Page 5 of Hard to Take

My teammate’s little sister.

The woman I can’t get out of my head.

I slept with Brooke in Vail.

Wish I could chalk it up to getting her out of my system, but even before she kissed me in that hot tub and I practically dragged her back to our room, I was way too invested.

Thing is, she hasn’t seemed interested in talking since.

I tried calling her this week.

Not once, but three times.

Maybe her phone’s broken.

When I get out of the shower, my phone’s lit up with texts from the BearFam chat.

Jay: We should go out tonight. Who’s in?

Chloe: Ownership has a new advertiser I’m trying to recruit.

Rookie: It’ll keep til tomorrow. B?

Brooke: I’m auditioning roommates.

I’m about to drop my phone in my bag when the message comes through.

So much for her phone being broken.

“Since when is little sis looking for a roommate?” I ask Jay, who’s getting dressed at his locker a couple down from mine.

My voice is completely level.

No, fuck level, I sound amused, as though it’s cute she’s thinking of sleeping next to a complete stranger, of sharing her space—her life—with someone she hardly knows.

Jay lifts a shoulder and types.

Jay: Since when are you getting a roommate?

Brooke: Since I realized I miss having Nova as my roommate and need some company in my 2 BR.

Rookie: You accepting applications? I don’t need to sleep in the second BR. We can share :D

Jay: Only sleep you’ll be doing is in a coma.

She doesn’t want to come to me?

No sweat.

I’ve never had to chase down a woman before.

But then, Brooke makes me do a lot of things I’ve never done.

* * *

Mile High is our place, but once in a while, we like to go somewhere with dance music.

Being in a club makes me feel twenty-two again. No matter how much a drink costs, I can’t get over the floors, the flashing lights, or the pulsing EDM that makes my eardrums vibrate like the Kodiak Arena shaking during finals last year.

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