Page 59 of The Triple Play

She paused as I crossed the street. “Are yousleepingwith a Fire?”

My cheeks heated a little. It wasn’t like there was anyone around to hear her, but even admitting that toherfelt like admitting to the biggest secret in the world. “It’s more complicated than that.”

“Oh my god, you are.”

“Are you gonna judge me if I answer that honestly?”

“Yes, but I love you, so it’s fine.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s, uh, not just Xavi. It’s… kind of… three of them.”

Silence.

I pulled the phone back, checking the call hadn’t dropped, and put it back to my ear.

“I’m hanging up,” Zoe deadpanned. “You’re fucking with me.”

“I’m not!” I laughed, stopping a couple of blocks from the hotel and leaning against the brick exterior of a tattoo parlor. “It just kind of happened. I don’t know how to explain it. They were there at Smokey’s the night everything exploded with Elliot, and then it just kind of spiraled. They’re all friends, they all know about it, it’s kosher. It just… I don’t know, Zo, it just kind of works. It’s been weirdly good. Better than good. Fantastic.”

“Is this, like, a serious thing? Or anAnnie’s having a midlife crisis at twenty-fivekind of thing?”

I chewed at the inside of my cheek. “I don’t know. Both?”

“Tell me everything. Names. I need to Google them.”

I laughed again, my cheeks heating further, my eyes scanning the people on the street on the off chance one of their teammates was walking around. “You’ve got to keep it to yourself if I tell you, okay?”

“Obviously,” she said, and I couldhearher grinning.

“Cole Maxwell, Colton Miller, and Xavi Moreau.” My words were whispered as if anyone out here cared or was paying attention. “I’m staying in their hotel room. I’ll send you pictures, it’sinsane, it’s got, like, waterfalls inside. And I wrote a new song last night after they all crashed out after practice. Just sat up and scribbled it out in my notebook while Colton slept beside me. And I think it’s actuallygood.”

“Jesus Christ, Annie,” Zoe chuckled, her voice tinny in my ear. “You’re holed up in a luxury hotel, getting railed by three NHL players, and writing music like some kind of tortured poet? You sure you didn’t slip on some spilled beer at Smokey’s and fall into a coma? AmIreal?”

“Honestly wouldn’t be surprised if that had happened to me,” I muttered. I picked at my thumb’s nail with my teeth, my eyes still scanning the sidewalk. “But it’s real. Got little fingertip-sized bruises on my hips from Colton, he’s a bit fan of leaving marks apparently. I can send you pics if you don’t believe me.”

She made a wheezing sound, her stifled laughter barely contained. “You’re actually glowing. Like, through the phone. Can’t remember the last time I saw this much personality from you.”

My cheeks hurt from smiling. “It’s been a lot. Like, it’samazing, but it’s also chaotic. I’m trying to stay under the radar, you know? A bunch of the guys from the Fire come into Smokey’s pretty regularly, so I don’t want someone to recognize me or see me coming and going from their room like I’m some kind of flame.”

“Flame? Look at you, using Fire lingo.”

“Shut up.”

“How’s staying hidden going then?” she asked with a snort.

“Nearly got caught this morning,” I chuckled. “I went down to the lobby in one of Xavi’s hoodies, no makeup, hair in a bun, looking like a goddamn raccoon because I forgot to take my makeup off last night. I just needed a snack and a coffee, and I thought I’d be safe ‘cause the guys had already left for practice, and I spotted Sebastian Blue with his wife and kids in the lobby.”

“No!”

“Yes! I panicked, like, wholly and completely. Ducked into this little nook behind the waterfall and crouched there like a goblin, holding a hotel banana like it would somehow save me. Iswearhe looked right at me.”

Zoe wheezed again. “Not thebanana.”

“Oh, it gets worse,” I laughed. “I tried to sneak out last night to get fries and a milkshake from the McDonald’s across the street before the guys got back, hoodie pulled up, sunglasses on like some kind of D-list celebrity?—”

“Annie.”

“—and I ran straight into Samson Antonius. Which issomuch worse ‘cause the guys are like, actually friends with him. I full on panicked and ran down the alley beside it, hid behind the industrial-sized trash can. Xavi said I smelled like chicken nuggets.”

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