She winced, shaking her head. “They went down at the start of this week. A technician is scheduled for tomorrow morning.”
“That’s okay,” Coach said. He put a tense hand on my shoulder. The harsh red and blue lights of a police carflashed through the room. “I’ll handle it from here. You guys go to your rooms and get some sleep. It’s most likely some sick prank, and I’ll make sure whoever behind it is either expelled from the league.”
“You sure you don’t want me to stay?” Emmy asked.
“No, I’ve got this. Go.”
The gathered group dispersed just as the cops entered the lobby. Eli walked by my side, all of us completely silent until we got to the elevators.
“What the actual fuck?” Dylan said. “Are the Sharks fucking serious? What the hell?”
I shook my head. “They’re pushing it now,” I said. At first, I’d been suspicious that the iron collar was actually a threat, but this new development made that sound all the more plausible.
The elevator door dinged open. We stepped inside, the space becoming cramped from having to hold five six-foot-something hockey guys. Emmy cleared his throat. “I want you guys to focus on the games we have and leave all of this outside the rink. I know that’s difficult to do, but we can’t let them get into our heads like this.”
“Fuck that,” Dylan said. He looked more angry than frightened. “How can they do that to an innocent animal? I want to knock out some teeth tomorrow.”
I didn’t blame him. The thought made me absolutely sick. It went against the very basic laws of nature. Don’t kill unless absolutely necessary, either for food or for self-defense. Sending a message was nowhere on that list. It was an affront to nature. I shared Dylan’s sentiment about knocking them the fuck out.
“We don’t know who it was yet,” Emmy reminded us as the elevator jerked to a stop. “Just focus on winning. Let me handle this.”
The doors opened on Eli’s and my floor. We said our good nights and stepped out into the sparsely decorated hallway. Eli glanced over his shoulder toward the other end of the hall. I instinctively reached out and put a hand on his back, square between his two shoulders, and rubbed. “Don’t stress about this.” In that moment, I was glad I had asked Emmy to switch my room assignment with Dylan’s. Knowing we were in Shark territory had me on edge, and I didn’t like the idea of leaving Eli unprotected.
“Has this happened before?” Eli asked.
“Never,” I replied. “There’s been some playful rivalry between us, but never this fucked-up. I don’t know what triggered it.”
“You don’t think it’s got something to do with me, right? Maybe they’re trying to scare off the new trade?”
I shook my head. We stopped in front of the door. I pulled the key out of my pocket and held it to the keypad. “No, they aren’t that stupid.” Because if this was targeted toward Eli, then I would personally shift into a were on the full moon and tear their entire pack to pieces with my bare claws.
The light on the keypad flashed green, and the heavy lock slid open. Eli entered first, and I followed behind him, taking one last look at the empty hallway before closing and locking the door.
“At least this room is nice—uh-oh,” Eli said.
“What?” I asked, my heart dropping. Was there another package in here? Could they have known we were staying in one of these rooms?
I looked around but only saw a very nice hotel room with a beautiful view of the Savannah River. Eli lifted his hand and pointed at the bed.
The bed.
Thesingularbed.
“Oh,” I said, eyebrows rising. “Must have been a mistake.” On the inside, I was jumping up and down for horny joy, but on the outside, I kept myself cool, calm, andcumposed.
Fuck! My brain was already misfiring and my dick already twitching.
“I’ll call the front desk,” I said, walking toward the phone, every step feeling like quicksand trying to stop me.
“Don’t worry about it,” Eli said. “We can put up a pillow wall if you want.”
I looked over at Eli, one hand on the phone. “Are you scared you might touch me in your sleep?” I teased.
“Are you?” he volleyed back.
“That you’d touch me? Nah. Not if it’s anything like it was in the steam room.”
Eli licked his lips. He leaned against the dresser, arms crossed. He wore a pair of gray sweatpants that did nothing to hide his package. He had a backward baseball cap on, loose brown curls falling through the front of it. “You know,” he said, pushing off the dresser and taking a couple of steps toward me. “I’ve been thinking a lot about the steam room and how it’s rude to not handle unfinished business.”
