Love Bites

----- Grace Hartin

Tumbling head over heels into the hotel room was the only reason Amanda beat me. If she had made her way in like a normal person then I would have won our footrace. It started in the lobby when she claimed that I pushed past her to get through the revolving door first. Then when the elevators were taking too long she challenged me to a race up the stairs, which continued to our room from there. For a girl who spent the whole night dancing in high heels she easily kept up with me.

“Ha I beat you biatch,” she hollered from her seat against the wall. With the sweat running down her face and her staticy hair sticking to the wall above her she looked insane. Her bright eyes and wide smile were the only things keeping her from looking murderous, but not from being plain ol’ crazy.

I shut the door behind me and stepped out of my low black wedges, leaving them by the door like I would at home. “Yeah but you cheated,” I quickly fluffed her hair as I leaped over her legs, “biatch.”

The simple hotel room beyond the short entrance hallway was lit by the 2 lamps next to our beds. Before the maids had come in to make the beds and give us new towels it was easy to tell whose bed was whose. While my room was always a mess I made sure to make my bed, or else my cat left his fur where I slept. Amanda on the other hand didn’t have a pet, so her blanket had been on a diagonal with half of it spilling over the end of the bed and onto the floor.

“So tell me about you night?” I let myself onto my bed slowly, feeling the pressure from my tired legs dissipate through the rest of my body into the air. My feet brushed through the carpet, a fluffy cushion that my hardwood floor could never compete with. I loved the look of hardwood and in the summer the cool surface was always pleasant, but I would never turn down the opportunity to spend time on a soft rug.

From her spot against the wall she swept her hair from out of her face and smoothed it over the top of her head, “It was alright.” Her voice sounded restrained, like she was keeping more information from me. Which was obvious when I thought about how she and Kane had fallen into Jonny’s apartment, interrupting the- what was it exactly? On our way home Amanda had spent the whole time pointing out things we passed in our taxi and I hadn’t had a chance to really think about what had happened with Jonny before Amanda and Kane showed up. I shook my head and pushed any thoughts that weren’t Amanda and Kane out of my head. Right now was about them.

They also shared a quick kiss before we left. That was something.

“Shut the fuck up and spill,” I pressed my lips into a straight line and raised my eyebrows expectantly when she looked at me like I had insulted her, “I know you want to tell me.” When I reached across the gap between our beds to pat where I wanted her to sit I kept them deliberate, making sure she understood that she had no choice in the matter.

Her voice got muffled when she stood quickly and hopped on the bed across from me, but I thought that I heard her say something like ‘you know me too well’.

“Okay,” she rocked back and forth on the just-too-soft bed. Each time she leaned forward her body barely stayed up, precariously balanced on the edge, but each time she managed to find the strength to throw her body backwards.

That was all she said.

“Okay,” I began.

“After we left you guys at the table at the Smart Bar we went to the dance floor to dance. Duh. When we got there there were a ton of people and that wasn’t a problem really, but we wanted to be able to dance without drinking the sweat of the people next to us. I guess we could’ve gone back to the table. We should’ve really. Instead though, we went to the bar and did Skittles bomb shots. You know my favorite? We each did one then we drank a ton of water and ordered fries to share because drunk dancing isn’t a good way to get close. It’s good to get close physically, but not emotionally and I’m a very emotional person. Sometime while we were sitting there talking, I don’t remember when or why, we remembered that you guys were there too. I’m not exactly sure how long we had been talking. Do you remember how long we were gone? We talked about everything. Me, him, Chicago, Boston, favorite foods, cars, and a bunch of other stuff. I might’ve learned more about him in that time than I learned in math all 4 years of high school. Talk about a real joke.

Now where was I… oh yeah you guys.

We remembered that you guys were with us, and when we looked across the room it was too dark to see, but we were pretty sure that you guys were still there drinking and hadn’t left. On the other hand Kane and I had been sitting there and hadn’t danced at all. Which wasn’t okay, because that was our original mission. I know that you aren’t a huge fan of dancing and Kane told me that Jonathan hasn’t really been up for recently, so we thought it would be better for you guys to go somewhere private. Like his house. How did that go anyways?”

Before I could process her question she continued.

“Wait, let me finish first. You know how we went back and asked you to take him home, so I can skip that. After we ran off we were going to get a taxi to drive us to the next club, but there was a long line to hail one, so we walked a couple blocks to the next place. I’m not really sure where we went, but it was a really nice place. It had more lights and a bigger dance floor, in other words: Perfect for us. More people seemed to think that it’d be perfect for them too because the line was crazy long, like a whole block long and we were worried that we wouldn’t be able to get in. Then we came up with this plan, this really bad plan, where we talked up the bouncer by offering to show him a really cool dance then running away into the crowd to dance when he let us in. Thankfully he took our plan as a joke and recognized Kane, or else we would’ve be out a lot later. Wow my jaw is tired from all this talking.”

“Take a break,” I offered. She had been speaking for a straight five minutes, but the only thing that stuck with me was what she had just said, about them almost being out even later than they had been. That would’ve been a blessing and while I didn’t know the bouncer I damned him for recognizing Kane. Then I damned Kane for being him. Unfair, I knew that, but I couldn’t help it.

She blew air out and allowed her lips to vibrate, “Okay I’m ready. It’s not much more I promise. Basically we went inside and danced. That’s it actually. Afterwards we took a taxi back and ended up at Jonathan’s.” She suddenly made puppydog eyes, “He told me about Jonathan and Lindsey, it must still be hard on him.”

I thought about him taking out his phone and desperately poking the screen to try and to call her. The guilt in his eyes when I grabbed his phone and the rage that followed when I took it from him. My hand slid along my side and gently up to the bottom of my shoulder blade. When I pressed the familiar ache of a bruise spread out over the top of my back, “Yeah, I can only imagine.”

“Is that really it?” I quickly hopped up and ran to the bathroom, hoping that in her tipsy state she missed the pensive look that I had felt slide onto my face. The same face that over the years she developed a skill for noticing.

The thump of air from the room with our beds was followed by my own sigh of relief. She was more interested in lying down than me.

“Yeah, it was a pretty simple night. I’m happy for that.”

“Oh yeah?” I squirted some toothpaste onto my brush and wet it, “Why’s that?”

The alcohol from earlier started to make a bitter taste in my mouth with the toothpaste, but thankfully I had drank just long enough ago and there was just enough mint to mask it that I couldn’t taste it after a moment.

“Cause,” the bed squeaked as Amanda got up and came to the bathroom, “it was nice seeing a Kane without cameras on him. We just had a good time and I feel like I actually know something genuine about him.” I moved over to give her the sink and she started washing her face with the soap that her aunt made for her in the 'congratulations for getting accepted to college' basket she had sent from North Carolina. With that woman no amount of alcohol could keep her from not noticing something and Amanda had some of that but not the talent that her aunt possessed.

I spit in the tub and turned on the water to wash it down. “Plus you guys kissed,” I said in a teasing voice before I rinsed out my mouth, even if I was jealous.

She laughed, the sound muffled by her face being stuffed in a towel, “Hell yeah we did. There was no way that I would spend a night like this with him and then not.” We switched places and began doing what the other had before, like we used to when she lived with me for a summer while she was interning and her family went on vacation.

“What were you doing with Jonathan’s phone before we left?” she asked while we were getting into our pajamas. The question was innocent enough, but when I saw her expression in the mirror I knew that I couldn’t talk my way around it.

I folded my dress up and placed it in the suitcase for our return trip the next day, “I decided to give him my number. I’m assuming you did the same.”

As nonchalantly as I could I got into bed and turned on my side so I faced her as she followed suit. “Of course I did. I always do,” she reminded me of all her escapades, “I’m so proud of you. How’d you do it?”

My heart started beating faster. Nothing like it had in Jonny’s apartment where I could feel my heartbeat throughout my body, but where my breathing became shallower and my throat tightened up for no reason. “I’m pretty sure that he doesn’t know my name, so I made a note and left my number there under ‘cranberry’ cause it was what he had been talking about all night. It seemed like the only thing that he’s gonna remember tomorrow.”

She shut off her light and rolled onto her back, stretching her arm above her, “I can see it now. ‘Cranberry 617-555-8888 call me.’ You know you have a great number?”

I shut off my light and tucked a pillow into the curve of neck, “Yeah I know. 617-555-8888. It’s almost too easy.”

Having gotten my message off my chest my heart now swelled with pride for my smart move. He didn’t know my name, but he had my number and hopefully that would be enough for him if he ever wanted to contact me.

“Wait,” I tried to imagine the message that I left for him in his notes, “I don’t know if I added the ‘617’ part.”

Amanda yawned, she was the type to fall asleep in a flash, but I was really happy that she was still up, “Why wouldn’t you?”

My feeling of pride was replaced with dread, “I never have to in Boston, it’s just a given.”

I had done something right with a guy, but of course that was too good to be true.

“I’m sure you did,” Amanda barely finished the word 'did' before it morphed into another yawn, “and if not Kane has my number so I can ask him just in...”

She never finished her sentence and while I knew that she didn’t mean to leave me hanging, only to comfort me, I stayed up for a long time thinking about it.

----- Jonathan Toews

“Kane turn your fucking alarm off!” I shouted at him wherever he was asleep in my house. My head pounded as a reminder of the night I had and as a preview of what my day was going to be like.

Somewhere across the room I heard something heavy fall and Kane desperately grope around for his phone, “I got it, I got it.” The blaring alarm shut off, but the pounding continued and when I closed my eyes I saw spots. Sleep was out of the question.

“What time is it?” I slowly sat up, having to pause to let my headrush wear off before I stood. Large rays of light streamed in from my large windows, momentarily blinding me. “Shit,” I hissed when my shin hit the low coffee table that I had forgotten existed.

Kane laughed, the obnoxious sound piercing my head, “Careful there buddy there’s a table.” Funny. His feet slapped against the floor on his way to the kitchen, “You got coffee or something?”

“Yeah,” I found my way to the only stool that was pulled out at the counter that ‘connected my kitchen to the living room’ as my mother put it. Had I used it last night?

“Did you use this stool last night?” I asked Kane who had made his way to his drawer where he kept coffee, snacks and hangover cures because according to him I always had a barren kitchen.

“Nope,” he popped a K-Cup into the Keurig he bought for himself while claiming it was for me, “I saw it pulled out last night. Do you not remember?”

What did I remember from last night?

“No,” I rested my head in my hands, hoping that the darkness might spark something, “I don’t think I remember anything.”

The light clink of the coffee mug on my counter still sent waves of pain through my mind, but I took a grateful sip and prayed for the caffeine to hit my quickly.

Kane finished making each of us a bagel with an egg on it and stood at the counter in front of me looking judgemental. I didn’t like when he judged me, that was my job.

“Nothing at all?” I shook my head, making sure to keep my eyes on my bagel and my coffee. “How about I jog your memory? Last night you went out with me and drank a shit-ton, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink that much. Naturally I couldn’t send you home alone and I couldn’t leave my date, so I had my date’s hot friend take you home. I don’t know what happened after that, but when we showed up later you two looked guilty and she was out.”

I tried to imagine what he was describing and it all sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place any of it.

“How much did I drink? That bill must’ve been ridiculous.”

“I have no idea, I just payed whatever the tab was. Didn’t really look at the price,” he shrugged and finished his coffee. When he set his cup down he paused and stared at me for a while. The face he had been making at me earlier wasn’t even close to judgemental compared to the look he was giving me now.

“You look like shit.”

My head pounding, my body heavy and my mouth drier than the Sahara desert, “I feel like shit.”

His blaring alarm went off again and my brain felt fried. I wanted nothing more than to fall out of my seat and just lay on the floor until it went away or I died.

“Hold on, hold on,” he pulled out his phone and shut off the alarm again, “Oh shit, go get dressed now.”

“Why,” I whined and hauled my ass out of my seat. I knew from the fear that crossed his face that it had to do with the team, so I headed towards my room, but I wasn’t sure I was up for it.

His hands grabbed my shoulders, pushing me down the hallway to my room. “Because,” he grabbed an outfit for me from my closet, “we have a meeting with the team in 30 minutes and you’re captain. Change and I’ll tell you what your chaperone left for you and where it is.”

Without giving me a chance to say no he turned and left me to my own devices. It was probably only because with that incentive he knew I’d do just about anything. Not knowing what happened the night before made me feel helpless because I lost control.

I liked to be in control.

Typically I changed in about 5 minutes. Today I changed in 2.

“Show me,” I had tried to fast walk down my hallway to where Kaner was seated on my couch, but I ending up sliding around and trying to find handholds on the wall where I could pull myself along.

He looked up from his phone looking satisfied and stuffed it in his pocket. “It’s on your phone which is in your manstation. I’ll show you in the car.”

----- Patrick Kane

“Fuck,” Jonny furrowed his eyebrows and stuck out his hand, “give me your phone.”

I slowed to a gentle stop at a red light so I wouldn’t hurt Jonny’s sensitive head and handed him my phone, “Here, why?”

“I need to try different area codes from around, she only left the last seven digits.”

She had seemed like the type to do that, it reminded me of important business people. Smart, but she hadn’t been aloof about it. Jonny claimed to not remember anything about her, but when he read what she titled her note he grinned like the Cheshire Cat and no pothole we drove over could hurt his good feeling anymore. What the hell did cranberry mean anyways? Was it their safe word?

Huh, maybe it was.

“I don’t think she’s from around here,” he placed his phone down after the sixth phonecall, “Do you know her name?”

“Grace I think. I spent my time with her friend,” I pulled into the lot at the United Center and when we got out of the car Jonny shrunk away from the bright light, the dimmer lights inside making a considerable difference on his posture.

“Let me call her friend, she would know.”

While Jonny had been changing I had deleted my ex Amanda’s number, so I was only left with Mandy. It had been a while since my breakup, but I never really felt free until this morning. That was a feeling Jonny could use.

“Patrick?” a feminine voice picked up after only a couple rings.

“Hey Mandy, sore from dancing?” Jonny punched me in the arm, but I wasn’t about to waste a phone call to her on just him.

“Dancing?” I stopped walking even though down the hall Sharpy was motioning for us to hurry up, “Patrick I haven’t seen you in months.”

Even with the phone pressed up against my ear it was evident that Jonny could hear what was going on. He knew that I deleted Mandy’s number and he looked worse than when he had woken up that morning.

“Sorry, wrong number.”

When I hung up I wasn’t sure if I was saying it to Amanda, Jonny or myself.

Notes