I step inside and let the door close behind me. Dropping my own gear bag next to his, I spot the single bed. Of course. And me, who sleeps nude, has nothing to wear tonight. Maybe I’ll be stopping at a store on my way back from hooking up.
I don’t see him until I’m at the edge of the bed. He’s standing between the side and the wall, his eyes wide as he stares at the spot I now occupy.
Caulder Haines. Fuck. Me. It’s not like I’ve watched him since I first ran into him on the ice years ago. The man is gorgeous. Like, seriously. And then he gets put on billboards in his underwear for the world to see and… yeah.
This is going to be a very long weekend.
“Hey,” I greet. He startles and blinks a few times, his cheeks flushing. It doesn’t take a genius to see that this man isveryuncomfortable. “I’m Laurent Duval. Most people call me Lo.”
Caulder nods. Then he seems to visibly shake himself out of it and approaches to take my hand. “Caulder Haines. Uh… Buffalo.”
I grin. “Yeah, I know.”
“Oh?” he asks, eyebrows knitting together.
Jesus. He’s adorable. “Yes. We’ve been playing against each other for years.”
“Well. I guess. But I don’t have everyone in the league memorized.”
“Then you’re behind,” I tease as I walk around the bed. “Is the bed comfortable?” I ask, pressing my hand against the mattress as I do.
“I, uh… don’t know. I just got here.”
“You want that side?”
Peeking at him, I find Caulder glancing at the bed as if it’s diseased. Are there bed bugs? We should check. At the slightly green look on his skin, I pause. “You okay?”
Caulder takes a breath and nods. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just… irritated.”
“Mmm.” Definitely agree with that. The whole thing is bullshit. But I get to share a bed with Caulder Haines. That’ll be enough fodder for at least a month when this is over. “If it helps, they’re sorry.”
That seems to break the tension a little. He huffs and sits on the side of the bed, rolling his eyes. “Sorry… I’ve never hated the word so much.”
I join him, sitting on the opposite side of the bed. “This is nice. I’m going to demand a lot of compensation. Caviar. Champagne. Midnight snacks that force them to run out. All at no charge, of course. After all, they’ve made the equivalent of another room off the two of us since they were paid for two and we’re only occupying one.”
“Will they do all that?” Caulder asks. “Bring you what you want?”
Shrugging, I scooch down the bed and lean back, putting my hands behind my head. Caulder is sitting stiffly, watching me out of the corner of his eye. “Dunno. As I was waiting down there to check in, three of the four receptionists were dealing with this doubling up mess. This is a pretty massive hotel so I’m seriously wondering how many rooms they’ve overbooked. Like, shouldn’t there have been some reports that tipped someone off?Oh, youhave 850 guests checking in and we only have 300 rooms. But that’s cool.”
Caulder snorts, and his shoulders relax a little. While he doesn’t really get comfortable on the bed, he leans back against the headboard. He’s barely on the bed. Like one butt cheek.
It’s clear he doesn’t want to be anywhere near me, and this is incredibly uncomfortable for him. So telling him I sleep naked and didn’t plan for a roommate is probably not what I should lead with next.
“There were that many issues downstairs?” he asks.
I nod. “I don’t know if all the customers with issues happened to arrive at once, or if there are justthatmany or maybe they’re simply taking a long time to yell it out when the employees have given their only solution.”
“I asked if I could sue them,” Caulder tells me. I smile at the amusement in his voice. “It seems like such a hassle though. I’m sure they have some huge lawyer team or whatever.”
“Agreed. Probably a waste of time. But I plan to be a very loud advocate for the NHLnotusing their hotel chain. Even if that means I need to pay for my own rooms on the road during the season. They need to understand there are consequences for their actions.”
“That’s a good idea. Fuck knows we make enough to pay for the rooms, though we shouldn’t have to.”
“If I have to take a guess, I would wager that most of the players here are experiencing the same shit we are. We’re not going to be the only pissed off people that leave here this weekend.”
“A player from every team,” he muses, “all demanding accommodations elsewhere. Even if the league would initially brush it off with a refund and apologies or whatever else, we’re the ones being treated as if our privacy and safety aren’t their concern.”
“I’m not entirely surprised that they buddied up the hockey players. We are strangers to some extent, but at the same time, we’re all also coworkers and acquaintances. Thesafestthing they could have done under these circumstances is buddy up the NHL instead of actual, complete strangers. Can you imagine the horrors that would arise from that?”
