Page 17 of Breaking the Pucking Rules
“O-o-ohhhh,” he sings, predicting what I’m about to say. “You should go. You shoulddefinitelygo,” he encourages, his eyes wide and excited.
“Fletch, I don’t?—”
“Your secret is safe. Just…make the most of it. See you at practice,” he says before clapping me on the back and none-too-gently shoving me forward.
It hasn’t been long enough yet, so instead of making my way upstairs I head toward the hotel bar.
One for the road…or should it be, one for the elevator?
Once I’ve ordered and taken a seat, I pull the card from my pocket and open it.
Inside is her keycard, and her room number scrawled on the opposite side.
My stomach flips as I wonder what she’s doing right now.
Cleaning up?
Getting changed?
No sooner is my third scotch of the night placed in front of me than I have the glass against my lips.
“Fuck,” I hiss as it burns all the way down.
This certainly isn’t the evening I thought I was going to have.
But…when in Rome, and all that.
Placing some bills on the bar, I take off in search of the elevators that will take me to the tenth floor—and hopefully the brunette in the green dress.
My foot taps and my fingers fidget nervously as the car climbs higher through the building. But it’s not until I step out that a thought hits me.
Will she have taken her mask off?
If she has, will she expect me to do the same?
I glance over my shoulder, contemplating turning back, but the thought only lasts for a millisecond.
I may not want her to know who I am, but I can’t back out now.
With my eyes tracking the numbers on the doors, I finally find the one I want.
One-zero-five-five.
Fifty-five…that’s my number.
Any doubt I had vanishes as I stare at it.
My gut instinct screams that this is the right thing to do, so without allowing my head to get involved, I knock on the door twice.
Silence.
Once again refusing to listen to my fears about her not being on the other side, or this being a setup, I tap the key to the small black box beside the door and crack it open.
“H-hello?” I call, realizing for the first time that I don’t have anything to call her.
“Come in.” The second her seductive voice hits my ears, every muscle in my body relaxes. But it only lasts for a second, because the next thing I know, her sweet perfume is luring me in.
I don’t see the room. It could be any color. Hell, it could be empty, for all I know.
