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I MANAGE TO TAKE A few photos of Victor’s bag and the bottle he carries with him. The bag is worth a fortune and he rarely bothers to zip it up. The bottle is expensive too.

But it’s just a plain black bottle with a little silver on it, so I find a cheap copy at a store. At least Victor didn’t follow me this time.

I fill the bottle with water and hope Victor’s bottle will be full too when I swap it, or he might realize something’s off about it. Then I put enough sleeping pills to make sure they’ll affect him. He’s not going to chug down the whole bottle anyway.

If I fail with the dosage this time, I can try it again next time if nothing happens. He shouldn’t have any lasting consequences and probably won’t even know what’s going on. Maybe he’ll think he’s coming down with some kind of virus instead.

And if he somehow figures it out and blames me, I’ll play his own game and say I know nothing about it. There aren’t any cameras in the arena where I plan to pull off my plan. He won’t have any proof against me, just like I don’t have anything solid against him either. Besides, any of his opponents could do it too, and they have a better motive.

***

I ENTER THE HALLWAY that leads to the locker rooms. It’s crazy they’re still letting me in with the same staff pass they should’ve taken back ages ago, but no one looks at it too closely. There are women like me who take care of a bunch of different things in the arena, so I’m not suspicious.

Since it’s impossible to get to Victor’s bag otherwise, I have to do it right before the game and kind of right in front of his face. It would’ve been better if I could’ve done it somewhere else, but Victor comes here directly from his room and there just aren’t any other options.

If he drinks it too soon, it won’t work. Everything needs to be perfect, and it’s not like I can follow him for his next away game. Some important exams are coming up, and I want him out of the picture as soon as possible so I can focus back on my studies.

I wait for Victor to show up, keeping my head down. When I spot him, I stride straight to him. It’s a good thing he’s among the first ones to arrive, so we won’t have a big audience or a bunch of his teammates as witnesses.

“Victor!” I yell just as his gaze lands on me.

“It’s you again.” He grins. “What do you want now? I don’t think I feel comfortable signing your tits.”

I blink at him, because for a second, I picture him signing his name on my skin and the thought gives me a shot of electricity that feels all kinds of wrong and right at the same time.

“You need to stop this whole thing, and I mean it,” I say.

“Stop what? I’m not doing anything.”

“Come on. Those flyers, my presentation, your shirt... I hope you’re not planning anything for tonight.”

He puckers his lips. “Aw, do you think you matter to me so much?”

“How would you feel if someone treated your sister the way you treat me, huh?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

His face goes serious and he drops his bag to the floor. “Don’t mention my sister.”

“Oh, and why not? So you know how wrong what you’re doing is, and yet you keep doing it? Should I contact her and tell her all about your behavior?”

“If you mention my sister ever again,” he says, his voice dangerously low as he steps toward me, “I’m going to kill you.”

I actually back away from him because I’ve never seen him so enraged. His hands are balled into fists, and his shoulders seem somehow bigger. His eyes are throwing daggers at me.

I snatch his glove from the open bag and throw it as far as I can. “Whatever. Just leave me alone and I won’t have to mention any of your family or friends.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you today?” He furrows his brow.

I turn my back to him, pretending I’m leaving. As I glance over my shoulder, I see him going for his glove and I quickly pull the other bottle from my bag. As fast as I can, I swap the bottles and stash his into my bag.

Then I hurry away from there. When I take a quick peek at Victor, he just watches me as he heads back to his bag, his forehead creased. I’m going in the wrong direction, or well, the exit isn’t anywhere near here, but I’m not leaving anyway.

I’m going to stay in the restroom and then go watch the game to make sure my plan has worked. And yeah, I could just wait for the whole thing to spread all over social media, but I want to be here and witness it. For once, my plan should work.

***

T HE TEAM IS WARMING up, but I can’t see Victor anywhere. What’s going on now? Did he really chug down the whole bottle and he’s asleep in the locker room? I groan. It’s just my luck that all my plans go wrong, isn’t it?

I return to the hallway. A few players pass me by, but Victor isn’t one of them. Maybe he realized he wasn’t feeling all that well and went back to his dorm room? I saw the team’s doctor on the bench, though. Maybe Victor is just late or something.

I pace up and down in the hallway as I glance at the time on my phone. The game is about to start, but the locker room door is closed. Is it possible that I just missed Victor among the players? But the crowd screams his name whenever he shows up, so it’s kind of hard not to notice him.

I hear the noise coming from the crowd and the rink. My pulse speeds up. Should I leave?

But then the locker room door opens, and my eyes widen.