Page 10 of In His Skates

Shit. Friday is Simon’s birthday. I was supposed to go to dinner with him and some other teammates. I guess I’ll just have to join the party later.

“Sounds good. Looking forward to it,” I say, certain my father knows I’m lying.

“Right. See you in a few days.” He ends the call, but the doomsday feeling remains in my chest.

I set my phone down on the dining room table and head into my room, getting undressed as I go. One of the perks of living alone is that I can leave a trail of clothes behind me and no one will yell at me about it. I eventually pick them up—I’m not a pig—but only when I’m good and ready.

The plan was to take a shower, but my bed is calling me. I guess I’ll take a nap first. I fall face-first onto the mattress, and then it’s lights out.

LEIGH

“What a day, huh?” Bobbi says as soon as we leave the arena in the dark comfort of the car. Whenever I go anywhere for work, we use a car service so neither Bobbi nor I have to drive.

Closing my eyes, I rest my head against the leather seat. “I’m just glad that’s over. All I want to do is veg out on my couch and eat junk food.” And not think about Keanu. That damn kiss is still at the forefront of my mind. Before I ended it, I was into it, and it’s doing my head in. Why did I enjoy a kiss from my archnemesis?

“Oh dear. You were supposed to make an appearance at Jenica Johnson’s party.”

“Ugh. I’m so not in the mood to be social tonight.”

“Okaay. Her publicist won’t be happy, though.”

“Just say I’m under the weather.” I wave my hand dismissively.

Missing Jenica’s party won’t be the end of the world. She’s an heiress and an it-girl, so getting an invite to her party is a big deal to people wanting to break into the industry. Those kinds of things are good for networking; you never know who’s going to be the new sensation in Hollywood. But my career is established, and I don’t need to show up at every event anymore.

“Yeah. I’ll do that. I’ll go to the party to check it out.”

“Sounds good. Report back any tea.”

Bobbi’s green eyes spark, and his lips curl into a grin. “I always do.”

A yawn sneaks up on me, and my eyelids are already getting heavy. Gee, it’s not even six p.m. yet. A day of shooting doesn’t usually tire me out that much, but I’m more depleted than usual. It’s probably the Keanu effect. I went through so many strong emotions today because of him, and that took a toll.

I might skip the vegging out in front of the TV part and go straight to bed.

6 KEANU

I’m having the best sleep of my life when an annoying sound wakes me up. It’s a pop song turned into a ringtone. Hell. Did one of my teammates mess with my phone again last night?

Still half asleep, I reach for the device on my nightstand to put a stop to the nonsense. My body tells me it’s still early, but now that I’m no longer in deep slumber, my full bladder can’t be ignored.

I slide out of bed and, in the dark, make my way to my bathroom. Weird that it’s taking longer to reach the door. I eventually get to it, but to avoid the glare of lights, I keep them off. I’ve done this trek many times in the dark and know where everything is. For some reason, though, I’m having a hard time locating the damn toilet. Am I still drunk from last night? Wait—did I go out with Simon? I don’t remember.

Extending my arms forward, I search for the toilet. I’m considering turning the lights on after all when I hit the fucking toilet seat with my shin, and it hurts.

“Son of a bitch!”

I’ve never had a problem making a visit to the bathroom in the middle of the night before. Something is off with me.

I pull my pants down and reach for my dick—only it’s not there. I find smooth skin instead.

What the hell! I touch myself and realize my anatomy is very, very wrong.

Panicking, I finally search for the light switch. The glare hurts my eyes, but when they adjust to the brightness and I see my reflection in the mirror, Leigh is staring back at me, wearing pink pj’s with teddy bears all over them.

I scream as I jump back and my pulse skyrockets. “Holy fucking shit!”

I’m having a nightmare. It’s the only explanation. I’m too freaked out to even take the time to appreciate the view. Leigh is hot.