“Also, why does he need my number? He’s literally in the adjoining room next door.”
“Ohhhh!!! Well,thatis quite the development! Maybe you could go next door and…you know…talkit out.”
“I don’t like the tone you just used with me,” I say as she cackles.
“Love ya, girl—keep me posted!”
“Love you too, xa
Unknown Number
Hey. It’s Jordan.
Jordan Boucher…from the Riders and the bar and the elevator earlier.
Can you call me?
Or meet me?
I don’t want to be too forward to ask to come over, but…we have a problem.
“Shit.”
14
jordan
If the carpet in this room were ice, it would need resurfacing from the pacing I’ve done since I messaged her.Did I text the wrong thing? Did I upset her more?Of course, I fucking upset her…this isallgoing to upset her. Maybe she’s already asleep? God, I need to talk to her before I’m sucked into tomorrow’s game day schedule. My throat tightens, the clock on the nightstand impossibly bright with a time that’s far too late to be okay.Fuck, Ireallyneed to get to sleep.
Out of the corner of my eye, my phone glows like the neon light in front of my favorite arcade bar. My heart pounds in my chest asI dart over to grab it.Holy. Shit.It’s her.
Kennedy
Fine. I see we have adjoining rooms. Open your side and knock on my door.
My knees buckle as my jaw drops. She’s not just on the other side of the wall—our rooms connect.If this isn’t the gods of love and hockey looking down on me, I don’t know what is.
My hand shakes as I gently knock. Stepping back, I rock on my heels, waiting for her to answer. My pulse races faster than amouse on the run from a cat, trying to escape the possible wrath in store from bothering her this late at night with what I have to tell her.
Fuck.
But there’s no more time to panic because there she is, standing before me wearing sleep shorts, a T-shirt, and that same fire I saw in her eyes earlier, but now it’s burning even more, and I realize, it wasn’t a fire of passion, it was a fire ready to burn me alive. My throat tightens—I’m not saying I wouldn’t let her.
“Hi…” I swallow hard, trying to get the words out, “um…thanks for opening your door.”
Eyes narrowed, she crosses her arms. Yeah. She definitely looks like she wants to murder me. “What is so urgent that we have to talk right now?”
“Can I, um…” I point to the table and chairs in her room, “Can we sit down?”
She sighs, and I swear I see her eyes fighting not to roll. “Sure. Why the hell not?” she spits, her voice thick with sarcasm. “Why would I turn down the one and only Prince Charming, who just announced to my coworker we’redating,from conniving his way into our adjoining rooms?”
My body curls in on itself like plexiglass warping after a hard check.Well, this is off to a fabulous start.
“Okay…out with it,” she snaps, collapsing into the chair opposite me. “What’s going on?”
I swallow hard. I’m not ready to tell her any of this, but I also know I have no choice. “Do you have, like, a boyfriend or a husband or a partner or something?”
The muscles in her perfect face tighten, her lips pursing together.God, she’s gorgeous when she’s angry—even if she looks like she’s going to kill me.
