“Want to tell us about the two girls you’re talking to?” Winny asks.
My stomach rolls and I’m not sure how to tell him that one of them isn’t a girl. It’s Torin. But I’m also not sure if I’m ready to sayanything at all because I don’t know how Torin feels about me. I don’t want to be presumptuous. He’s never said he likes me.
We’re friends.
Sighing, I shake my head. “No. Not yet.”
“We’re happy to listen,” Atty says. “And ask you lots of questions.”
His smile is teasing, and I appreciate it. Because I’m always asking questions, and they tolerate me doing so. “Thanks.” Actually, I’m looking forward to talking to them about these two people. Just… not yet. I think I need to figure some things out for myself first.
Like if Torin might feel the same way I do.
And, you know, who this girl I’ve been texting with is.
Chapter Sixteen
TORIN
I hate away games.Especially now. It’s really lonely without Hugo, even though we still talk all the time. The amount of time we talk isn’t different, but that we’re only talking via electronics instead of in person is what sucks.
“I hate away games,” I tell Fish Hugo as I lean over the side of my tank. Calling it a tank is being really generous. It’s more like a kiddie pool, but slightly larger and deeper. The kind of pool you might sink into the ground and call a fish pond.
Letting my fingers graze the top of the water, my fish get close to explore me. I’ve had them for a long time and I’ve spent a lot of time getting them familiar with me. Most will get close. One of the sharks will even nudge against my fingers from time to time. The suckerfish lets me pet him as long as I don’t do so for too long. A couple finger strokes and he’s fine. More than that and he’s like a cat—go away!
Thankfully, this isn’t one of the team’s really long away streaks. It’s only been five days and they’ll be home tomorrow. The longest away period will be something like eleven days at the end of January. Maybe I can tag along and be the equipment manager’s assistant. Is that a thing? Can it be a thing for short periods?
I sigh dramatically. Hugo’s game ended a while ago. Maybe half an hour. So he’s probably out with his friends. He messaged me assoon as he was in the locker room, and I don’t expect to hear back again tonight. Which is fine. I’m just bored and missing him.
The knowledge I’m falling for this man even more is loud in my head. Even though I wait up, just in case he wants to message me when he gets back to the hotel, I fall asleep somewhere around one in the morning, clutching my phone to my chest.
I’m notsure how it happens, but I’m awake at two in the morning texting with Hugo. But not as me. As this anonymous ‘girl.’ I think it’s my fault. If I scroll back far enough, I’ll find I gave into missing him so much that I texted him. Except I chose the wrong app.
It’s not a bad thing. Hugo isn’t different in one place or another. He’s just his same sweet, maybe a bit naïve self. He’s so damn good and lovable. I love it. There really is no question as to why I’ve fallen for him.
Hugo
I just realized the time. Why are you awake?
Me
Can’t sleep. Why are you awake?
Hugo
Dunno. It’s always really weird to be sleeping in a hotel bed. So many people have slept here before me. And they don’t disclose at the desk whether someone has been murdered in the room you’re sleeping in.
My eyes widen.
Me
Wow… I wouldn’t have thought of that.
Hugo
Haha sorry. These are the things I think about. Did you know a guy from the NY mafia once killed a man, one of his associates, and hid his body under the mattress in the frame of a hotel room? He wasn’t found for days. And the room had been rented out many times. People slept on that mattress! With a dead body under it!!!!!!
A shudder runs down my spine.
