Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Her voice is cut off by my hand over her mouth. “I don’t want to hear any talk of paying me back.”
Juniper’s mossy eyes flash with irritation, a look I’ve missed over the years. Hell, I’ve missed her quick-to-action temper over minor slights. Cute as fuck and often would lead to arguments that weren’t all that heated but still prolonged because we knew the makeup sex would be great.
Taking my wrist, Juniper shoves my hand away. “I’m paying you back every dime.”
“Fine,” I reply, tapping her on the nose, a signature move I used to do to let her know I thought she was adorable. “But please stop thanking me and promising to pay me back. I get it. I’ll get my money back and I’ll gladly accept it if it makes you feel better. But you don’t have to keep saying it, okay?”
“Okay,” she grumbles. “Just as long as you’re clear I’m grateful.”
“I’m clear.”
“Okay.”
“Fine.”
After a few seconds of silence, we grin at each other.
It prompts me to an act of spontaneity. “I’m going to take time off tomorrow. Want to go do some sightseeing?”
“Surely you want to spend your time off do—”
My hand goes back over her mouth and she quickly slaps it away with a glare.
I laugh. “I would love to show you the city, okay? Stop thinking you’re such a bother.”
“Fine,” she retorts, turning for my office door. “Stop being so bossy though. And stop putting your hand on my mouth. Next time I’ll bite it.”
“Next time I’ll just gag you,” I reply.
“In your dreams,” she tosses back over her shoulder as she sashays out the door.
And yes… my eyes are pinned on her ass the entire time.
CHAPTER 16
Juniper
“This is amazing.” I twist on the bench to look out the window of the funicular as it climbs Mount Washington. Callum sits beside me, taking in the city of Pittsburgh as it’s unveiled with the gentle clanking of gears and whatever mechanisms make this marvel slide up the mountain.
It’s a beautiful summer day without a cloud in the sky. The car creaks slightly and I’m admittedly a little unnerved given that this thing is rising four hundred feet in the air. While assuredly very safe, it’s also old. Regardless, I am lost to the sparkle of the river waters bridged by yellow-painted steel and the rise of city buildings beyond.
“Okay… which river is which?” I ask.
Callum sweeps his hand outward. “That’s the Monongahela.” His finger drifts left. “That’s the Allegheny and there’s the Titans’ arena.” Nodding farther left, “And where those two rivers meet, that forms the Ohio.”
“It’s breathtaking,” I murmur.
“I’ll bring you back at night. It makes this view during the day seem dull.”
I do a gut check because this feels almost like… a date. Just that little offer to bring me back to see this view at night seems more than just a friendly thing to do.
We’ve been out and about since around noon. Callum worked from the house this morning while I visited my dad. He told me to be back at twelve and when I returned, he ushered me into a car—a shiny black Corvette that he drove surprisingly slow as he showed me around the city. We had sushi for lunch and then he brought me to the Duquesne Incline.
When the funicular carriage stops, the handful of people who rode up with us exit and we follow behind. An observation platform allows viewers to take in the city and Callum maneuvers me toward the fenced edge so we can look over downtown. It’s bright out, so I pull my sunglasses from my crossbody bag and put them on.
Callum rests his forearms on the rails of the iron fencing that prevents us from tumbling down the mountain and stares out over the rivers to the city. “Sure is a long way from Incline Village, isn’t it?” he asks.
He’s not talking about the distance in miles but rather from where he started his life.
“You’re at the top.” And I’m not talking about this mountain, but rather the pinnacle of a career he’s striven to reach for years. I lean my elbow on the rail and fiddle with my watch. “Is it everything you dreamed it would be?”
“The career?” Callum asks, twisting his neck slightly to glance at me. When I nod, he says, “More than I dreamed, but that’s just because of the people I’m working with now. Everyone… Brienne, Cannon, the other coaches… the players. Sometimes I don’t know how I got so lucky.”
“It’s not luck,” I scoff. “You’re here because of talent and hard work.”
“You do know what I did before the Titans, right?” Callum laughs as he turns more toward me.
I do. He was GM for the Ottawa Cougars, and they did not do well. He was fired from that job because the team performed abysmally. I know this because I’ve followed Callum’s career over the years. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment but I wanted to see where he’d end up, and while I never wished him ill for the choice he made to let me go, I always was a little bitter that I wasn’t at his side.