CHAPTER EIGHT
An alarm buzzes somewhere in the room. I fumble around for my iPhone even though it’s not the sound my alarm makes. Maybe someone broke in last night and changed it.
“Shhh. Stop moving. You’re comfy,” Oliver says. The warm hand that had been resting on my back leaves momentarily as the sound dies off.
Not listening to him, I lift my head and wipe a small line of drool frommy cheek…and then to my horror from his chest. “I drooled on you.”
He laughs, the movement shaking my body. “I know. It was cute.”
I push away from Oliver’s body like he’s on fire. How in the hell did I end up stretched across his chest with his arms wrapped around me in the middle of the night? We fell asleep facing opposite directions. It’s like our bodies were drawn to each other, or theywere if I believed in such kinds of things. Which I totally don’t. More than likely my vagina realized she was sleeping next to a hot athlete who earlier told an entire cafeteria I was cute and they couldn’t touch me and decided she wanted to be a little closer. Totally not my fault.
Can’t be held responsible.
Deciding to ignore the fact I slept on top of himandthe fact I drooled on him, Ipush a few strands of hair away for my face and look out the window. It’s completely black out there. “What time is it?”
He checks the phone he placed on the windowsill. “Five a.m.”
“Five a.m.!” And here I’d worried when I went to his room early in the morning. “Why did you wake me up at 5 o’clock in the morning?”
He stretches, the muscles of his chest flexing. “I always wake up early. Researchshows you should wake up at least three hours before you have to work.”
“You’re not clocking in to some desk job, Oliver.”
“No, but I have my first qualifying heat at ten.”
“Exactly, so why are we up now? Go to bed.” Unless he totally failed at math, we can sleep until at least seven per his logic.
He laughs, gently pushing me out of his way to stand. I refuse to leave the warmth of my covers.“I need a few hours for good luck. Besides, I have a few things I like to do before I race.”
My stomach drops at the way he says “a few things.” That never actually means a few when it comes the athletes. He seemed so normal until right now.
As I look at Oliver’s face, he suddenly morphs. He’s no longer the cute fun laid-back snowboarder I’ve known the last few weeks. Now, he resembles all theother athletes. The ones who make me spend all day running around double checking their socks are packed correctly or their drinks are chilled perfectly. At least, maybe it will curb some of my attraction to him. If he expects me to sort out M&Ms or any other ridiculous request, he’s in for a shock.
“Okay, I’ll bite.” It’s not like I have any choice anyway. This is literally my job. “What exactlyare your few rituals?”
“I brought a list.”
Of course he did.
He smiles, pulling out a small piece of paper from the pocket of his grey sweatpants he wore to my room last night.
“You slept with it?”
He shrugs. “I didn’t want to lose it.”
More than likely he didn’t want me to see and freak out. “Okay, show me this list.”
Oliver hands me the folded over square piece of paper and then withoutanother word turns and walks into the bathroom closing the door behind him. Definitely none of this is good. With doom and trepidation, I unfold the sheet. When it’s open I smooth it out against my knees.
A few rituals my ass. The entire page is filled in a font so small it must be like size six, single spaced, with narrow margins. The only way he could fit more words on this piece of paperis if I use a magnifying glass to read it.
I quickly scan as much as I can, trying to brace myself for the worst. I’ve seen a lot of stuff the last few weeks, but I have a feeling this may be the worst.
The fifth item stops me in my tracks. “Oliver! Number five says you have to play three games of skee-ball.” The number three is underlined and bolded like any more or less could cause a catastrophe.
He peeks his head out of the bathroom. “Yeah,” he says like this is a normal.
“You have a race today at ten. You don’t have time to go to the hotel and play three games of skee-ball.”
