Page 95 of Bad Teammate
I sat up and showed him.
“Damn,” he muttered. “He opened you good, Reavo.”
“I’ve been worse.”
Hath skated over to the bench, grabbed a towel, and hurried back. Ice and snow sprayed as he stopped in front of me, offering me a towel. I took it and pressed it against the whole right side of my face.
“Thanks, bud.”
“No prob,” he said. “Can you stand? We gotta get you to the trainers. You’re going to need stitches.”
Hath helped me to my skates and supported my weight. We glided past our stunned teammates, who stood around in a daze.
“So,” he began in a quiet voice, “was that about what I think it was about?”
“I think so,” I said.
“Shit.Shit.” He looked at me and shook his head. I could see in his eyes that he thought these were our last moments together as teammates—surely, I was a goner. “You know you’ve gotta tell Coach now, right?”
“I’m well aware.”
We stepped off the ice and headed into the exam room. Hath yelled for a trainer, then he blew out a heavy breath.
“Damn, Reavo. What did I fucking tell you? I told you this would happen.”
“I know. Sorry to let you down, bud. I didn’t want it to happen, either. I fought it for as long as I could … I couldn’t resist in the end.”
“You really had to fuck her, huh?”
I shook my head. “It’s more than that, Hath.”
His face was pinched with doubt. “What does that mean?”
“Remember when you told me not to do anything dumb?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Well, I went and did the dumbest thing of all,” I said.
“Which is?”
“I fell in love with her, Hath.”
His eyes widened. “Youwhat?”
34
Katerina
After Derek left, I hopped out of bed and jumped in the shower.
I couldn’t stop smiling and dancing as the water rained down on me. My heart was bursting with joy and happiness, butterflies bounced around in my belly—if this was what being in love was like, I wanted to feel this way forever.
That spring in my step never left me as I bopped around the room to dress myself.
I couldn’t wait for Derek to come back. It was so nice having a placeawayfrom his condo—we didn’t have to worry about anyone catching us. We could do what we’d been wanting to do since the moment we met, and we didn’t have to worry about who might see or hear us.
I was still a little sore between the legs—we’d made love for hours last night, and he’d run me ragged. And yet, despite the soreness, thinking of him coming back from his hockey practice for more was enough to make my bits clench and swelter all over again.
