“You too.”
I step away and Caulder opens the door. Creed is on the other side, Jakub and Ethan against the wall behind him.
“You are here. Ready?” Creed asks.
Caulder nods. “We were just double checking whether there was a sock under the bed, or a charger left plugged in. The number of chargers I’ve forgotten in hotel rooms is costing me a fortune.”
“I have a basket full of single socks,” I add. “That’s equally annoying.”
Creed huffs. “Yeah, it is.”
I shift to pass Caulder his hockey bag and with his carry on in hand, he steps into the hall. I follow once I have my bags too, taking one last glance into the room. Not checking for something missing this time, but just one more look at the place that holds a lot of good memories. Sexy memories, but good, sweet memories too.
Turning around, I meet Caulder’s eyes, and I know he’s thinking what I am. But he asks, “Any socks?”
Snorting, I shrug. “Probably, but I’m learning to deal with it.”
He smiles. We follow the Buffalo trio to the elevators, listening to them talk. I have always wondered what married couples find to talk about when they’re together every day. Those three, even more so. They’re together literally every single minute. I can’t imagine being with someone that long, that often.
Glancing at Caulder, I wonder if I can, though.
We’re awarded a little longer alone together when the car that comes to take us to the airport isn’t big enough for the five of us. It’s not even big enough for three with our huge gear bags, so Caulder and I load into that one. We sit closer than necessary, and I keep my bag over our laps so we can hold hands.
We don’t speak. There is no privacy in a rideshare. We don’t even steal looks. Both of us are staring out our respective windows, pretending like we took this ride because that’s how luck fell. What the world can’t see and won’t witness is how desperately we’re gripping each other’s hand.
For the first time in my entire life, I don’t even care about the traffic. I’m willing it to be there. More traffic, please! Neither of us are in danger of missing our flights and honestly, I’m cool about being sent back to a hotel for another night because we miss our flights. That seems like a perfectly logical reason.
If we’d worked that out ahead of time and planned properly.
We didn’t, so we arrive at the airport far before we’re ready. A single glance between us, just the touching of our gazes, and we turn away, releasing hands, and climbing out. Caulder waits for me on the sidewalk as I round behind the car.
Noah, Elixon, and Azure are checking in ahead of us, and I see Max off to the side. He’s on his phone and smiling a big Max smile. This is the way I always imagine him when someone mentions his name. Hopefully this means that there haven’t been any negative consequences from yesterday’s interview.
When we approach the line, Noah grins at us. Caulder waves and moves further down. We’re all heading west, so it seems we’re on the same airline if not the same flight. Caulder is going north, though. So is Max.
“Not Delta?” I ask.
Caulder shakes his head. “United. I’ll catch up.”
I nod and join the line. It doesn’t take me long to get to the desk and I check my bag. By the time I’m done, Caulder is waiting for me with Max, Noah, and Azure. My heart beats a little harder when I look into his eyes. He’s chewing his lip, a smile touching them as I join the group.
“Anyone else?” Max asks, looking around us.
“Nope,” Noah says.
Security is quick with the pre-check and within twenty minutes, we’re in the terminals. I’m in the opposite direction Caulder is, quite inconveniently, but he sits at one of the tables at a cafe.
“Waiting for Creed,” he explains.
I take a seat with him, the other four joining us.
“When’s your flight?” Noah asks.
“Not till three.”
“Same. You’re going to get home way before me, though. I have a layover in Denver,” Noah says.
We exchange flight times and layover details, then conversation goes to the games again. I listen to them absently. A foot touches mine under the table. When it doesn’t pull away, I glance up and Caulder smiles, though he’s not looking at me. We’re sitting beside each other, so I reach under the table and grip his thigh.
