Page 122 of Bad Teammate
Hath launched himself forward, wrapping his arms around me in a big bear hug. “Good, becauseyou’rein that club now.”
Hugging him back, I chuckled. “Whoa. Slow down there, turbo. We’re not married just yet.”
“Wait, who areyouto callanyone elseturbo?” Hath joked right back at me. “At the rate you and Katerina are going—shit, you two might be announcing your first born by the end of the day.”
The room exploded into a raucous laughter.
“Seriously, though,” he said, still squeezing me tight. “Congratulations, Reavo. Katerina’s a lovely girl.”
“Thanks, bud, I know it. She really is.”
“And hey,” he continued, lowering his voice, “I’m real sorry I gave you such bad advice in the beginning—when I told you to stay away from her. I feel awful about it now. I had no idea things would end up like this.”
“Don’t sweat it, man,” I said. “I had no idea, either. If I were in your shoes, I would’ve said the same exact thing.”
We separated and Dane leaped forward to hug me next. “You only needed thirty days to pop the question, eh?” he asked, laughing as he clapped his hands on my back.
Yeah, I’d popped the question in a hurry—but so what? We couldn’t get enough of each other. We loved each other.
“When you know, you know,” I said.
And I knew, alright.
***
Actually, I can tell you the exact day I knew I wanted to propose to her.
Ever since Niko left for rehab, our offense started to slump. That’ll happen when a key guy misses time—the lineup gets switched around, and then you’ve got new guys playing with each other, trying to learn each other’s tendencies. It can be a struggle for new linemates to quickly find chemistry.
A couple weeks ago, we had a home game against Vegas, and that’s when things finally started clicking for us. We lit Vegas up for nine goals. As a reward, Coach Q canceled our next practice, giving us the day off.
So that next morning, Katerina and I were having our morning cups out on the balcony—by the way, I saycupsbecause I drink coffee, but Kat prefers black tea. Anyway, with an unexpected day off, I was all excited to make plans with Kat—did she want to go shopping? Would she rather go to the museum? A day at the movies, maybe? I was really up for anything, as long as I got to spend the day with her.
But she frowned and told me she already had plans.
“Bummer,” I said. I figured she’d made plans with Emma and Austen or some of the other girls she’d made friends with. “You’re hanging out with the girls?”
“No …” Her voice trailed off. She stared into her mug, avoiding my eyes.
Was it just me, or was she acting a little suspiciously? Was she already drifting away from me? Had she already found someone else?
“Then who?” I asked.
“Oh, a realtor is showing me around a bunch of apartments in the city, actually,” she said at last.
“Oh.”
A short silence followed. She must’ve felt the need to explain.
“I figured once I’m earning a regular paycheck as Sasha’s translator, I should probably have my own place to live,” she said, although her tone of voice almost sounded like she was asking a question. “And I don’t want to put a strain on our relationship by living together this early … you know?”
Ididn’tknow, actually.
I’d never eventhoughtabout where Katerina would live—besides with me, that is. I guess I thought we’d always live together. I didn’t see how living together was a strain at all—the few weeks we’d spent together were the best of my life. I’d fallen so damn hard for her. I couldn’t get enough of her. I loved going to sleep holding her in my arms, and I loved that she was the first thing I saw when I woke up. I loved coming home to her beautiful piano playing and her delicious cooking. I loved having her around always—and I didn’t want that to change, dammit.
Truth was, I loved living together.
But maybe she didn’t.
