Chapter five.
1429 Words
Maya stirred slowly to warmth pressed firmly against her back and an arm draped heavily across her waist beneath the blankets.
For a few quiet seconds, she didn’t move.
Hanger over effects. Her head felt heavy. Her thoughts slow and foggy beneath the lingering haze of alcohol while soft morning light spilled faintly across the unfamiliar room around her.
The bed beneath her felt too soft and expensive. And the scent surrounding her definitely did not belong in her bedroom.
She could smell clean linen and expensive cologne. Something warm and masculine lingering against the pillow beside her.
Maya frowned slightly against the sheets.
Then the arm around her waist shifted and the movement made her freeze.
A slow breath brushed faintly against the back of her neck before the weight behind her settled closer instinctively, like whoever was holding her had done it in their sleep without thinking.
Her stomach dropped.
Very slowly, Maya opened her eyes wider.
Floor-to-ceiling windows stretched across the massive bedroom ahead of her overlooking Manhattan while dark furniture and muted modern colors filled a space that looked more like a luxury hotel suite than anywhere she had ever stepped foot inside willingly.
This was definitely not her apartment. And behind her—something else, no someone else occupied the space.
Last night's memory hit suddenly in scattered flashes.
Night Haven. Tequila. Derek. A fight.
Gray eyes.
“You taste nice.”
Oh God. Oh f*****g God.
Maya’s entire body went rigid beneath the blankets.
No.
No no no no.
Slowly—very slowly—she turned her head slightly over her shoulder.
And nearly stopped breathing.
Hunter Callum was asleep beside her.
His dark hair was slightly messy against the pillow, one arm still wrapped securely around her waist while the other rested beneath his head. Morning light slipped faintly across the sharp line of his jaw and the faint bruising now forming across his knuckles from the fight the night before.
Maya stared at him in complete horror.
Because somehow things felt worse the longer she looked.
He looked so comfortable there with his long beautiful lashes and lips that looked like he was pouting.
Fuck. This looked entirely like waking up beside internationally famous hockey players was something she casually did on weekday mornings.
Her heart began pounding violently now.
What the hell happened after the car?
Did they—Oh my God.
Maya’s eyes widened slightly as panic finally crashed fully into her still half-functioning brain.
She kissed Hunter Callum.
In a car. While drunk. In front of cameras.
And now she was in bed with him.
As if right on cue, the bedroom doors suddenly slammed open hard enough to make her nearly jump out of her skin.
“Hunter!”
The sharp female voice sliced straight through the room.
Maya whipped around just as a tall brunette woman strode into the suite looking absolutely furious.
Beautiful too unfortunately.
She looked somewhere in her forties, dressed in an impossibly tailored cream pantsuit with dark sunglasses pushed into her hair despite the fact that they were indoors. Every inch of her screamed expensive, intimidating and deeply exhausted.
Holiday Winters.
Even hungover, Maya recognized her instantly.
Her stomach dropped beneath the blankets.
Hunter's agent. The woman who had ignored her emails for weeks before eventually blocking her number entirely would be the first person to find her in Hunter Callum’s bed.
Fantastic.
Maya made a strangled sound before immediately yanking the blankets up to her chin and ducking lower beneath them like she could physically disappear if she committed hard enough.
Holiday stopped dead.
For one long horrifying second, silence filled the suite.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”
The exhaustion in her voice sounded far worse than yelling.
Beside Maya, Hunter groaned softly against the pillow before dragging a hand down his face without even opening his eyes yet.
“Holiday,” he muttered hoarsely.
“No,” Holiday snapped instantly. “Absolutely not. You do not get to ‘Holiday’ me right now.”
Hunter finally opened his eyes slowly, already looking like he regretted waking up.
His arm was still loosely around Maya’s waist beneath the blankets.
Maya felt it and apparently Holiday noticed it. Her expression went completely blank.
“Oh my God,” she whispered.
Hunter pushed himself upright slightly with another tired groan while Maya continued hiding beneath the covers debating whether she could survive living there permanently.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Hunter said.
Holiday laughed. A sharp terrifying sound completely devoid of humor.
“Hunter, there are currently twelve separate videos of you carrying this girl out of Night Haven like the final scene of a romantic drama.”
Maya squeezed her eyes shut.
No.
Holiday pointed directly at him now.
“One of those videos already has over twenty-two million views.”
Hunter’s jaw tightened slightly.
“And before either of you ask? Yes. The internet absolutely thinks she’s your girlfriend.”
“Oh my God,” Maya whispered into the blankets in complete horror.
Holiday’s eyes snapped toward the moving lump beneath the duvet.
“And you,” she said sharply. “Please stop hiding under the blanket. I can still see you.”
Maya pulled the blanket higher.
Holiday rolled her eyes before beginning to pace the room slowly, one hand pressed against her forehead like she was physically fighting off a migraine.
“Oh my God, Hunter,” she muttered. “I let you out of my sight for less than a day and somehow you’ve already managed to get yourself into another mess.”
Beneath the blanket, Maya let out a quiet miserable whine.
Maybe if she stayed hidden long enough they’d both eventually forget she existed.
Honestly, disappearing sounded ideal right now.
“Again,” Hunter said tiredly, pushing himself upright against the headboard, “it’s not what it looks like. Nothing happened between us.”
Holiday stopped pacing long enough to stare at him.
“The media does not care, Hunter,” she snapped. “You already have a reputation for being violent off the ice and now there’s a love affair scandal sitting right on top of it.”
Holiday’s eyes snapped toward the shifting bundle beneath the blanket.
“And you,” she said sharply. “Take the damn blanket off your face. I need to see if I can damage control this entire disaster.”
Maya stayed hidden for another second before slowly lowering the blanket just enough for her face to appear.
Holiday stopped dead.
For a long moment, she just stared, expression shifting as recognition clicked in and immediately soured.
“Oh God,” she whispered. Then louder—“No. No no no.”
Maya frowned immediately.
Holiday pointed at her accusingly. “You.”
“What about me?” Maya asked defensively.
“You’re the girl from Hart Publishing.”
Maya’s stomach dropped.
Fantastic.
Of course she remembered her.
“You blocked my number,” Maya muttered before she could stop herself.
“Yes because you called me eight times in one day,” Holiday shot back immediately.
Hunter looked between them now, visibly confused and still half asleep.
“What?”
Holiday ignored him completely, still staring at Maya like she’d personally orchestrated international fraud.
“Did you plan this from the beginning?” she demanded.
Maya blinked at her. “Plan what exactly?”
“This.” Holiday gestured wildly between her and Hunter. “The club. The videos. Ending up here.”
Maya stared at her in disbelief for a second before scoffing outright.
“I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t even want to be caught dead in bed with him.”
Offended now, she shoved the blanket aside and moved to climb out of the bed.
“But you were caught in bed with him,” Holiday replied instantly. “Only difference is you’re alive.”
Maya opened her mouth to argue again before abruptly freezing.
Because halfway through climbing out of the bed, she finally looked down at herself properly.
Her clothes were gone.
Instead, she was drowning inside a massive dark hockey jersey that hung low against her thighs.
CALLUM.
27.
Maya went completely still. Silence filled the room.
Then very slowly, her head turned towards Hunter.
Holiday followed at the exact same time. Suspiciously.
Hunter looked down at the jersey. Then back up at the women
And for the first time since Holiday stormed into the suite, he actually looked like he might be in trouble.
- Writer
