Page 174 of Hockey Halloween
It sounded like such a stupid question as soon as it came out of his mouth, but Jessica didn't seem to mind. She gave him a small smile and shook her head.
"Anywhere but my room."
He smiled back and nodded his head down the hall, wordlessly asking her to follow him. She didn't seem to mind, falling in step next to him in the quiet of the night.
"So why not back to your room? Is your roommate that bad?"
She laughed quietly. "No, I'm friends with Marci from when the boys played in college together last year."
When they played in college together last year. Another reminder that Xander was on a team with two twenty-year-old rookies while the last time Xander played on a college team was fifteen years ago. He could feel his knee ache just thinking about how long ago it had been.
"I just get like this sometimes after Chase plays. He comes home and crashes in bed, but the adrenaline of watching him keeps me up."
"I know the feeling."
"What does your wife think about it?"
It was an innocent question, and she probably didn't mean anything by it, but there was something about her referring to his non-existent wife that made him feel weird.
"Oh, sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to ask you about a sore subject."
He turned and looked at her. "How did you know it was a sore subject?"
She glanced at him and quickly turned away. "The look on your face. It reminded me of when I got divorced from Chase's dad. "
"Sorry about your divorce. I've been there so I know it sucks."
"And sorry about yours."
It had been a decade since he signed the divorce papers and luckily there were no kids involved so it was easy to just pay Kathi and have her go away. He wondered how much harder it would be with a hockey kid when you would have to coordinate the costs and tournaments and games with someone you divorced.
So instead, he tried to move on to other topics. They talked about Jessica's visits to Denver and what she liked about the city, Xander's family in Calgary, the restaurant they had dinner at that night. They got on the elevator and wandered around the lobby of the hotel to scope out the breakfast situation for the morning. They found the vending machine hidden on the second floor and Xander always carried an emergency dollar bill in his phone case so he bought them some Doritos to share.
There was something about Jessica that just felt easy. It was easy to talk to her and wander the halls in the middle of the night without feeling awkward.
But each step made him feel more and more attracted to her, and he could feel that connection from her as well. The way she felt at ease with him. The way her hand gently reached for the crook of his elbow as they walked. It felt like something a couple would do and he liked that.
What he didn't like was getting to his door. That door was dangerous. He should just walk through it and say good night to herand that should be the end to their hour of strolling the halls of the Hilton in whatever city they were in that night. It could be a bit confusing when you were always on the road.
"So this is me," he said quietly.
Jessica looked at the door and then at him and he wondered if that was disappointment that he saw on her face. "Oh, I didn't realize we were back here." She glanced down the hall and then glanced the other direction, almost as if she was confirming that they were the only two people there. "I'm not really that tired yet, are you?"
He should've said he was tired. He should say he's really tired now and it's time for him to go to bed.
So of course, that's not what he said.
"I could stay up a little bit longer," he said in a way that he hoped to convey what he was trying to imply. "Would you like to maybe come in and we could raid the minibar or something?"
She smiled at him warmly and it made his dick twitch. "Yeah, that would be nice."
Xander could feel his heart begin to race as he almost fumbled with his key card before finally slipping it in the lock.
What the hell was he thinking inviting a rookie's mom into his room? And for what? He was the captain so he got his own room on road trips and would take advantage of that from time to time depending on the women. But this was a bad idea to be inviting a teammate's mom to his room late at night.
And yet right now, Xander didn't care. He knew what he wanted.
Jessica knew what she wanted too. As soon as he heard the door click behind him, Jessica's hands were on his t-shirt, pulling him down so she could kiss him hard. It may every muscle in his body pulse with anticipation and desire and a need to make this woman his own.
