“Did we miss anything?” Roxie asked as she walked around, navigating the conversation to easier territory.
“You just missed the reading of the rules, although I guess our rules don’t apply to you,” Kota said, catching us up as he took our bags.
Of course, the staff was right there taking them seconds later.
“What rules are they giving you guys?” I questioned, curiosity getting the better of me.
“The typical. We can’t hide in our rooms. We have to be available for the team,” he said. “The usual stuff.”
“Doesn’t sound too bad,” Roxie said. “The whole point is for you guys to get used to each other, isn’t it?”
“That it is,” Lachlan said. “I’m glad you guys are here for some sort of buffer, and at least Kota will be forced to shut up about you once in a while.”
He gave his friend that cocky grin only friends could give, one that said he knew exactly what he was saying. Anyone else would have been embarrassed by it.
Leave it to Kota to be completely unfazed.
“So, we have four days of this torture?” I didn’t even bother to whisper it.
“Yup,” Kota agreed. “I get my omegas to myself for four whole days.”
“Yourself and the rest of the team,” Lachlan pointed out.
“Semantics,” Kota said, waving it off, completely unfazed.
“If you’d like to head this way,” one of the workers said quickly as we approached, “I can get you all checked into your suite.”
“We get a suite?” Roxie gasped, pulling me inside the lobby. Her excitement had my own amping up. This was the perfect way to deal with the stress of quitting my job on a whim.
The interior was a sea of gleaming white and marble, everything pristine. It smelled like a hotel, with that faint scent of bleach, but underneath was something tropical. Potted palm trees were tucked away in the corners. They were really selling the resort vibes.
Since it wasn’t a regular open-to-the-public weekend the check-in process only took a few minutes. Then we were heading up to our room.
Our suite was gorgeous. There were two bedrooms, a bed in each. Though I hoped that she’d be in my bed instead of her own.
The staff and the others left us while Roxie and I got settled. I was thankful to be alone for a moment, but Roxie almost looked upset.
“What’s the matter?” I asked as I walked over to join her. She’d already changed but looked like she was dreading leaving the room.
“I need to go meet with Coach. I promised I’d check in with him once we were settled.”
“I can go with you and act as a buffer. You did that for me with Eliza.”
“That would honestly be great,” she said, deflating a bit and blowing out a breath.
She didn’t hesitate to drag me out of the room, a key card clutched in her hand.
When we stepped out of the elevator into the lobby, she checked her phone.
“It says he’s in a conference room greeting everyone. Because, of course, he is,” she let out a humorless laugh.
Honestly, this coach sounded insufferable from all the stories she’d told me.
It wasn’t hard to find the coach from the steady trail of hockey players walking away from the conference room.
“It looks like we came at a good time,” she mused, greeting the hockey players by name.
There was a scent in the hallway, something that smelled achingly familiar. For the first time in all these years, a slight sting echoed from my fading bite mark.
