who drove here?” I demanded to know as the kids continued to squabble about whether the story was real.

“Me!” a voice called out from the back of the crowd. I raised an eyebrow as a short man with sandy blond hair shoved his friends aside to get to me. “Sorry, it’s my uncle’s RV, and I wanted to make sure I parked it correctly. Just ignore whatever they said to you. They’re, uh…”

“High?” I finished for him as he stuttered.

“Yeah,” he laughed sheepishly. “But it’s just weed, I swear. And I’m totally sober.”

“It’s fine,” I chucked at his nervous expression. Marijuana was legal in Alaska, and now that I knew they had a designated driver, I wasn’t too concerned. “I did my fair share of crazy things when I was young, and I’m not exactly a stranger to drugs. I’m afraid I don’t have any room for you, though.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” the young man smiled with relief. “We were just going to stay in the RV. We just wanted to look at the hotel since we heard it was haunted.”

“Well, alright then,” I replied. “Why don’t you come inside? We have a restaurant. I can’t board you, but I can get you something to eat.”

“Yes!” the first girl gasped. “I am so hungry.”

“I bet,” I chuckled. “Well, come on. It’s not a big menu, but I’m sure you’ll find something you like.”

I led the group through the main doors and toward the restaurant. I could hear them giggling and joking about seeing ghosts as they followed behind me.

“Chelsea!” I called as I left them in the dining room and headed into the kitchen. “I’ve got a pretty big group out there about to order food, just wanted to give you the heads-up.”

“Got it.” She smiled confidently at me. Chelsea was hoping to go to culinary school after graduating from high school. I didn’t have the means or equipment for her to work to her full potential here, but I figured the cooking experience would be good for her resume.

With that settled, I retreated from the restaurant and headed back onto the front porch of the hotel. There was a row of new, rustic-looking rocking chairs set out on it, and I fell into one to admire the view. Autumn on the mountain was beautiful. The trees were still awash in hues of red and gold, but snow was already starting to accumulate on the ground and on branches as well. It was a calm and serene sight, and I felt my eyes drifting shut as I admired it.

“Um, excuse me.” A timid voice jerked me from my doze. I looked up to find the group’s designated driver standing in front of me. “I was just wondering if it would be okay if we built a fire pit.”

“A what?” I asked in shock.

“Not a big one,” he amended quickly. “We use this thing that’s kind of like a grill. It’s meant for roasting marshmallows and stuff.”

“What, in the parking lot?” I asked. I looked up and realized that the sky had gotten considerably darker. How long had I dozed off for?

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “Um, it’s okay if we can’t. We were just wondering.”

“Sure, I guess that’s fine,” I shrugged as I looked out over the parking lot. There was a lot of empty space, and as long as it was just a tiny campfire, it would probably be fine.

“Wow, really?” the young man beamed. “That’s awesome. Do you want to come sit with us? We were just going to tell scary stories and stuff. I’m Austin, by the way.”

“Charlie,” I introduced myself with a chuckle. It was funny how quickly he’d gone from shy to excited. “But, uh, nah. You kids have fun.”

Honestly, I just wanted to continue my nap. I was still pretty drowsy, and I was sure I could doze back off if I just shut my eyes.

“Oh,” Austin mumbled. “Um, well, I actually was kind of hoping that, um…”

“Yes?” I asked a little more harshly than I’d meant to. I never was in a good mood right after waking up.

“Well, we read about this place online,” he explained. “And the people who wrote about it, well, they talked about how you told them some really awesome stories.”

“Did they?” I asked as I thought back to the day the two backpackers had passed through. They had seemed pretty invested in the story I’d told them.

“Yeah.” Austin grinned. “Anyway, I actually came over here to ask about that too. If you wouldn’t mind, that is. I don’t want to bother you or anything.”

The lure of sleep was calling me, but the kid looked so anxious that I didn’t have it in me to turn him down.

“Alright,” I grumbled as I stood up off my chair. “I suppose one story can’t hurt.”

“Awesome!” the kid exclaimed.

I followed him over to the RV where his friends were already waiting and watched as they quickly and expertly built a small fire in something that greatly resembled a stainless steel pot.

“Alright,” one of the boys said once the fire was flickering.