Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
“Did you call your mom back?”
“Yes.” I sigh, rolling to my back. “She and Richard decided they’re going to have their wedding in Minnesota. That way, I can make it even if I have school.”
“They want you there.”
“I know.”
“I’ll be there with you.”
“Like you have a choice.” I look down at his hand when it lands on my thigh. Two days after New York, he convinced me to call my mom and tell her everything that’d happened between Kirk and me and exactly why I left Minnesota the way I did. It wasn’t a comfortable conversation, especially when she put me on speaker so Richard could hear what I was saying. But I felt better afterward. And I felt validated when the two of them told me they understood why I left and said they didn’t blame me for needing to get away. They did, however, make me feel guilty when they said they wished I would have told them everything from the beginning. Apparently, they’d thought they had done something wrong.
The day after I spoke with the two of them, Richard called me on his own to apologize on Melissa’s behalf, then told me that if I ever come to visit my mom, regardless of Melissa being his daughter, he will make whatever arrangements are necessary so I don’t ever feel uncomfortable in their home. It was sweet and made me like him a whole lot more.
“Are you ready to go back upstairs?” Brodie asks, cutting into my thoughts. I turn my head his way. I can’t see his eyes with his sunglasses on, but I can feel his hot gaze on me.
“I think I want to stay down here for a while longer.” I lift my arms above my head and hide my smile when he stands.
“Ree.” He looms over me, his hand going to my thigh, his fingers digging in and making me squirm. “It’s time to go upstairs.”
I want to tease him and tell him no, but then his fingers slide farther up my inner thigh, and I know there is no way I’ll be able to play that kind of game with him. He’ll win every time without even trying.
“Okay.” I bite my bottom lip and sit up. A few minutes later, we are both standing in the chilled elevator on the way up to his place, the moment feeling a little like it did all those weeks ago. Only now, things between us are totally different. I have never felt more comfortable just being myself with anyone. He accepts me just the way I am, and I return the favor, which isn’t hard to do since he’s pretty perfect.
“I love you,” I blurt. He drops his gaze to mine. “I don’t know how long you’re supposed to wait to say that, but I do.”
“Ree.” He shakes his head while staring at me.
“Don’t feel like you have to say it back,” I say before he can tell me that he doesn’t feel the same. “I just want you to know because… Well, because I do.” I shake my head. “Love you, that is. And—” My babbling ends with a gasp when he wraps his hand around the back of my neck and pulls me forward, crashing his mouth down onto mine. The kiss is deep and wet, and so filled with emotion that I feel my nose sting. When he releases my mouth, he doesn’t let me go. Instead, he drops his forehead to mine.
“I love you, too, Ree. So fucking much.”
My heart swells with relief. “Good,” I whisper, and he laughs.
“How did I get so lucky?”
“I don’t know. I’m still trying to figure out how I did.”
Epilogue
Reese
One year and eight months later
Oh my God. With my heart in my throat, I watch Brodie zoom down the ice, the stick in his hands moving so quickly back and forth that it seems like a blur. But he never once lets go of the puck and doesn’t give the men gathering around him a chance to take it away. When he is almost to the goal, I glance up at the clock. He has seconds, and if he doesn’t make this shot, his team is out of the running for the Cup. I don’t want to watch, but I can’t take my eyes off him.
When he swings his stick back, and it cracks against the ice, the sound ricocheting around the room. I stand up and swear time slows as the puck shoots past the men trying to catch it and goes into the goal.
“Holy shit!” I scream at the top of my lungs, my voice drowned out by the crowd cheering and the buzzer going off. He did it. I turn to one of the other player’s wives, jumping up and down next to me, and the two of us embrace.