Chapter 5 - The Room
1198 Words
“You may be in the best shape of your life, but you’re certainly not an early riser.”
Milo almost fell off the bed when he opened his eyes to find Joshua standing over him, frowning down at him like a disappointed father.
“How did you…” He was still forming the question when Joshua raised a spare key.
“As your manager and lawyer, it’s my duty to keep an eye on you at all times. I had them make me a copy.” He slipped both hands into his pockets. “So. How was your night? I trust you slept well.”
Milo blinked.
The memory from last night crawled back in before he could stop it.
Last night, he had slept with the captain of the Harlow Hawks. The same team he was joining today.
What could possibly go wrong.
“It was fine,” he simply said, getting up to wash his face.
When he came back he started looking around for his phone.
“I can’t find my phone. I think I lost it.”
“I got rid of it,” Joshua said without lowering the newspaper in his hands.
He reached into his pocket and tossed something at Milo with his free hand.
Milo caught it and looked down.
A brand new phone which was a significant upgrade from the battered thing he’d been using for the past seven years.
“It’s almost twelve,” Joshua said, folding the paper. “Two hours in the hotel gym, then we head to Harlow Hawks headquarters.”
Milo didn’t argue.
But throughout the entire workout, flashes from last night kept slipping into his head at the worst moments.
The corridor. The grip on his collar. The single word — on top — said like a man ordering something off a menu.
He lost count of his reps twice.
“First things first…” Joshua started, then stopped to pat Milo’s arm. “Are you listening?”
“Huh?”
Joshua sighed. “Pay attention. You don’t have to memorize everything. Just don’t forget the important parts.”
Milo turned down the treadmill speed. “Talk.”
Joshua swiped his tablet.
“Harlow Hawks. Six starters, plus reserves. You’re a nobody replacing Jones Hartridge as center, so the team already resents you before you even walk through the door.”
Milo said nothing.
“Rhett Calloway. Captain. Defenseman. Seven years on the team, three as captain. Doesn’t talk much, doesn’t socialize, doesn’t trust easily.” Joshua looked up. “He is your primary objective. Everything runs through him. Get close to him.”
Milo kept his face neutral.
“Cruz Alvarado. Right defenseman. Loyal to Calloway like a dog to its owner. If Calloway doesn’t like you, Cruz will make your life very uncomfortable. Don’t provoke him.”
“Noted.”
“Brady Shaw. Left winger. Sharp, suspicious, and he doesn’t miss details. He will dig into your background, so your story cannot change. Not even the small things.”
Milo’s jaw tightened slightly.
“Levi Grant. Right winger. Quiet. Observant. Honestly the most dangerous one in the room because he says absolutely nothing but sees everything.”
“Which one’s the least dangerous?” Milo scratched his left brow.
Joshua almost smiled. “Benji Cole. Reserve center. Friendly, talkative, easy. He’ll probably try to adopt you within the first hour.”
“Last one?”
“Patch Reid. Reserve winger. Comic relief, mostly.” Joshua closed his tablet. “But he’s been with the team four years. Don’t mistake the jokes for loyalty, he has plenty of it.”
Milo stepped off the treadmill and grabbed his towel.
“Anyone else?”
Joshua paused for just a second.
“The coach. Joel Hartley. He’s known to play favorites and is fiercely protective of Calloway. If you so much as look at that man the wrong way, Joel will find a reason to throw you off the team. So Whatever you do, don’t get on his bad side.”
Milo wiped his face.
“Anything else?”
“Just remember why you’re there.” Joshua picked up his bag. “Mr. Halstead expects results. Not friendships.”
Then he walked out of the gym.
Milo stood in front of the mirror alone, reminiscing on everything the man said.
A team full of people who already hate him and the captain he already slept with.
Joshua reappeared at the gym door twenty minutes later, checking his watch with a sigh.
“It’s almost twelve. We need to move.”
Milo reached for his towel. “I need to shower…”
“You can do that there.”
The car ride was quiet.
When they arrived, Milo stepped into a reception area that looked more like a five-star hotel lobby than a sports facility.
Marble floors, high ceilings, the team’s crest mounted on the wall in gold.
Joshua gave him no time to look around and steered him straight into an elevator.
“This is the team’s residential quarters. Current players take the top floor. Substitutes use the floors below.” He pressed the button without looking at Milo.
“Since you’re filling a front liner’s spot, you get the top floor. It’s the same one Jones Hartridge used to share with Calloway. But Rhett moved out about three months ago, so Jones had the place to himself. Since you’re stepping into Jones’s position, the room is all yours.”
The elevator opened.
Milo stepped out and stopped.
It was nothing like the bunk beds at Harlow High.
The room was wide and quiet and looked exactly like the kind of penthouse he’d only ever seen in films.
Two beds, one on each side, both made up neatly. He took the one closest to the window and sat down.
There was another door across the room and he tilted his head curiously.
“Does that lead to another room?”
“Every player has their own bathroom,” Joshua shook his head. “By four, the team has a training session. Freshen up and be ready.”
After passing this information, he got a call and left the room.
Milo exhaled and laid back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
So this is what it looks like.
He sat up and checked the clock on the wall.
Two-oh-three.
Enough time for a shower, a rest, and mentally preparing to meet the people he was about to lie to every single day.
He showered, didn’t bother with the fresh towel stacked neatly on the rack, and came back out shaking water from his hair.
He picked up the blow dryer from the vanity table then remembered he still had over an hour before he had to go anyway.
Forget it. His hair would dry on its own.
He stepped out of the bathroom.
And froze.
Because Rhett Calloway, completely unaware that he was no longer the only person in the room, was stepping in from the other side at the exact same moment.
He too was coming out of the bathroom and wearing absolutely nothing.
Milo’s eyes dropped before his brain could stop them.
- Writer
