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Me: I think you like me.
Freya: ? Yes ?? No ?? Maybe
Me: One of these days I’m putting you in the WAGs box.
I stare at my screen. I don’t know how this stuff is supposed to go, it’s new to me. But I want to lock her down. After about a minute, three little dots show up on the bottom of the screen. Then disappear. Then appear. This goes on for what feels like forever. Hope I didn’t cross a line with myWives-and-Girlfriendstext. My toe taps on the floor, and I get up to pace around my hotel room. What, is she writing a novel?Spit it out, woman.
Freya: K.
Me: Did you misspell ‘K’ a thousand times? You know I can see when you’re typing right?
Freya: Anna just showed up.
THIRTY-FOUR
“Ihear they’re hiring a Zamboni driver.” Reynolds, winger for Seattle, chirps at me after dekeing me again. That’s the third puck to get by me tonight and into the net. Kap is in the net and counting on me to keep the rubber out of his area, but I can’t steal for shit. I should have had those. What the fuck is wrong with me tonight? I can tell my teammates are frustrated. Lonan’s given me a couple funny looks. It’s freaking me out. We’re getting spanked 3-0. All three should have been prevented by me. This is horrible. I haven’t anticipated one pass correctly tonight.
When they’ve had enough of my bullshit, I’m pulled and benched for the rest of the period. Dopson takes my place with Lonan. During intermission, Coach follows us back to the locker room. Usually they give us a few minutes of chatter to cool down, but not tonight. It’s well known if the coaches don’t come in, it’s either because we’re doing well or they’re leaving it to us to fix the areas we need to work on. Things must be pretty bad for them to actually follow us into the tunnel. And they are. For seven whole-ass minutes they lay into us. I swear most of the time they’re looking at me.
When the head coach is done giving us hell, he and one of the defensive coaches go back into one of the med rooms. The defensive coach gestures to me before the door is shut, and afterward, my name is shouted twice more. I gotta call my agent tomorrow and see if I can pick up any more sponsorship deals before my ass is canned.
This game fucking sucks.
* * *
Anna’s return is conflicting. I’m relieved when she stops by because I don’t have to worry about where she is and if she’s safe. But she often brings chaos with her. It’s wrong, but sometimes I enjoy escaping into a life without her. It’s calm and peaceful when she’s not around. But that’s how this mess happened. I thought if I could ignore it and focus on myself, like a selfish piece of shit, then maybe her drug use wasn’t really happening. Out of sight, out of mind. Some days it’s just easier to forget about the baggage I carry. Especially when I feel so free with Freya.
Once Anna charged her phone, she sent me a message that she was going to stay at my place. It will be easier to keep an eye on her now that we have a small break from traveling. I’m thrilled to have the next four games at home, it means more time with Freya. More nights with her curled up next to me. More nights spent inside her.
When I get back to my building that evening, I stop in the bar to see my girl before going up to my apartment. It was only four days, but it seemed like a lot longer. I miss our sleepovers. There’s nothing better than crawling into bed next to her, letting all the stress melt away. I’m so much more rested when she’s by my side. I scan the bar and quickly find her peeling a lemon twist.
Almost as if she senses me watching her, she lifts her head in my direction and trades those focused eyebrows for a huge smile. She tag teams with the other bartender so she can escape to say hi. The live band playing in the back has made our stairwell a lot noisier than usual. She hustles over to meet me by the entrance to our favorite dark hallway. I pull her into me and steal the full lips I’ve ached for all week. She tastes like spearmint.
“I’m sorry about the loss, you played hard, it was a tough game.”
I can’t even get into that right now.
“How many more hours until you’re in my bed?”
She pretends to look at her invisible watch. “Six?”
I groan. “I can’t wait that long. I need you sooner.”
“It’s a good chance for you to hang out with Anna. It’s been a while since she’s been around,” she says, sounding more reserved than normal.
“I’ll go check in on her but then I’m coming back here. Maybe tonight should be spent at your place instead. There’s a lot to make up for.”
She lightly scratches her fingernails down my arm. “Go drop your stuff off, and when you come back, I’ll have a cold beer for you.”
She walks backward toward the bar with a sweet grin on her pretty face. When she turns around, my eyes drop to her ass.Damn. I can still picture the subtle jiggle under my palm. Maybe I can salvage my mood and deal with all this another night. Tonight I want to lock away my thoughts about work and escape with Freya. My feet reluctantly turn to head up the stairs, but my hopes are dashed when I hear voices and footsteps the closer I get.Why are the police in my apartment?
“Rhys Kucera?” the man asks.
“Uhh, yeah, what’s going on?”
“We received a call for a burglary.”
The door to my apartment is open and there’s even more police inside.What the fuck is going on? Where’s Anna?
