Chapter 4
“Excuse me?”
Luke refuses to let go of me, and if I’m being honest, I’m not really fighting him much. The feel of his fingers around my wrist sends a warmth up my arm that travels all the way between my legs.
His eyes bore into mine as I wait for him to respond.
“You and Liv are staying at the hotel with us. We got two rooms and your brother would kill me if I let you stay in that hellhole.”
My brother.
The mere mention of him has me yanking my arm free of Luke’s hold. No matter how good it may feel, there’s no way anything will ever happen between us. My fantasies about Luke will always be that. Illusions in my head that keep me warm at night.
“We’ll be fine staying at the Village.”
Luke’s eyes narrow at my stubbornness. Even if a warm, comfortable hotel bed sounds like heaven, there’s no way I can stay with him and his teammates. That’s a recipe for disaster.
Just as Luke goes to argue with me, Liv interrupts us. Perfect timing.
“Why hello there, Lucas. Did you enjoy the game?” There’s mischief clear in her tone, but I ignore it for now, planning to give her shit as soon as we get out of here.
Luke’s eyes never leave mine as he answers. “I did, actually. You girls came to play.”
“Hell yeah, we did.”
I finally tear my eyes away from Luke’s and find Liv moving her gaze between the two of us.
“Uh, did I interrupt something?”
Shaking my head, I deny that anything’s happening here. Liv’s eyebrows shoot up, giving me a look that says she doesn’t believe me.
Luke starts speaking before I can assure her she wasn’t interrupting us.
“Actually, I was just telling Charlie that my team found two hotel rooms just outside of the Village. I told her that you two should join us. There’s plenty of room.”
I turn back toward him, ready to argue, when my traitorous best friend yelps.
“What an amazing idea! But my family is actually here now and there’s space for me in their hotel room. I’m going to be staying with them since I don’t get to see them often during the season anyway.”
What the hell is she thinking?
Ignoring the satisfying look on Luke’s face, I turn to Liv and there’s a mischievous look on her face that matches her tone.
“I’ll just come stay with you and your family then. Problem solved.”
Luke begins to argue but Liv holds her hand up, cutting him off.
“I’d love that, Char. But there’s five of us and only two beds. Lucas here said there’s plenty of room at the hotel. Rather than squeezing three in a bed, why don’t you stay with him? We both need our rest if we’re going to perform at our very best, don’t you think?”
I could kill her. I could literally kill her with my bare hands right now.
I know exactly what she’s up to, and as much as I would love to share a bed with Luke, that’s just never going to happen. I’m sure he’d pawn me off to one of his teammates before having to do that.
“I’ll be fine alone at the Village.” I cross my arms, emphasizing my point.
“Absolutely fucking not. I wasn’t going to let you two stay there a minute longer and I’ll be damned if you stay there alone. You’re coming with me.”
My mouth drops at his tone. Who the hell does he think he is?
Turning so we’re facing each other, I’m seconds away from telling him off when Liv speaks again.
“You heard the man. Let’s go pack.”
She links her arm through mine and pulls me away from the infuriatingly handsome man who is now grinning at me.
“What the hell, Liv?”
Ignoring me, she looks over her shoulder and shouts at Luke. “Meet us at the Main Dining Hall in an hour!”
I don’t dare turn to look at him because I know he’s probably wearing a satisfied look on his face that I can’t handle right now.
It’s not until we’re back on the bus that Liv finally talks to me. Everyone else is on their phones or chatting away about the game so no one even notices when Liv squeals. Since when does she squeal so much anyway?
“Oh my god, Charlotte! What is wrong with you? The man of your dreams wants you to stay at a hotel. With him. And you said no? Are you feeling okay?” Liv places the back of her hand against my forehead and I swat her away.
Throwing my head back against my seat, I groan. “What is wrong with me? What’s wrong with you? There’s no way anything would even happen. So being in the same hotel room as him sounds like torture to me.”
“Charlotte. Are you serious right now?”
Turning my head so I’m looking at her, I shrug. “What? You know I’m right.”
She leans in closer and whispers, “Did you or did you not tell me he told you that you had a pretty mouth that was giving him bad ideas?”
I shoot upright, my head abandoning the headrest, and glare at Liv. “Shut up! And he was just teasing me. He’s been teasing me my whole life.”
Liv shakes her head at me. “Come on, Charlie. You can’t be that oblivious.”
“What the heck are you talking about?”
Liv throws her hands up, and much louder than I’d like her to, shouts at me, “He’s into you!”
Everyone within ten feet of us looks our way and I wave them off and whisper, “ignore her” before turning back to Liv and shushing her.
Thankfully she takes it down a notch when she continues. “He was practically undressing you with his eyes when I walked up to you two after the game. I say you take advantage of the situation here and finally make your move.”
“He’s my brother’s best friend.”
“And your point? You’re both grown adults. And I don’t see Connor anywhere. Do you?”
Instead of responding, I let her words sink in. She’s got a point.
Connor couldn’t make the trip yet for some mysterious reason.
He didn’t give me details, but he said there was an emergency back home.
I wish he would’ve told me what it was because I’m pretty bummed that no one is here to see me play.
My grandparents couldn’t make the trip because my papa just had surgery.
It sucks not having anyone here. Connor already texted me telling me he watched me play and complimented my goal.
He said he’d be here for the elimination games if we make it, which I guess is something.
The more I think about what Liv said, the more I realize I’m a little bit okay with the fact that he’s not here yet.
Yes, he’s my brother and I’d love more than anything for him to be here to see me play at the Olympics., but we’ve had to miss each other's games our entire lives. Hazards of playing the same sport. And if he said there was an emergency, I believe him.
Maybe him showing up late to Sweden is a blessing in disguise. And maybe Liv is right.
Maybe this is the perfect opportunity to go after something I’ve wanted my entire life. And I don’t mean a gold medal.
It took us all of five minutes to pack up our things because there wasn’t even anywhere to unpack them in the first place. After throwing my toiletries back in my bag, I’m ready to rock.
The wind whips me in the face as we walk to the dining hall. The temperature must’ve dropped a good ten degrees in the last hour. My cheeks sting from the blistering cold and I’m grateful that our walk is relatively short.
As soon as we push open the doors, I’m hit with warmth. And I’m not talking about the heat in the dining hall.
Leaning against the wall with his hands in his pocket, looking absolutely delicious, is Luke. When his gaze meets mine I’m greeted with a devastating smile.
He is so handsome it hurts.
Luke pushes himself off the wall and comes to meet us just inside the doors.
“Here, let me take that for you.”
Although I am perfectly capable of carrying my own duffle bag, I’m dumbstruck by his chivalry. Normally, I hate to let a man do anything for me, but when it’s the man of my dreams, apparently I’m more than happy to comply.
“Thanks,” I say as a shiver works its way down my spine. It could be from the cold or it could be the way his hand grazes mine as I hand him my bag. I know the answer but I’m going to pretend it’s from the frigid temperatures outside.
Luke slings my bag over his shoulder as if it weighs nothing and then turns to Liv.
“Do you need us to walk you anywhere to meet your family?”
His thoughtfulness causes me to swoon even more over him and I don’t miss the way my heart picks up speed because of it.
Liv gives him a smile before shaking her head. “No, I’m good. My family is actually over there waiting to take me to their hotel.” She points just beyond Luke to a table that’s occupied by her parents and two siblings.
I lift my hand and give them a little wave before looking back to my best friend.
“You sure you don’t want to come stay with us instead? Five of you in one room doesn’t sound too comfortable either.”
She takes a step toward me and wraps her arms around my neck.
“I’m sure. My brother got a cot so I’ll be sharing a bed with my sister.
” She releases me before looking back at her family and smiling.
I haven’t seen her this relaxed and happy in a while.
She turns back to me and Luke and grabs her bag off the floor.
“I’m kind of excited. We used to have slumber parties all the time. I miss her.”
Liv is extremely close with her family and I know the distance is tougher on her than it is with me and my family. I’m happy that she’ll get to spend this time with them, even if it means we aren’t staying together like most of our hockey trips.
“Text me in the morning. We can meet for breakfast.”
“You got it. And Lucas-” She holds her finger up at him, as if she’s scolding a small child. “You better take care of my girl. If you don’t, I have no problem kicking your ass before your curling matches even start.”
She takes off toward her family before Luke can come up with a response.
I laugh to myself and see Luke shake his head. “Is she always like that?”
“Yes. That’s why I love her.”
Luke huffs a laugh under his breath and nods to the door I just came in from. “We should get going. The guys are waiting for us in the hotel lobby. I told them to head to their room but they were pretty adamant about not going up without us. It was kind of weird, actually.”
A feeling of unease settles in my stomach. I’m not sure I like the sounds of that, but I just nod and fall into step with Luke back into the blistering cold.
It’s a short walk to the hotel, thankfully. They weren’t lying when they said the hotel was just outside the Village. It’s literally a stone’s throw away.
Luke gestures for me to go first into the revolving hotel entrance and as soon as I see the look on his teammates’ faces, I know I’m not going to like what I’m about to hear.
“There’s a problem.”