Page 82 of Bad Teammate
“I know. Straight to voicemail every time. That’s why I asked Emma for your room number. She didn’t want to give it to me but it was our only hope.”
“Hm.”
I paused and stared at him through the peephole. He certainlylookedmiserable, like something was eating him from the inside. And whatever he had to tell me must have been so serious that Emma would give him my room number.
“Stay there for just a few minutes, okay?”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Derek leaned against the wall and waited.
I hurried over to my phone and powered it on. The texts came pouring in—from Emma, Austen, and Derek. All three had been trying to reach me for over an hour. Emma and Austen didn’t want to give Derek my room number without my permission, but they’d correctly figured that my phone was dead or off, and they thought I should hear what he had to say before I left tomorrow.
Fine. We’ll see what he has to say.
I wrapped a sweater around my shoulders to cover my pajamas. I unbolted the dead bolt and opened the door a sliver.
Through the crack, Derek saw me. “Katerina,” he said. Something about the way he pronounced my name always made me feel so warm inside. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I said curtly. “What do you want to tell me?”
“Can I come in? It’s not really something you tell someone through a crack in the door …”
I turned around and looked at my room. It was a perfectly nice hotel room, but it had abed,and any time Derek and I were in a room with a bed in it, bad things tended to happen.
He sensed my hesitation. “Or we can go for a walk instead, if you want.”
I nodded. “Yes. Give me a minute to get dressed.”
Relief flooded his eyes. “Great. I’ll wait here.”
I shut the door and hurriedly unzipped my suitcase, searching for something casual but still cute. Iknewbetter to get my hopes up, but my damned heart thumped and skipped like italwaysdid around Derek—even though he had only ever let me down.
God, what’s wrong with me?I thought as I wiggled into a pair of jeans and threw on a plain t-shirt.
I opened the door. A sweet smile pulled at the corner of Derek’s mouth as he laid his eyes upon me. “Thank you, Katerina.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I’m only coming to see what’s so important.”
“Can I take you to get some coffee?”
“Bit late for coffee,” I said.
“We can just go for a walk, then. Reunion Park is right across the road.”
“Fine.”
We walked down the hall to the elevator. The doors shut and we were alone—as alone as two people can be in a glass elevator, anyway. Silently, we plummeted down to the palace-like lobby level. The space between us felt charged.
“God,” he whispered at last, his eyes sweeping up and down my body. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
He sighed. “Katerina …”
Before he could say any more, the elevator doors opened. The static roar of a rushing water fountain carried over the gleaming tile floors. We made our way to the hotel entrance and Derek held the door open for me.
The night was dark. I took a deep breath, the crisp autumn air filling my lungs.
“The park is this way,” he said, leading me across the road and into the park.
