Chapter 3
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
After dodging all of Brendan’s questions about Charlie, we finally made it to where we’ll be staying during our time in Sweden. The girls weren’t exaggerating when they told us how bad the living quarters were. They were, however, wrong when they said our space couldn’t be worse than theirs.
The beds are a complete joke. My bed is the size of a five-year-old’s and there aren’t any sheets or blankets on it.
I have yet to find any, actually. I’m assuming they had to make the beds small so they could shove four of us in the same room.
That’s right. Four grown ass men sharing a room the size of a closet.
The good news is, we’re sharing our quarters with other US Olympians instead of our competitors. But that’s about all I got as far as positives.
And then there’s the stench hanging in the air.
“What the fuck is that smell?” Wyatt asks, shoving his shirt over his nose.
“There is no way I’m getting any sleep in here.” Brendan plops down on his ‘bed’ and it breaks apart, causing him to fall into a crack in the middle.
I run my hand through my hair and do a slow spin, tripping over Zack’s feet in the process. There is no room to even breathe in here.
“We’re not staying here.”
That’s all I say. My three teammates don’t even question it. They all nod in agreement.
We’ve barely unpacked, but we spend the next few minutes throwing everything we took out, back into our suitcases.
All of a sudden, there’s a loud “bang” against the wall followed by a high pitched scream.
“What the hell?”
A girl starts moaning the name Sebastian over and over. The look of horror on Zack’s face is priceless. He’s the youngest guy on the team, and although I’d never ask him because it’s none of my fucking business, I’m pretty sure he’s still a virgin.
In a panic, Zack puts his headphones on and closes his eyes in an attempt to block out the sextra-curricular activities happening in the room next to us.
Wyatt, on the other hand, finds this whole situation amusing. He laughs and throws a thumb over his shoulder toward the wall where the banging has continued. “You think that’s the same Sebastian the girls heard?”
The thought of Charlie in these living conditions has me white-knuckling the handle of my suitcase.
“Brendan, can you call Jimmy and tell him we’re going to try and find somewhere else to stay? Maybe he has some ideas. Hotel, bed and breakfast, I don’t really care at this point. Anywhere but this shithole. I’ll start calling around to places, too.”
Jimmy is our alternate. His twin sister is also here competing on the women's USA curling team. They took the day to explore Sweden. Everything you’ve heard about sixth senses and the crazy bonds some twins have, that’s Jimmy and his sister.
They’re best friends and it’s actually pretty awesome to see them both going after their dreams together here in Stockholm.
For the next half hour, we all scour the internet trying to find a place to stay. After what I think is my tenth phone call, our hard work finally pays off.
I hang up the phone and turn to the guys who are all looking at me, ignoring the sounds in the room next to us, desperation clear in their eyes.
“There’s a hotel just outside the Village that has two rooms left. Apparently they had cancellations right before I called. We got fucking lucky, but they said they’d hold them for us through the end of the day.”
The three of them exhale sighs of relief in unison and I clock this as our first win of the trip.
We all grab our suitcases and make our way out of this hellhole. I’m last out of the room and follow the guys to the main level where we told Jimmy we’d meet him.
“It’s too bad there’s only two rooms left. I bet Liv and Charlie would’ve loved an escape from their living situation too.”
Shit.
There’s no way in hell I’m leaving Charlie behind to stay in her atrocious room. The two girls can share a bed and I’ll take the floor for all I care.
It’s never been my job to take care of her, she does just fine taking care of herself, but the thought of leaving her behind makes me sick to my stomach.
I’m not sure when this innate need to protect Charlie came about, but rather than question it, I embrace it.
“Fuck that. They’re coming with us.”
The women are up 3–1 with five minutes to go in the third period.
The place is packed with fans which is so incredible to see.
There are a ton of athletes here to attend the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow, so the stands of the arena are painted an array of colors, each athlete repping their country’s colors proudly.
Charlie hops onto the ice and a smile stretches across my face. She stands easily over six-foot on skates but that’s not what makes her stand out on the ice. Her style of play is what catches the attention of not only me, but my teammates sitting next to me.
“Man, she’s an absolute menace out there.”
Just as Wyatt makes his comment, Charlie throws her shoulder into one of Team Finland’s players, causing her to slam against the boards and fall to the ice.
I chuckle to myself before responding. “She’s been a menace her entire life. On and off the ice.”
I don’t mean that in a bad way, either. She gave her brother hell, but it’s only because she had dreams as big, if not bigger than his. She’d tag along anytime we’d head to the sports complex, claiming if we needed to practice then so did she. The memory brings another smile to my face.
My astute third, or what we sometimes call ‘vice-skip’, Brendan, shakes his head at me for what feels like the millionth time tonight.
“You look like a fucking bobble head the way you keep shaking your head. Something you’d like to say?”
Brendan eyes me wearily before leaning back in his seat. “Nah, man. You just seem awfully fond of your best friend’s little sister.”
“Fuck off.”
Brendan laughs, dropping the conversation, but his words stick with me. Because I am fond of her. I’m more than fucking fond of her. I’m so damn attracted to her, our encounter earlier has been playing on loop ever since.
Connor will fucking kill me if he ever finds out, but the threat isn’t enough to clear my thoughts. His sister might be seven years younger than me, but the attraction I feel whenever I’m near her is impossible to ignore.
As I’m contemplating my feelings for her, Charlie shoves a Finnish player off the puck, stealing it and driving the net at full speed. She fakes a shot and then moves it to her backhand, firing it right over the goalie’s shoulder for another Team USA goal.
My dick pushes against my zipper, her hockey skill yet another turn on I can’t ignore. She celebrates with Liv and the rest of her linemates on the ice before making her way to the bench to knock gloves with the rest of her team.
Just as she’s about to turn and head back toward center ice, her eyes catch mine where I’m sitting just a few rows up from the glass.
I stand and clap with the rest of my curling teammates and ignore Wyatt when he asks me if I’m ready to go.
There’s not a chance in hell I’m looking away from the angel on skates in front of me.
She finally turns to make a line change, but just as she’s about to step onto the bench, her head whips my way one more time and my best friend’s goddess of a little sister winks at me.
The move causes my dick to weep in my jeans. How the hell does she elicit such a reaction out of me when she’s dressed from head to toe in hockey gear?
Team USA wins the game 4–1 and instead of heading back to the hotel with the guys to check in, I choose to hang back and wait for Charlie and Liv. Somehow, I don’t have Charlie’s phone number, so I haven’t been able to talk to her about staying at the hotel with us.
I’m scrolling my phone when I hear her voice.
“Waiting for someone, Skip?”
My eyes abandon my screen and the moment they find her, I suck in a breath. Even after competing in the Olympics, she still looks absolutely breathtaking.
Charlie’s hair is damp from what I’m assuming was her post-game shower, and she’s dressed in a navy business suit, with a silk, white blouse underneath her jacket.
I knew hockey players dressed to impress for their games, but for some reason I was half-expecting her to walk out in the Team USA apparel I saw her in earlier today.
Not that she didn’t look good dressed down.
But damn, she looks exquisite right now.
“Yeah, Smith. I was waiting for you.” I’m hoping my voice hides the effect she has on me, and from the shocked expression on her face, I can tell she wasn’t expecting me to be so honest.
Her shock is gone just as fast as it came, and a cocky grin now replaces it. She spreads her arms out wide. “Well, here I am.”
There are many things I’d like to do to that cocky little mouth of hers but I keep those thoughts to myself.
She does a slow circle and she has no fucking idea what she’s doing to me right now. I push off the wall, willing my dick to behave, but it’s kind of hard to do with her standing there looking so confident.
“There you are. You looked good out there, Charlie. Nice snipe.”
I stop a couple feet away from her, fighting the urge to pull her into me and show her just how impressive I think she is.
She shrugs her shoulders as if it wasn’t the most beautiful goal of the night. “Thanks. It was nothing.”
The smile she flashes me is the nail in my coffin. I am so far gone for my best friend’s little sister. And that’s a damn problem.
“Where’s the rest of your team?” She looks behind me, trying to find them.
“They went back to the hotel.”
Her head whips back to me so fast, I can’t help the laugh that escapes my mouth.
“Hotel? How the hell did you manage that?”
Now it’s my turn to be cocky. I mirror her earlier nonchalance, shrugging one of my shoulders. “It was nothing.”
Charlie steps forward and shoves me in the chest. “Ha-ha.”
Before she can pull away, I grab her wrist with my hand and hold her in place.
“Grab Liv and pack your bags. You’re coming with me.”