I crack the door to the rest of the suite. It’s deadly silent. They’re all definitely gone so I make a beeline for the main door. I open that one slowly too, peering out the crack to make sure I can’t see anyone in the hall. There’s a housekeeping cart a few doors down but that’s it. I slip out of the suite and down the hall to the elevators. The housekeeper comes out of one of the rooms with her arms filled with dirty sheets and she does a bit of a double take at my hulking torso squeezed into the too-small hoodie. I smile and wink.
She ignores me completely and goes back to her job. As a housekeeper in Vegas, I'm sure she's seen much worse than a professional hockey player in a woman's sweatshirt. The elevator opens and… I'm face-to-face with Tate.
Oh well. I’ve been caught in worse situations by people I know.
“Hey!” he says with a smile that falters when he sees my attire. “Did they shrink your clothes at the dry cleaner? Is this another wardrobe malfunction like the Hawaiian shirt last night?”
I grin. “Not exactly.”
He glances past me down the corridor and then to the left where the hotel hallway stretches out in a different direction. He’s clearly trying to figure out where I came from. The color drains from his face fairly quickly. “Please dear God do not say you hooked up with Tenley.”
“What? No! Of course not. Team rules,” I reply and make a face like hooking up with his sister is the most horrendous thing I can think of. It’s not, honestly. Tenley is hot as all hell. I mean she’s no Olivia, but she’s stunning.
But a bunch of core guys on the team made a pact one night. Granted we were all drunk but we promised each other that family was off-limits. Too many teammates fall out and create drama for the entire team when they date a sibling of their teammate. And to be honest, as pretty as Tenley is, she's also hell on wheels. Not at all unlikable, but feisty and wild and the type of girl you say you would never marry and then wake up one day on your fifteenth wedding anniversary, four kids in, madly in love, and trying to figure out how the hell that happened. I am not looking for that on any level.
“Why on earth would you jump to that conclusion?” I ask.
“Because…” He scans my outfit again. “That’s a woman’s hoodie and this is our floor.”
“You and Tenley?” I ask. “You’re sharing a room with your sister and your girlfriend? I’m not here to judge but I’m judging.”
The housekeeper and her cart wander by as Tate smirks at me and my comment. “No dipshit. I’m sharing asuitewith my sister, my girlfriend, and my cousin. I mean technically. And I thought I heard Tenley sneaking someone out of her room early this morning.”
“Obviously not me, because we made a pact.” I raise my hands. “Also, I’m sneaking out now, not in the wee hours.”
“Right.” Tate nods and then he smiles again, relieved. “I gotta go. I forgot my phone but we’re downstairs having breakfast if you want to join.”
“Nah thanks. I need some sleep. I didn’t get much last night.” I grin, and he gives me a congratulatory slap on the shoulder. I hit the elevator button again because it closed behind him. He takes a couple steps and then something he said earlier echoes in my brain.Cousin. I turn as he walks down the hall. The wing I just sauntered down, not the other one. “Tate! Who all are you here with again?”
“Ten, Mal, and Liv.”
Oh fuck.
He stares at me and I stare back. My only thought is do not let your jaw drop. Do not react at all. “Liv is…”
“Conner’s sister. My uncle Devin and Aunt Callie’s oldest daughter,” Tate explains. “She lives with Ten and they go to UCLA.”
My expression must be as blank as my mind because my brain has literally short-circuited. That’s why the male voice was familiar. It was Tate’s. My mystery lay. My sexy stranger. My Olivia. Is my teammate’s cousin. The one he protects at all costs. The one he says is shy and sensitive and stays out of the hockey limelight. And… is a virgin.
“You said Liv doesn’t do hockey stuff.”
“She doesn’t. And she doesn’t do much of anything like this for sure,” Tate agrees and stops in front of the door I just exited. My heart beats faster. His green eyes stay on me as he pulls his key card from his pocket. “She’s been through some stuff lately and she’s… well she’s trying new things. Anyway, she went home from the club early last night so maybe she’s not as ready as she thinks she is for a new lifestyle. See you later?”
“Yeah. Later!” I nod and slip into the elevator just as the doors are starting to close again.
It’s me. I’m the new thing Olivia Garrison is trying.
Did I just take her virginity?
Oh fuckity fuck fuck.
Chapter8
Liv
“You’re smiling,” Harlow notes, which means everyone turns and stares at me, ignoring Jake Gyllenhaal kicking ass on the screen in front of us.
“No. I’m… enjoying the movie.”