Page 104 of The Last Guy On Earth
She squeals.
“Hey, you feeling okay?” I ask her.
“I feelgreat!My brother is going to the finals! Whee!”
Laughing, I get off the elevator and start looking for room 912. “Goodnight, Kait.”
“Night, Clayzy! Congratulations!”
Tucking the phone into my pocket, I turn down the corridor. And stop dead when I see Jethro leaning against the wall, watching me.
And, fuck, he looks good in his game-day suit, a lazy smile on his face. My stomach does a swoopy thing that it’s not supposed to do when I look at him. “Hey,” I say, swallowing. “You looking for me?”
He shakes his head. “I wasn’t. But I was about to open my door when I heard your voice.”
“You’re on this floor?” I ask stupidly. Since he’d confessed that he’d requested rooms on low floors, I wasn’t expecting to see him.
“I guess the Fairmont just really loves to upgrade me.” He pulls a key out of his pocket and swipes into… I peek at the room number. 910. It’s the one adjacent to mine. “Congratulations, Clay. I know this means a lot to you.” His door opens, and he steps through, dropping his gym bag on the other side.
The door is about to swallow him up, and I’m not ready. “That was a hell of a game, Jethro. We’re going to the finals because of the way you played tonight.”
He glances over his shoulder at me. “Thanks, Coach” he says slowly and deliberately. “You take care now.”
Then the door closes behind him with a sturdy click. I remain there in the hallway, forgetting to move. Tonight, I was given a passport to everything I ever wanted.
So why do I feel like the thing Ireallywant just disappeared behind that door?
Eventually, I remember to unlock room 912. Walking in, I pass a door which clearly adjoins Jethro’s room. He’s right there.
Fuck. This is some kind of karmic test, isn’t it?
I go through the motions of getting ready for bed. I fire up the shower and wash all the gametime sweat off my body, and I hang up my suit. I brush my teeth. I find a complimentary bottleof imported water and a fruit bowl on the table. There’s a fancy chocolate on my pillow. The spoils of the rich and successful.
But I just feel hollow inside. Tonight, I reached the greatest achievement of my career, and I don’t have anyone to celebrate with besides my sister.
I sit on the edge of the bed and drop my head into my hands. If we’ve won the Cup ten days from now, I will be a very,verysuccessful hockey coach. But I will still be lonely as fuck.
Without really thinking about it, I slip off the bed and walk to the set of doors separating our rooms. I unlock and open my side, then knock on his.
For a moment, I don’t think he’s going to answer. I can’t blame him. I made the rules, and now I’m the ass who’s thinking about breaking them.
Then I hear a single word on the other side of the door. “Clay?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you just knock on my door?”
“Yeah.”
I hear the bolt slide, and he opens the door partway. He’s bare-chested, and my eyes dip down to take in my favorite abs, an athlete’s eight-pack, and a sandy brown happy trail running down the center of his stomach.
When I remember to raise my eyes to his, they’re squinting at me. “Did you want something?”
Yes. I swallow. “Great game tonight. You…you amaze me.”
His jaw hardens. “Really, Clay? That’s what you knocked on my door to say?”
“Um…” I’m so busted.
