Page 21 of Risking the Pucking Defense

I’m about to race back toward the elevator and return to my room to pretend this never happened when the door suddenly opens.

He stares at me and blinks a couple times as if he can’t believe what he’s seeing.

Honestly, I understand his confusion.

I can’t quite believe what I’m doing either.

“Hailee?” he questions, his voice rough.

“Uh, yeah, hi. I was just…”

“Are those hot chocolates?” His red-rimmed eyes drop to the two mugs in my hand with rapidly melting whipped cream and sinking marshmallows.

I look down at them as if I’d forgotten.

“Yeah. Two hot chocolates.”

“Is…uh…” He lifts his arm, rubbing the back of his neck as his cheeks turn pink. “Is one of them for me?”

“Yeah, yes. Yep, one of them is for you,” I say, rushing back and handing one over.

“Thank you, that’s really⁠—”

Voices float down the hallway, and my heart lurches in panic.

I can’t be caught loitering outside Hayden’s room in my pajamas.

Holy shit. I’m not even wearing a bra.

He senses my panic and steps back, fully opening his hotel room door and urging me inside.

Without second-guessing, I follow him.

Everything inside is the same as it was earlier. The only difference is that the suit he was wearing is now draped over the chair in front of the vanity, and⁠—

“Are you watching High School Musical?” I blurt, not expecting to see Zac Efron in a basketball jersey in the middle of the television screen.

“Umm…” This time, when I look at Hayden, it isn’t just his cheeks that are pink; the tips of his ears are too.

7

HAYDEN

Holy shit.

Holy fucking shit.

Hailee stares at me as if she’s waiting for something, but for the life of me, I can’t remember what it might be because she’s…she’s standing in front of me with her hair loosely braided, not a stitch of makeup on, in what I’m pretty sure are her pajamas and with a mug of hot chocolate in her hand.

And she’s inside my hotel room.

Again.

And holy shit, yes, I do have High School Musical playing on the TV.

Fucking hell. Could I look any more pathetic right now if I tried?

“It was Rylee’s favorite,” I blurt, hoping it’ll make me seem a little less…well, childlike.