I nervously bounce my leg as I wait for my friends to answer the FaceTime call. I have no idea what Katherine is going to say, but I’m really not looking forward to the lecture.
“Hello?” Max says as his face comes onscreen. “Fucking hell, it’s Winnie. Katherine, get your ass over here. It’s your friend who’s made us sick with worry.”
Oh man, it’s already not starting off well.
Katherine snatches the phone from Max and her bloodshot eyes come into view. She has a scarf tied around her head, masking what I know is hair made insane from her pulling on it, and she looks as though she hasn’t slept in two days. Not to mention, the vein between her eyes is twitching.
Yup, this isn’t going to be a fun conversation.
“What in the fresh hell have you been doing? You were supposed to call us and tell us you arrived.” She points to her eyes. “Do you see this? See these bloodshot, horrendously ugly eyes? That’s from you. I thought you were run off the side of the road, pulled from Minnie, and then thrust into a cage until they could start making a profile of you for the black market. With those eyes and those tits, you’d sell for a pretty price.”
“Oh my God, Katherine, you need to stop it with those crime shows you watch all the time.”
“Oh . . . you think that’s fictitious? Ohhhhhh no, that’s real life, sweetheart. And what I described is the nicer version, because you’re a prime candidate. Hot and clueless. They’d snatch you so fast.”
Max tears the phone away from Katherine and says, “Dude, she was showing me some articles about captors and their captives. She had me up all night worrying about it. Then I made her buy me a cronut this morning because I couldn’t sleep last night. And you know what—that cronut, although tasty, didn’t help me forget the traumatic mark Katherine left on me last night. I’m scarred. This is your fault.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, finally able to get a word in. “Trust me, I didn’t avoid you two on purpose. There was a horrible thunderstorm last night. Rain was pelting poor Minnie, making driving visibility incredibly poor. The Canadian Rockies don’t offer much in the way of phone reception, and to add to that, the Internet wasn’t working. But the Internet finally came back this morning, so I was able to FaceTime.”
Katherine snakes the phone from Max and peers into the screen closely, her face a psychotic display as she attempts to observe my surroundings. At least, that’s what it seems like she’s doing.
“Where are you?”
And here’s the question I didn’t want to answer, because she’s going to freak out. There’s no doubt in my mind that there’s going to be a massive loss of minds, and not only do I have to deal with the lecture, but I’m also going to have to deal with the bitching from Max. Because when I get off the phone, Katherine is going to fly off the deep end and Max will be the recipient of her crazy, and then I’ll have to listen to Max complain about Katherine. It’s what happens when your friend is so distraught and obsessed with personal safety.
“Well, before we talk about where I am, I need you to take a deep breath first.”
“Winnie,” she says, her throbbing vein intensifying. “If you say you’re in some sort of brothel, I’m going to lose my shit.”
“Good news, then. I’m not in a brothel, therefore there should be no losing of shit. Glad we got that out of the way. Phew. Now we can just relax and have a conversation like normal friends.”
Katherine shakes her head. “As if I work that way. You should know better by now. Where are you?”
It was worth giving the blasé attitude a shot.
“Let me preface this story by saying this is a tough trip for me, so if you could not lecture me on my choices, I would appreciate it.”
“Ooh, she’s pulling the I lost my mom card, and early on too,” Max says. “Wherever our dear friend is residing, there’s no way you’re going to approve, not when she has to preface her story.”
He’s right.
“Just tell me where you are,” Katherine says. When I don’t say anything, she rolls her eyes and says, “Okay, I’ll take it easy on you.”
“Promise?”
“Promise,” she says through her clenched jaw.
Here goes nothing.
“Okay, so I got to Banff last night. I tried texting you guys, but the text wouldn’t go through. The storm was really bad and as I was heading into town, I couldn’t see that well and ended up making a wrong turn.”
“The first mistake of being kidnapped.”
“Katherine, for the love of fuck,” Max says. “Chill with the abduction shit. You have me looking over my shoulder every goddamn second.”
“We need to be aware.”
“Trust me, we’re all aware.” Max shifts the phone so they’re both in view. “Go on.”
“Thank you.” I clear my throat, getting ready for the tough part. “Well, the wrong turn kind of took me into the mountains.” I can see Katherine go to say something but then she keeps her mouth shut as Max shoots her a look. “The road turned into a dirt road.”
“Dear Jesus,” Katherine says, pinching her nose.
“And because it was raining so much, the road turned into mud, which Minnie didn’t handle very well, and she ended up getting stuck. Nothing I did could get her out. I didn’t have much of a choice but to try to get help because my phone wasn’t working.”
Katherine starts to rock back and forth.
“I packed some things and then ventured out into the storm. I saw some lights in the distance so I headed in that direction. Trust me when I say, it was scary. The storm was so bad that I thought I was going to be swept away in the mud and rain. Luckily, I made it to the lights, which turned out to be a house, so I knocked on the door, hoping to use a phone.”
“Blink twice if you’re captured right now. Let me know if you need help.” She whacks Max in the arm. “I told you we should’ve put that GPS tracker on her.”
“I’m not captured. The guys were very kind last night.”
“Guys?” Katherine shouts.
“Guys, huh?” Max leans forward. “What kind of guys?”
I bite my bottom lip and then I lean forward and whisper, “Professional hockey players.”
“What?” Max stands from the couch they’re sitting on, taking the phone with him. “Hold the fuck on. You’re telling me that you took a wrong turn in the middle of a thunderstorm and just so happened to stumble upon a house full of professional hockey players?”
I nod. “Yeah. I didn’t have any idea who they were. They had to prove it to me that they were who they said they were, and this morning I did some recon when the Internet came back.”
“And who are they, exactly?”
“Master manipulators who are going to take advantage of her when she’s least expecting it,” Katherine shouts in the background.
Katherine needs a tranquilizer.
“Uh, they’re on the Vancouver Agi—”
“Agitators,” Max says before I can finish. “Holy fuck. If you tell me Ian Rivers is there, I’m going to fucking flip out. Is he there?” Max grips his forehead. “Wait, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.” He gets close to the phone so I can only see half of his face, and he whispers, “Is he there?”
“Ian Rivers—he’s the one who came out, isn’t he?”
“Yes. And fuck, Winnie, not only is he a beast on the ice, but he’s hot. Really fucking hot. Is he there? If he is, I’m coming. Tell me where you are and I’ll be there.”
I chuckle. “He’s not here.”
“Damn it. Who is there?”
“Um, let me see if I can get this right. They all call each other by their last names but introduced themselves with their first names. It’s so confusing. Uh, the house belongs to Taters, uh . . .”
“Silas Taters,” Max says. “Oh hell. Is Eli Hornsby there?”
“Yes,” I say with enthusiasm. “He is. And oh my God, is he pretty. Like . . . wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as pretty as him. It’s hard to look at him because the beauty of that man’s face is almost too much to handle.”
“You have issues then, because I have no problem looking at pictures of him. I could look at him for days. Who else is there?”
“Levi Posey.”
“Hmm, don’t know much about him.”
“He’s funny. I like him,” I say as I catch Katherine pacing in the background. I smile inwardly. This must be killing her. “And then Halsey Holmes.”
“Ooh, he’s a scoring god. He handles the puck better than anyone on the ice.”
“Yeah, he’s pretty quiet,” I say. “He doesn’t say much, just reads. And then the last guy is Pacey Lawes.”
Max’s jaw drops and then he blinks a few times. “Pacey Lawes, as in, the Agitators goalie? He’s pure magic. He has the most saves in the league. The most fucking saves, Winnie.”
My cheeks heat up.
The man with the most saves in the league said I was pretty.
He also offered me a place to stay—despite it not being his house.
He also kindly helped me push my car into a ditch.
Max sighs. “You literally walked into my wet dream, you lucky shit.”
I laugh while Katherine walks up to the phone and asks, “Okay, wonderful. You met some celebrities, but what happened after you met them? Did they let you use their phone? Did they attempt to touch you in your no-go areas?”
“No, Katherine,” I say in an exhausted voice. “And, well, that’s the thing.” I start squirming again. “It was such a bad storm that the phones weren’t working and I really didn’t have any options other than to take them up on their offer.”
Katherine’s eyes narrow. “What offer?”
“To stay the night.” I swallow hard and cringe.
“For sexual favors?” Katherine shouts.
I quickly turn the volume on my phone down, hoping no one heard that. “No,” I shoot back. “God, Katherine. They were just being nice. They offered me a guest room for the night. I considered going back to my car to sleep but they wouldn’t let me. They said if I really wanted to be abducted, that would be the way to do it.”
“So you stayed the night at their place?”
I nod and then turn the camera around on the phone to show off the room. “That’s where I am now. At the house, in the room I stayed in last night.”
“Uh, it looks as though you’re at some luxury resort,” Max says. “Not someone’s house. Is that a vaulted ceiling?”
I point the phone up to the ceiling. “Yup. With exposed beams. And look at the chandelier.”
“Oh my God, no one cares about the chandelier,” Katherine shouts. “You need to leave right now. Are you insane? Hockey players are huge, and there’s five of them in the house with you? I can smell a circle jerk, your back being the landing zone.”
“Jesus Christ, Katherine,” Max shouts. “Fuck, what’s wrong with you?” He points his finger at her. “You need psychological help.”
“Technically, there are six guys,” I say. “There’s a beefy chef named Stephan. He makes delicious vegan pancakes.”
“Homemade syrup?” Max asks.
“I think so. It was in one of those creamer things, and it was infused with huckleberry.”
“Ooh, that’s fancy.”
“Are you two kidding me right now?” Katherine asks. “Winnie is facing death and all you can talk about are chandeliers and huckleberry-infused syrup?”
“I’m not facing death. They actually really saved me.”
Katherine folds her arms over her chest. “Uh-huh, is that why you’re still there? Because you think they saved you? You know that’s how they get you, right? Build trust first and then swoop in for the kill.”
“Katherine.” I grow serious. “I’m still here because I have nowhere else to go.”
“What do you mean?” Katherine asks. I’m actually nervous for her blood pressure. I’ve never seen the vein so . . . prominent before, and FaceTime doesn’t usually provide a crystal-clear image, but man, can I see the pulse of her anger vein.
“Well, Pacey tried to help me push my car out of the holes this morning.”
“Ooh, was his shirt off while he was doing that?” Max asks.
“No.” I smirk. “But it was off this morning when I went out to the kitchen, and oh my God, Max, I’ve never seen that many muscles before.”
“God, I hate you.”
“Please, back to the story about your car,” Katherine says.
“Yes, well, we pushed it out of the holes, but then I forgot to stop it and it rolled back into a ditch.”
Katherine tosses her hands up in the air and walks away while Max snorts.
“If it makes you feel better, I fell face first into the mud and embarrassed myself. But, yeah, Minnie is in a ditch now and needs to be towed out. And because we’re on back roads, a tow truck won’t come up here until the roads are dry. It’s supposed to rain the next couple of days so I’m without a car.”
“Dear Jesus, I think . . . yes, I think I’m having a heart attack.” Katherine takes a seat on the couch and clutches her chest.
“You are not having a heart attack.” Max rolls his eyes.
“Um, if you didn’t like that part, you might not like this next part, either.” I wince.
Katherine’s head snaps toward the phone. “What now?”
“Well, do you remember when I was leaving, you asked where I was staying in Banff?”
“Yessss,” Katherine drags out.
“Well, I told you that fancy place where all of the celebrities stay.”
“Uh-huh.”
“So, that was a lie.”
Katherine’s eyes turn murderous.
“I thought I would show up and just grab a room at that hotel. Turns out, when I was on a lunch break from driving, I looked it up and the prices were astronomical. It’s a popular time to be in Banff right now. One of the boys told me it’s because the lakes are the most beautiful this time of the year. Something about glacial melting, I don’t know. Anyway, I thought I’d find a place to stay when I got here, and then the boys informed me everything is booked.”
“If you tell me you’re going to camp, I will disown you.”
I perk up. “No, I’m not camping. The boys offered me the guest room for as long as I want it.”
“That’s even worse,” Katherine shouts.
“How is that worse? They’re really nice.”
“Of course they’re nice. They’re trying to gain your trust so when they turn you into their sex slave, you start to think that’s your new normal.”
“Okay, you need to go take a nap,” Max says, taking Katherine by the arm and ushering her down the hall toward her bedroom. “I’ll bring you a cold compress in a few. Just chill.” When she’s out of earshot, Max says, “You realize you just made my life exponentially harder.”
I cringe. “I know, I’m sorry.”
“Do you know how you can make it up to me?”
“How?” I ask.
“Try to get Ian Rivers’s phone number for me.”
I chuckle. “I’ll do my best.”
“And do you know what else you can do for me?”
“Score you a date?” I ask.
“Well, that, but also . . . live your best life, Winnie.” His eyes turn soft as he smirks at me. “Katherine loves you, that’s why she’s so insane, but we know you need to do this, so do it the way you need to, and if that means spending a week in a vaulted-ceiling cabin with five hunky hockey players, then do it. Take this time for you.”
The tension in my shoulders eases as I lie back on the comfortable, plush bed. “That means a lot to me, Max.”
“But please just be careful, okay? I think you and I both know these guys are probably down-to-earth and nice. They’re not stupid enough to do something, you know, illegal, but just be careful. That heart in your chest, it’s fragile right now. It’s been through enough to last a lifetime. Take good care of it.”
I press my hand against my chest. “I will.” I smile at Max. “Thank you. I needed to hear this. I was really worried. I don’t want Katherine to be mad at me.”
“You know Katherine, her bark is bigger than her bite. Don’t worry about her. I’ll give her some sedatives here on the home front. Just take care of you and take care of your business. We need you back here, refreshed, and with a clear mind. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“And for the love of God, check in often. Even if it’s a text.”
I chuckle. “I will. Don’t worry. But if you don’t hear from me in a while, look up the weather forecast for Banff before you freak out. When it storms, correspondence can be low, so keep that in mind as well.”
“Got it.” He winks. “Now go have fun with some hockey players.”
“I will.”
“Before you hang up, tell me . . . do you have your eyes on Eli Hornsby?”
I burst out laughing. “He’s far too pretty. I don’t think I could ever go for a guy like him.”
“But . . .”
I shy away, putting my hand over my face as I feel it heat up. “But Pacey is . . . God, there’s something about him that I’m completely drawn to. He’s so handsome.”
“Ooh yes, Winnie. Pacey is a certain kind of man. He wears his hair well, ties it up in a knot when he wants to, those thighs of his could crush a watermelon, and his eyes.”
“Yes,” I whisper into the phone. “His eyes sear me.”
“You need to go for it.”
I snort. “You’re insane. There’s no way someone like Pacey Lawes would ever go for someone like me. Not to mention, I’m just passing through.”
“Uh, have you looked in the mirror? You’re gorgeous. You also have that special zip about you.”
“Special zip?” I laugh. “What the hell is that?”
“You know.” He rubs his fingers together. “This bubbly, infectious personality that people like to be around.” Whispering, he says, “The opposite of psychotic Katherine.”
I snort so hard I have to wipe my nose. “Well, thank you for the vote of confidence, but I don’t plan on making any moves on anyone. Doesn’t mean I won’t take advantage of the views, though.”
“That’s my girl. And trying to get that phone number, right?”
“Ah, yes, Ian Rivers’s phone number. I’ll ask around.”
“It’s the least you can do, since when I hang up the phone, I’m going to have to probably slip Katherine a crushed-up sedative in some applesauce just to make it through the day. I don’t prefer to drug my friends, Winnie.”
“I know, but sometimes it has to be done.”
“Yeah, this is a must.” He chuckles and says, “You know, though she talks about personal safety, little does she know her best friend is ready to slip her a Xanax.”
“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Love you, Max.”
“Love you. Have fun.”
We hang up and I toss my phone to the side as I stare up at the ceiling. So, this is it. This is where I’m staying for a few days.
Could be way worse.
Not sure it could be any better.
I’ll take it and I’ll be grateful, because it’s been tough of late.
And like Max said, I need to get back to them whole and with a clear mind.
Ready to get back on the merry-go-round that is my life.
