He stopped this time and turned back, pulling his buds out. “Sorry. What’s up?”
“Where are you going? You need tape.”
He glanced down at himself, then back at me. “Already geared up.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“I’ll catch you rinkside,” he said. Easy. Casual. He smiled like this was nothing. “I’m fine.”
A light tap on my arm, and I looked back to see Mason pointing at his leg. “Can I go now?”
My answer was an irritated sigh. He made for the door and pulled up his pants at the same time, which gave him an awkward shuffle that would’ve made me laugh if I wasn’t so damn pissed off.
I wiped my palms on a towel, zipped my kit bag, and slung it over my shoulder. The zipper snagged halfway, in keeping with the theme of the week. I cursed under my breath, forced it closed, and headed out.
Things didn’t change for our travel games. If anything, they got worse. Everything felt off by half a step, and it fucked with my head more than I cared to admit.
I paced the strip of carpet in front of the hotel elevator with my phone pressed to my ear, kit bag parked at my feet like a loyal dog. The pattern under my feet swam if I stared at it too long.
“No,” I said into the phone. “That doesn’t help me. I wouldn’t have ordered it express if I didn’t need it… expressly.”
The sales guy on the other end kept talking. I cut him off.
“My guys play tonight,” I said. “I don’t care what the delay is. Figure it out.”
I ended the call before he could give me another excuse, and checked the tracking number again, like it might change if I stared hard enough.
“Going down?” Holly came up beside me, hair pulled back in a way that meant she’d given up earlier than usual. She looked as tired as I felt.
“Yeah.”
She hit the button again and leaned back against the wall. For a few seconds we just stood there, listening to the elevator hum its way up to us.
“What game is this again?” She placed a hand over a mega yawn.
I opened my mouth. Closed it. “Three,” I said. Then, “No. Four. No...” A tired laugh slipped out before I could stop it. “Shit.”
Holly smiled, sympathetic. “Hang in there. The end’s in sight.”
“It ends? Because from where I’m standing, it doesn’t feel like it.”
The elevator arrived and we stepped inside. The space felt too small with both of us and all our exhaustion packed in.
I stared at the floor indicator as it ticked down. Tape inventory ran through my head without me meaning it to. Two rolls left in the bag. One half-used. Another already sticky from humidity.I’d gone through more this series than any other. Ankles. Wrists. Ribs. Shoulders. Knees that wouldn’t behave. Theo’s shoulder.
Holly bumped her hip against mine. “I mean it. The final stretch is always a killer, but it’s important to keep from getting sucked too deep.”
I nodded because that was easier than explaining that I was past the point of optimism. Tape vanished faster than I could replace it. The games took chunks out of everyone.
And I hadn’t seen Theo in days.
Not really. Not outside of a bench check or a quick pass-by with a grin I couldn’t read. He existed in motion and excuses and the space just out of reach. The odd night we did manage to spend together, we mostly just passed out in our clothes, too tired to even kiss each other goodnight.
The elevator doors opened onto the lobby, and noise spilled in. I grabbed my bag and stepped out, already running through who needed what before warm-ups.
I wasn’t getting sucked in, but work filled the gaps where everything else should have been.
*
