Chapter Four Hattie
Chapter Four
Hattie
I’m pacing back and forth in my hotel room, staring at the door. My shoulder is sore. My knee too. Today’s game was physical, and I went down hard in the second period. I’ve taken ibuprofen and put ice on it. It’s helping the pain, but my mind is reeling.
It’s complicated.
You were with Denny.
Colin’s words replay on a loop. It can’t possibly mean what I think.
We had one real conversation almost two years ago.
It couldn’t have lasted more than twenty minutes or so, and then after that .
. . nothing. In fact, he avoided me so much after that night I think I convinced myself it had gone differently than I remembered.
Now I’m thinking I completely misread everything he’s ever said or done.
Before I can stop myself, I head out of my room. The heavy wooden door slams behind me, but I stomp forward and knock on Colin’s room.
Adrenaline courses through me, and it feels like an eternity before the door swings open, revealing my nemesis. Now ex-nemesis?
Whatever I planned to say is lost as my stare drops from Colin’s surprised expression to his bare chest. And then lower to the towel slung around his hips.
I open my mouth to speak, but only a small squeak comes out.
“Is everything okay?” Colin asks. His wet hair curls at the ends, and I’m hit with the smell of his bodywash. Neither of those things completely distracts me from his nakedness, but it’s enough to keep me from gawking.
I walk in, uninvited—though technically he did say earlier I could come over. His room is set up similarly to mine, though bigger to accommodate the hot tub.
I spin around to face him as he shuts the door, closing us in.
His gaze drops the same way mine had, reminding me I’m in my swimsuit and a pair of jean shorts.
I’d like to say I got dressed with the intent to go down to the hotel pool, but I’m pretty certain I was always going to end up here. For the hot tub. Nothing else.
“I’m confused,” I say when I’m finally able to get my bearings.
“O-kay.” The one word comes out slowly like he expects me to ask a whole list of questions next. Which, fair, I guess, given our history.
But for once, I don’t want to berate the answers out of him.
“What did you mean when you said it was better for me if you avoided me?”
“Do you really need me to spell it out?”
“Yes,” I say immediately.
He stares at me, as if considering, then nods. “Can I get dressed first?”
The sheepish smile he aims at me breaks some of the tension crackling between us. I bite down on my bottom lip to keep from laughing.
“If you must.” I wave a hand.
His lips inch higher. “I’ll be right back.”
Colin disappears into the bathroom. I turn and scan the tidy hotel room. Whereas mine has clothes and gear strewn around, his is organized. A hockey stick rests against the wall next to his bed. I walk over to it and grip it in both hands.
The tape along the grip and blade looks like it was done recently, but the stick itself looks old.
I’m still holding it when Colin steps out of the bathroom.
He’s in jeans and a plain black T-shirt.
His hair is still wet, but it’s messier than before, like he ran a towel or maybe his hands through it.
“This isn’t the kind you use,” I say, extending the hockey stick out with one hand. Not just the brand but the curve of the blade. Not to mention it’s too short for him.
He walks over to me and takes the stick from me. Seeing it in his big hands confirms it. I’ve watched him play enough times that I can close my eyes and picture him on the ice.
“No, it isn’t.” He stares at it with a nostalgic sort of glint in his eye. “I scored my first hat trick with this stick.”
“How old?”
“Thirteen.”
“And here I thought you’d been dominating your peers since birth.”
“Nah.” He shakes his head, then rests the stick against the wall again in the same spot it was before. “I didn’t start until age seven, and it took years for me to even be a slightly competitive player.”
That surprises me, too, but speaks to the hard work I know he puts in for his sport.
“I take it with me. Sort of like a lucky charm, I guess.”
“I get it. I’ve been wearing the same sports bra in every game for two years because I scored the winning goal in a shoot-out the first time I wore it.”
“I remember that game.”
“No, you don’t.” It wasn’t really a memorable game otherwise. We were playing a team we should have easily beaten, and it was on Halloween, so most people had other plans, making the stands basically empty.
“Sure I do. You were playing ASU.”
“That’s right.” My brows tug together. How in the world does he remember that? I bet half our team doesn’t remember it.
“You also scored a breakaway goal in the first period.”
“Why do you know that?” The question comes out barely more than a whisper.
“Because I pay attention when it comes to you.” He lets out a long breath and runs a hand through his hair. “Too much attention, probably.”
I sit on the edge of his bed. My legs are wobbly, and my heart rate is too fast.
I can tell Colin is struggling with what to say next, but before he gets a chance to say anything, there’s a knock at the door.
“That’s probably my food.” He goes to the door, leaving me in a daze.
Everything I believed about Colin has completely flipped on its head. My brain is in full-blown spiral mode, but Laura’s voice cuts through.
“Hattie, are you in there?” she shouts.
I panic like I’ve been caught doing something terrible, but when I stand and look to the door, I realize she isn’t looking for me in Colin’s room. She’s across the hall, knocking on my door.
Colin glances back, brown bag in hand, as if silently asking me if I want to be found. I left my phone and everything else in my room. Including my room key. Crap, crap, crap.
Colin must sense my hesitation, because he moves to action, stepping out into the hall and letting the door fall nearly closed. He rests his back against it, holding it open an inch so he doesn’t get locked out and maybe so I can hear.
“I don’t think she’s in there,” Colin says.
“Do you know where she went?” Laura’s voice is bordering on shrill.
She sounds panicked, which only adds to my guilt of hiding in here.
It isn’t like it’s against the rules to be in Colin’s room; it’s just that I don’t want to start any rumors.
I’m not even sure what I’m doing in here yet, so I don’t want everyone else speculating.
“Maybe to the pool. Or to get dinner. Do you need something?”
“Yes. No.” Her anxiety seeps through every word. “I took a nap when we got back, and now I can’t find anyone. Did I miss a team meeting or something?”
“Nah, nothing official. I think people are just hanging out or grabbing dinner.”
“All of them? I knocked on every single door, and no one answered, and the group chat is quiet.”
My brows rise. That is concerning. Maybe I missed a team meeting too. If only I had my phone, I could check with Annabelle.
“I wouldn’t worry,” he tells her.
“Okay,” she says in a tone that says she’s not completely convinced.
“If I see Hattie, I’ll let her know you came looking for her.”
“Thanks, Jett.”
It’s quiet, and then a few seconds later, Colin is slipping back in the room and letting the door click shut behind him.
“Freshman girl is crashing out,” he says as he sets the bag of food on the TV stand. He moves to the fridge. “Do you want a Diet Dr Pepper?”
I nod, but my mind is reeling over everything Laura said. “Do you think she really knocked on every door?”
“Probably. She looked stressed.”
I take the soda he hands to me. “I wonder where everyone went.”
His brow furrows, and he stares at me with an odd expression.
“What?”
“You know they were all planning to sneak out, right?”
“I’m sorry—sneak out?!”
“Yeah.” He nods his head and grins. “We do it every year.”
I think back to last summer. I was hanging out with Denny most evenings, but I do have a small glimmer of a memory of a big group going to a nearby club.
I groan.
Colin lets out a small chuckle. “Did you really have no idea?”
“I was too wrapped up in you and your vague admissions.” I wave a hand his direction as I continue to process this new information. “This is bad. What if Coach Lessley finds out?”
“Honestly I’d be surprised if the coaches don’t already know.”
Maybe he’s right, but I’m too busy running through all the worst-case scenarios. This is my first opportunity as captain, and if someone fails to make it back or gets caught, it won’t look good on me.
“We have to go find them.”
He takes his food and a water over to the small table on the opposite side of the room. “Or we could eat.”
He pulls out more tacos than any one person should eat. Then tips his head to the empty seat across from him.
“I can’t eat right now.” My stomach is in knots. “I have to check in with Annabelle.”
“Okay.” A flash of what might be disappointment crosses his face.
“Except I left my phone in my room, and I locked myself out. Can I borrow yours?”
“You aren’t going to be able to relax until you know where they are,” he says, more statement than question.
“I just want to make sure everyone is accounted for and no one is doing anything stupid.” Stupider than sneaking out of the hotel.
He shoves half a taco in his mouth, chews as he stands. He grabs his phone, hat, and wallet, then puts on his shoes. “Okay. Let’s go find them.”