Evening the Score // Book One

Chapter 25

Harry woke up slowly and on the other side of the bed. Which was unusual considering he was with Elena at the moment. Usually he would wake up engrossed in her body. His eye popped open, his head turning in the direction of the bed where she should have been lying but wasn't. He lifted his head off the pillow,

"Len?"

He heard the shower first. He saw her suitcase where the bra, panties and stockings she'd been wearing last night were crumpled in a ball on top of the lid second. His head fell back against the pillow as regret filled his insides.

Dammit.

She was upset. She had a right to be. He should have made more of an effort to call. It hadn't even occurred to him until he got back that he could've called the front desk and left a message. Harry's unobservant nature sometimes was a real thorn in his side.

He sat up, pushing his heavy body up onto his hands as he shook his head in disgust. How did you apologize for missing an evening of making love that your girlfriend had meticulously planned for you?

Harry rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He needed to come up with a plan. Fast.

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Elena stepped out of the shower. She reached forward to wipe the steam off the mirror. The person staring back at her was a stranger. A stranger who was completely and totally hurt by the fact that her boyfriend blew her off last night when she knew full well he was working and would never blow her off on purpose. A stranger who spent the night arguing with herself over her feelings. A stranger who didn't know who she was or where her confidence lay without her athleticism and talent being utilized.

Elena felt like an idiot for feeling like she'd been rejected. Waking up in the robe she spent two hours trying to decide whether or not to put on only to finally pull it onto her shoulders did nothing to ease her. Putting on the robe meant she had accepted that Harry would not be there and the cold fibers against her skin just edged her deeper into the abyss.

Was that going to be her life now that the possibility of playing soccer had been put further out of reach to her? Waiting in hotel rooms for him while he went out and charmed the world? Flipping through boring TV channels of garbage reality shows in an effort to find something - ANYTHING - that would take her mind off the fact that she was alone...in some frilly, expensive, ridiculous lingerie...while he did his job?

And the worst part about feeling like that was that Elena knew she was wrong. She had woken up long enough to feel Harry slide into bed next to her, pull her into his chest and apologize. However her emotional state left her too exhausted to even think about waking up to talk it out. Harry would never hurt her on purpose. There was a good reason for why he hadn't left a message and a better reason for why he'd missed their date.

But no matter how many times Elena repeated those words to herself, they did nothing to comfort her bruised ego.

She glanced at the door, knowing full well he was awake by now and would want to apologize again. She took one last look at herself in the mirror before she pulled the robe from last night over her shoulders again and pulled the door open.

Harry's head was in his hands when Elena emerged from the bathroom. She took a moment to study him and then did her best to shake off the rejection she felt. When he pulled his head up out of his hands she smiled,

"Morning. How'd it go yesterday?"

Harry stood up, rushing over to her,

"Len, I'm so sorry."

Elena walked over to her suitcase,

"Sorry? Sorry for what?"

Harry's shoulders slumped. She was putting on a brave face but he could feel her anger behind her words,