Page 133 of Puck with Karma
Without thinking, I return his hug. When he slaps me on the back and squeezes me tighter, I prepare to shake him off me, but I freeze when he whispers in my ear.
“Take care of my brother over there.” He gives a faint nod toward where Karlsberg is standing. “He’s a great guy. I know I’m leaving him in good hands.”
The moment is over before I realize it. The rest of the team comes to shake my hand and welcome me to the team, some more enthusiastically than others.
I excuse myself and step out in the hallway, needing a moment to myself. I don’t pay attention where I’m going until I hear a most un-enthusiastic clearing of someone’s throat. I look up only to see my new teammate. I guess we were not done yet.
“Hamilton,” he nods.
“Karlsberg,” I return.
There’s a moment of awkward silence that should probably bother me.
“You most likely already know my history with the family, and Abigail,” he starts. I appreciate him not dragging this out.
“I do.” The cold tone of my voice makes him smile for whatever reason.
“Don’t mess her up. I think she really loves you.”
I have all sorts of smartass remarks to make, but I refrain myself. Instead, I nod and turn to leave.
The door to the locker room opens abruptly.
“Hamilton!” Van calls after me. “Practice is at six, tomorrow morning. Don’t be late and make me look bad after I vouched for you!”
I give him a two finger salute and take off. The hired car from earlier is still waiting at the gate.
“I thought you’d have left with Noah,” I tell the driver.
“I gave him a ride, then came back for you, sir,” the driver assures me.
The ride back to the hotel where I’ve been staying with Abby is spent in silence. I feel antsy and out of sorts, worried about what I am about to find when I get to her. What if I scared her off, and now she’ll run away for good?
“We have arrived, sir,” the driver interrupts my scattered thoughts. “Thank you for choosing us for your transportation needs today.”
I stick my hand in my pocket, then have a moment of panic when I can’t find my wallet.
“I…”
“It’s all been taken care of, sir,” he assures me.
I nod but hesitate before popping the door open. Why am I being such a fuckin’ wuss?
With that last thought in mind, I get out of the car and go around it to enter the hotel. I am almost in front of the wide doors when someone slams into me.
“Oh my god!” Abby’s voice reaches my ears. “I’ve been waiting for you for the longest time!”
I let her squeeze her arms around me even though I could easily push her off me.
“I can’t believe you did that! Live for everyone to see! Did you mean it?”
Her voice sounds muffled against my chest, but she refuses to look at me.
“What do you think?” I finally ask when I see that she is not letting me look at her face.
Her voice is so soft, I barely understand what she’s saying. She lets go of me and takes a step back.
“I think…” Her voice is shaky, and so is the rest of her body, from the top of her beautiful head to her toes. “I think that I am an independent woman…”
