“Now I can’t hold this back forever, knowing you’d be better off if you’d just tell him goodbye. Now I ain’t tryna get no drama started but you deserve somebody good enough for you, girl. You need something new, girl…”


Needless to say, Travis was pretty pissed after Charlotte hadn’t called him back that day. She faked being sincerely sorry, but really, who was he to be her owner. She didn't need to check in with him. She was a grown ass woman. He didn’t like it when she said that either.

In the days since that, Charlotte found herself initiating text message conversations with Darcy. Some days he was slow to respond, and she figured those were the days when there was a game, because other days, he’d get back to her within minutes. Despite his parting words the last time they saw each other, Darcy didn’t push any further about Charlotte breaking up with Travis. In fact, he never mentioned Travis after that. It was like he didn’t even exist in Darcy’s world. Their conversations were never about the nights they hooked up, or the times they could’ve hooked up after that. They were always about the movie.

Charlotte was surprised that Darcy showed genuine interest in her chosen career path. Mostly because she couldn’t even get her boyfriend to show the same interest. He even expressed admiration in knowing that the reason they were working so hard and so fast was so they could submit to international film festivals in the fall.

It was during one of these conversations that Darcy let her know he’d be back in town; for game five, as he put it. She didn’t exactly know what that meant or implied, but she hoped they’d get to see each other again. There was something intoxicating about Darcy; whether or not they were sleeping together. Charlotte couldn’t deny that she was fascinated by him.

They had made tentative plans to meet up. Even though she knew what he did for a living, and had easy and obvious ways of figuring out when he would be playing, she didn’t take those steps. Hockey wasn't something she was into before meeting Darcy, and just because they were hooking up, didn’t mean she was going to adopt a new hobby. But she hadn’t heard from him all day, and wondered if their tentative plans were actually going to happen. She hoped they did. Even if they weren’t going to sleep with each other. Charlotte was still keeping Travis around. He wasn’t a bad guy and was generally a good boyfriend. Despite everything she wanted to do with Darcy, she wasn’t going to. But talking to him wouldn’t hurt.

She had spent the day in the edit bay, making sure the cut was tight so they could export it and send it over to fine tune the sound. They were so close to being done, Charlotte could taste it. This was serious work that she was proud to have her name on. Finally getting out of the lab, she looked at her phone for the first time in hours.

Anaheim Hilton? Room 1012.

Charlotte gave that offer some thought. Her going to Anaheim meant a forty minute drive both ways. It wasn’t really convenient, but he didn’t give her the option of meeting halfway like last time. Was it worth it to drive forty minutes, see him for an hour or two, and drive forty minutes back?

What a silly thought. As soon as she got in her car, she was headed out for Anaheim. It didn’t matter if she’d spend the same amount of time with him as in the car, she just wanted to see him. But the drive did give her time to think and feel guilty. What was she putting Travis through? Did this make her a bad person? Was this considered cheating? Even if it wasn’t in the physical sense, maybe she was cheating on him emotionally.

The drive was not kind to her, and forty minutes later when she parked her car at the hotel, Charlotte sent Travis a quick text. She told him not to worry, that she’d be back late tonight. And then she walked herself into the hotel and took the elevator ride up to the tenth floor. When she stood in front of the room, she hesitated before knocking on the door. Part of her wondered whether this was the room he shared with his teammate or if this was a different room he got for the night. The longer she waited, the more awkward she felt, so she knocked.

She could hear light footsteps behind the door and she sucked in a deep breath, plastering a smile on her face, expecting Darcy to be doing the same. When the door opened, he didn’t look how she expected him too. His eyes were heavy, his lips pulled into a tight line. He stepped to the side and allowed her space to walk past him and into the room. Charlotte was relieved that no one else was in the room, and the lack of luggage indicated he had got this room just for this occasion.

“Are you okay?” Charlotte hummed, stepping forward to touch his hand. The gesture came from a place of concern rather than attraction. She squeezed his hand gently, reacting to the fact that Darcy tried to pull his hand away. She wouldn't let him. “You did not make me drive out here to not talk to me,” she mocked, trying to lighten the feeling in the room.

He didn't smile, but did finally squeeze her hand back. “We lost,”

“I know I don’t know hockey, but haven't you lost other games this year?”

Darcy pulled his hand away and turned around, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We lost, we’re out. We blew our chances at the Stanley Cup; the championship.”

Charlotte followed him and wrapped her arms around his body, hugging him from behind. She pressed her cheek to his back.

“I’m useless,” he bowed his head. “I can’t even help my team. I sit on the bench and think of all the things I could do differently if I were in net, but… I’m not. I sit there and can’t do anything.”

What could she say to that? What would make him feel better? She could say he wasn't useless and that he was important to the team, but on any other day, those were already things he knew. He was just upset and needing time to grieve. Charlotte took a step backwards and tugged him with her. “Come on, sit down,”

She released him and sat back on the bed, crawling up to rest her back against the headboard. Darcy took a moment before actually joining her. He crawled up beside her and turned over, placing his head in her lap.

He sucked in a deep breath, “I thought we had a chance this year. A real shot,”

Charlotte stroked her fingers through his hair, scratching gently. “Darcy, just incase no one’s told you lately,” she paused, thinking of how she wanted to word this. “You’re a great hockey player,”

“How would you know? You don’t watch hockey,”

It was the first time since she got there that Charlotte sensed a jokiness to his tone. Even if he was still upset, at least he was taking playful jabs at her now. “I know, but I doubt the NHL lets shitty players in.”

He turned over onto his back and looked up at her. She smiled again and pushed her hand from his forehead, back through his hair. They both felt the vibrating in her pocket, and although she didn’t want to answer it, Darcy lifted his head a bit so she could fish it out. She knew exactly what the screen would say, and so when she and Darcy both read Travis’ name, Charlotte held down the lock button until her phone shut off.

He didn’t mention it, probably because he’d already said what he thought last time they saw each other. “Thanks for driving out here tonight,”

She nodded and placed her other hand on his chest, tapping it in a gentle rhythm, “I figured you had a game since you didn’t get back to me for awhile. And usually you leave right after a game, so I didn’t want to miss a chance.”

Darcy chuckled, “Coach didn’t want us in the air right after the game.” He focused on her, “we leave in the morning.”

Now she was really happy she decided to make the drive out here. This would probably be the last time she saw Darcy. For awhile, at least. Charlotte truly believed that it was a sign that she regularly ignored Travis’ calls when she was with Darcy. The fact that she would rather spend uninterrupted time with him instead of talking to her boyfriend was telling. And now knowing that he would be leaving in the morning, Charlotte wished she hadn’t prolonged the inevitable break up with Travis.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and moved her hand from his chest to his stomach. It was a harmless and innocent move, like she was adjusting her arm in a more comfortable position. But after she did so, Darcy sat up just enough to press his lips to hers. He cupped her head with one of his hands, and opened his mouth around hers for another kiss.

Charlotte pressed her hand to his shoulder, “stop. Please stop,” she choked out, only half believing her words. God, his lips were dangerous.

Darcy set his forehead on hers, “if you didn’t want this, why’d you come here tonight?”

“I have a boyfriend,” she begged. Now Charlotte set both her hands on Darcy’s chest as he sat up straighter and straddled her legs.

His eyes danced over her, “I know.”

“Please don’t make this harder,” she looked away from him and took a ragged breath in.

He took her face in his hands and forced her to look up at him. He looked absolutely broken, and Charlotte was sure she looked the same. “Break up with him,”

“And do what? Be with you?” They both knew that sounded absurd. Charlotte put her hands on Darcy’s wrists and tugged on them, but he was much stronger and kept them in place.

“Be with someone who you want to pick up the phone for. Someone who wants you to succeed in your work, and your life.” He leaned in closer, searching her face for some inkling of relent, “you deserve someone so much better than that guy. He doesn’t know what he has,”

She swallowed and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Darcy’s neck to hug him tightly. He smiled faintly and wrapped his arms around her back, holding her close as he turned his head slightly to kiss her temple. She adjusted her head on his shoulder and whispered, “please. Don’t,” she pulled away and tried to wiggle herself out from underneath his body.

Darcy stayed in place, only turning onto his side to envelope his body around hers. “Just stay the night with me. I won’t make any moves, I just…” he put his arm over her waist to keep her in bed, “want to cuddle.”

Charlotte’s better judgement was telling her to get out of the bed. But if this was the last time they’d see each other, she could do him the service and cuddle with him. As she hunkered down beside him, she pressed her phone to her ear after dialing. “Hi… yeah I’m okay,” she looked at Darcy’s face as she spoke on the phone, “no, I’m gonna stay at Jules’ place tonight…” Travis’ response was angry and overly loud. Judging by Darcy’s expression, Charlotte could tell he was hearing all the irritated words Travis was yelling. The muscles in Darcy’s jaw clenched, and she placed her hand on his cheek. “Trav, stop screaming. Please… I’m going to hang up now,”

She pulled her phone away from her ear and ended the call. As she was fixated on it, Darcy reached forward and took it out of her hands, and stretched over her body to put it on the nightstand beside her. When he relaxed back in bed, Charlotte curled into his body and pressed her head against his chest. He took her in his arms and stroked her back, soothingly. The words he’d heard Travis use to describe her and her behavior were more than unacceptable. And Darcy wondered how many times she’d been called those words by him.

That’s how Charlotte drifted off to sleep; eyes heavy as she tried to hold back tears, while being cuddled by Darcy’s strong arms. Despite being anxious, she only stirred awake as Darcy moved about the room early the next morning. When she turned to see him walking about, he was already dressed in a suit and ready to go.

She sat up and glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. Five o’clock. When he spotted that she was up, he came over and sat on the edge of the bed. He opened his arms and hugged her, taking a deep breath in, hoping to remember her scent for awhile longer. When he pulled back, he looked at her, “I know a guy doesn’t realize what he has when he calls his girlfriend a whore and a cunt.” He squeezed his hands around her thighs, “I hope it’s not much longer until you realize you don’t deserve to be called those things.” He kissed her one more time and was pleased when she let him linger, opening his mouth to push his tongue against hers. When she finally did shy away, Darcy kissed her forehead and stood up, “the room’s already paid for. You should get more sleep,”

Again, without a real goodbye, Darcy left the room. This time, Charlotte wondered how long it would be until he called her again.

Notes

"New Girl" by Dustin Lynch. (THIS SONG IS A JAM)

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