Page 60 of Zero Pucks Given
Josie didn’t notice them. She sighed and said, “I’m really happy to be here, Grayson.”
It was a moment of vulnerability for her, but I didn’t see it. I was too busy thinking about myself and my reputation.
“I’m glad you’re here too,” I replied, loud enough for my voice to carry. “So we can get our final date out of the way. The last thing I need to be thinking about during the playoffs is a fucking play date set up by the fucking marketing team.”
I’d said more hurtful things to Josie before. We’d traded insults and jabs for months. But her walls were down right now, and that made my comment hit harder than anything before. Her expression changed from happiness, to shock, to intense pain.
The last thing I saw was the shimmer of tears in her eyes before she turned and rolled her luggage away.
Why did I say that?
29
Josie
Why did he say that?
That’s all I could think about as I hurried to the elevator and mashed the button for my floor. The worst part was there was another couple in the elevator, so I had to keep my shit together until I made it to my room.
Once there, I let out an angry yell. Hopefully the walls weren’t thin in this place.
What the fuck?
Grayson was a dick on our first date. And if I was being totally honest with myself, I was a bitch too. We hated each other from the start, a hatred that wasverymutual.
But every date since then had gone a little bit better. He told me about his background, and I slowly revealed more of myself to him. By the time he was teaching me how to ice skate, I actually enjoyed being around him.
And I was certain—certain—that he felt the same way.
It was all I could think about on the flight here. Whether there was a spark of somethingrealbetween us. After a few free drinks on theplane, I’d even allowed myself to imagine a world where we started dating after the season was over. A relationship thatwasn’tmandated by a marketing contract.
It made me feel hopeful.
But the moment I said something nice to Grayson, admitting that I was happy to be here in Edmonton with him, he made me feel like a fool.
This was why I didn’t open up to people. It always bit me in the ass.
I didn’t cry over it. I was proud of that. I allowed myself to feel dejected about the whole thing for exactly five minutes, blinked away a few stray tears, and opened my laptop to do some work.
Editing videos for a few hours helped me relax. It gave me a sense of control.
When I reached a good stopping point, I opened the room service menu. I would have rather gone to one of the restaurants within walking distance of the hotel, but the last thing I wanted was to run into Grayson again.
Besides, the team was paying for anything I bought in the hotel. Filet mignonandsalmon? Don’t mind if I do.
Now it was time to get another buzz on someone else’s dime. I mixed myself a nice cocktail from the mini bar, but the Coke wasn’t particularly cold. I grabbed the ice bucket from the desk and went to find the ice machine down the hall by the elevators.
But when I got to the room with the machine, someone else was already standing in front of it while it dispensed ice.
Grayson.
There was a brief moment where he didn’t know I was there. His back was turned to me, the plain gray T-shirt spread across his broad shoulders. Steele Wall indeed.
Before I could run away, he glanced over his shoulder, flinching when he saw me. “Josie,” he said in surprise.
“Don’t you have an ice machine on your own floor?” I asked. The concierge had told me that elevator access would be limited to the sixth and seventh floors since the team was occupying them.
“The machine on our floor is broken.” He glanced at my bucket. “Making yourself a drink?”
