Curtis closed his eyes and let the sounds around him try to help get his head where it needed to be. He’d spent all night worrying about Hannah, even after he made sure she got to her apartment without passing out. There had been too many things said without context that were easily misconstrued.

Nina was to blame for the majority of those things said. Thinking back, she was of course to blame for everything. Bitch wasn’t really strong enough a word, as it was a put down to female dogs to be compared to Nina. The woman was toxic, and Curtis hated that Hannah was stuck in her gravitational pull.

“That look is telling me that you either had the hottest sex of your life last night or the plan to ask your high school crush out blew up in your face. Since you keep describing her as shy, I’m guessing she didn’t jump in bed with you.”

Curtis raised his eyebrows as he considered Brady’s words. There was no way his face could convey both of those things at once. The difference between satisfaction and frustration should have been clear.

Brady was the teammate who dared him to go to the reunion, so he knew what was at stake. Curtis had probably poured his heart out a few too many times over beers with the guy.

Opening his eyes, Curtis shifted his weight on his skates and tried to focus on the practice going on around him. The minutes were winding down, so most of the guys were taking their last shots and talking about their plans for the day. It wasn’t a mandatory practice, but everyone was trying to get in as many hours as they could as preseason went on.

“I’m pretty sure the sex would’ve put me in a better mood. In fact, if it was as good as I envision it being, I wouldn’t have made it in today.”

It had been a while since anyone on the team saw Curtis in what could be considered a good mood. Sure, when they won he smiled and cheered, even went out from time to time to grab a beer. His moods tended to lean towards the dark side, though, and he’d never been mistaken for the chipper guy on the team.

Curtis had to fight to make it on a professional team, even though he was pretty good in high school. He wasn’t drafted, so his work ethic was a little different from the guys like Brady who hadn’t had to wonder if they would make it to the big stage.

“Yeah, can’t deny that. Did she even show up? I know you said she was supposed to, but you were worried about how flighty she is.”

It was clear he really had been oversharing. Sometimes it felt good to let it all out, but he had to remember to expect the snickers Brady tried his best to hide. The guy was on the record as saying he’d be a lifelong bachelor.

“I asked her out, she fainted and then I went to battle with the shrew. Not exactly how I planned things out, but I guess I can’t be surprised.”

Curtis hadn’t made any plans. If anything, he’d planned on chickening out. Brady didn’t understand his logic as far as that went. Frankly, Curtis didn’t understand it either. Any time he saw Hannah, whether in real life or just her name popped up on social media, some crazy chemical reaction fired off in his body.

After thirteen years of having that crazy reaction, one would think he’d get over it. It wasn’t like he spent all those years sitting at home pining. He went on dates, even had a couple girlfriends the world considered serious. There was just something about the one who got away that kept him coming back to Hannah.

The bad part was that she had no clue that’s what she was to him. Nina had opened her big mouth and hinted about her threats in high school, but Hannah couldn’t know exactly what her friend meant.

“The dreaded shrew.”

Brady sighed and patted Curtis on the shoulder. When they spoke about Hannah, it was hard not to mention Nina and the roadblock she played in Hannah’s life. Curtis hadn’t shared all the details, but Brady knew enough to know his feelings about everyone involved.

“Was she as hot as that picture you showed me?”

Curtis glared out the corner of his eye to try to get a handle on which woman he wanted to know about. Pictures of both had been shared. They seemed to be on the topic of Nina, and Curtis sure as hell didn’t consider anything hot about the woman. He figured he might as well describe both women just to make sure he wasn’t putting his foot in his mouth.

His mind was on Hannah, so he was more than ready to go into details about her, but at the same time, it was something he didn’t want another guy picturing. Even in describing her, Curtis felt the need to protect her.

“Hannah looked amazing, especially in my arms when I carried her out of the gym. Nina,” he had to pause to think of the best way to describe her looks. “Well, she. God, I don’t know. She had an audience around her all night, so I suspect people thought she looked okay.”

“Wow, dude, you really hate that woman.”

A grunted reply was all Brady got as Curtis moved over to the opening closest to him on the bench and stepped off the ice to go get dressed. All morning before practice he’d stared at his phone, willing it to ring. He’d texted his number to Hannah like he promised, not expecting her to get back to him right away, but hopeful she’d give him a chance to explain. Waiting on the important call without having his phone around made him even grumpier than usual.

Curtis quickly took his jersey off and tossed it in his stall once he was in the locker room. Brady wasted no time following behind him.

“I don’t know how you got that from me saying she looked okay, but you know what she did to me. The devious bitch was pissed that I didn’t want her so she blackmailed me to make sure I didn’t hook up with her friend. It doesn’t matter what she looks like on the outside. I’ve seen what’s inside.”

Grabbing his phone, Curtis saw there were two missed calls. His hope only kicked up a notch for a second before seeing it was his mom and a number not in his phone. There was a chance the unknown number was Hannah, but he had her cell and work phones programmed in.

The work phone was easy to procure doing a simple internet search for her. The cell phone took a little more work, which could’ve been easier by spending a little money if he hadn’t been able to find it trolling her mom’s social media accounts. Someone had been nice enough to mention needing to get in touch with Hannah, and Mrs. Williams was all too eager to help out.

Yes, Curtis could be considered a creepy stalker. He knew that and had long ago come to terms with watching Hannah live her life without his interference. He didn’t spend every second of his free time figuring out where she was and what she was doing. Maybe once or twice a week he took a peek to see if she’d posted anything new in her life. Since she infrequently posted anything, he couldn’t be considered a full-on creep.

He wasn’t even up to date on the boyfriend situation. He’d asked her out not knowing if there was anyone serious, hoping there wasn’t and at the same time hoping she’d give him a chance even if there was. It was foolish and arrogant on his part, but he felt it was something he had to do. For once, he had to know whether he’d put her on a pedestal that no one could reach, or if he was right and there was a chance they were meant to be together.

“I know all about the staged pictures, but in high school I would’ve just banged the hot chick for a while so she’d erase the photos, lock my bedroom window at night so she couldn’t take more, then get on with my life.”

While they spoke, Curtis had stripped down to nothing and was ready to jump in the showers. The usual tension in his shoulders had managed to tighten even more after the disaster the night before. He needed at least ten minutes of high-powered water jetting into his knots. It never seemed to relieve the kinks for long, but sometimes it helped clear his head.

Brady was only a few seconds behind Curtis, so the conversation didn’t stop with Brady telling him he should’ve abandoned his principles and bent to Nina’s demands instead of checking out of the situation. If Brady knew Nina at all, Curtis hoped he would’ve seen how foolish the idea of playing along was.

“You don’t get it,” Curtis said as he hung his towel up and got to work washing the sweat off him. “Even if I did pretend to be her boyfriend for a while, she’d never let me go. There would always be something. If not photos, she’d get knocked up on purpose and tell everyone it was mine just to make sure my life was a living hell. I’m sure that’s what she’s doing today. She probably still has those pics and is making up some sordid story about them.”

The pictures kind of spoke for themselves. Curtis topless in his bed with his sheets pulled up to his waist and Nina naked in the bed next to him with hickies on her neck and breasts was bad enough. That alone spelled a night he’d be hard up to explain away.

It wasn’t enough to stop him from pursuing Hannah. Every guy in school probably screwed Nina at some point, so it was doubtful Hannah would care too much about the thought that he did. He didn’t want anyone to think he had, though, so it was easier to keep quiet. Plus, the picture threatened his hockey career more than anything.

The sex wasn’t the only thing Nina staged. She’d tied some kind of rubber band around his arm and littered drug paraphernalia on the table beside his bed. Not having ever touched drugs in his life, he had no idea what the stuff was, but if the pictures got out, his career would have been in serious trouble. He had no idea whether she’d actually shot something in him, so it wasn’t like he could just take a drug test and prove the photos were staged.

There was no question how much he hated Nina. She didn’t know it, but everything she did to drive a wedge between him and Hannah only made him want Hannah more. The simple fact that Hannah was so pure and was stuck following blindly behind a heinous bitch was enough to keep Curtis up at nights, even years later.

“So what? Do you really believe this Hannah chick has no clue at all what her friend is capable of? Let her show the pictures off and tell her story. It’s not like she can do any more than show it to her friend at this point. If she went public with them, it’d hurt her just as much as you. Naked sex pics from high school can’t be good for her CEO image.”

Curtis rinsed the shampoo from his hair and shook his head rapidly to try to loosen his neck some. Talking about stuff didn’t help. It only made him think of all the places he screwed up.

“That woman would cut off her own nose and blame me if she thought it would work, so I don’t think for a second she’d hold back if she thought something would help her get her way. And trust me, that is all that matters to her. It doesn’t matter who gets hurt or what price she has to pay. It’s Nina’s way or no way.”

More of their teammates started to file into the showers, so the conversation was put on hold. Oversharing with others around wasn’t uncommon, but Brady was kind enough to keep Curtis’ personal life away from locker room gossip. The guys already made jokes about his lack of a love life. Hearing that he hadn’t moved on from a crush from high school would keep the guys laughing for days.

Curtis thought about how he’d explain things to Hannah as he finished up his shower. From her side of things, his interest came out of the blue, whether he had to explain the photos or not. She probably thought he was a total dolt for how he’d handle things. The whole fainting thing was something he was still trying to figure out.

He wasn’t about to take back his request for a date, but he should’ve gone about it differently. He knew where she worked and where she lived. He could’ve staged a chance run in and painted things in a better light. Instead, he was stuck dealing with Nina blurting out the usual garbage that flowed from her mouth.

“Listen,” Brady said as he followed behind Curtis back to their stalls. “I’m not going to pretend to know what’s right or wrong in your situation. All I know is that I’m a hundred percent sure I’ve never felt what I do about someone like you do for your girl. I think it’s a certainty things won’t end the way you want, but you’ve already gone years being miserable from your inaction. You might as well be miserable knowing whether she feels the same about you or not.”

Was there some sort of comfort supposed to come from the words? Curtis had no idea, but they didn’t do a thing to soothe his anxiety. He checked his phone again, verifying no calls had come in during his shower. It was Sunday, and still pretty early, so Hannah very well could’ve been sleeping.

Chances were she wouldn’t appreciate him showing up unannounced, but maybe a text checking in on her wouldn’t come across too forward. Who was Curtis trying to kid? Anything he did was too forward after popping back into her life after ten years. That didn’t stop his fingers from sending the text.

Hey, I just wanted to verify you got my text last night and were feeling okay this morning. You gave me a bit of a scare.

Before he could analyze it to death, he hit send. All he had to do was figure out something to keep him occupied while waiting for a reply, something he had no indication would ever happen.