Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 30715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 154(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 154(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
By the time the team leaves for Minnesota the next day, everyone is on edge. Some of the wives are traveling for the game, but Kellan and I decide I should stay behind. After what happened last time, I'm afraid I'll end up being a distraction. With everything going on with Kelsey, our secret takes a back burner. The team doesn't need anything else adding to their stress levels right now.
"I'll call you when we land," he promises, kissing me for the fifth time.
"You said that already," I remind him. He doesn't want to leave, but he doesn't have a choice. This is his career. His team needs him.
"Well, I'm saying it again." He nips at my bottom lip and then sighs. "Stay here while I'm gone?"
"I should probably go back home," I murmur regretfully. We snuck out before Jonas and Jamie got home the other night and have been staying at his place since. I don't want to leave. It's strange, but his penthouse feels more and more like home to me every time I come here. I feel like I'm visiting when I'm back at Jonas's.
"This is your home." Kellan tips my face up to his. "As soon as your brother knows about us, you're moving in with me, little one."
I blink at him. "You want me to move in?"
"I want everything, but I'm willing to start with that."
My head spins, but I don't tell him no. I want the same things he does. My future is with this bossy brute of a man. I've never been surer of anything than I am of that fact. He's my heart and soul.
His phone buzzes with an incoming notification. He pulls it from his pocket and looks at it before sighing regretfully. "I gotta go, little one. Everyone is waiting on me."
"Okay." I burrow into his arms, clinging to him. Now that the moment is here, I don't want to let him go, either. Something doesn't feel right about it. I feel anxious and unsettled at the thought of not being there. But I can't go. We've already decided to tell Jonas about us, but it shouldn't be right before the game, and it doesn't need to be in the middle of whatever is going on with Kelsey. That isn't fair to anyone.
"I love you," Kellan murmurs, pressing his lips to my forehead.
"I love you too."
He holds me for a long moment and then reluctantly drags himself away.
"I'll call as soon as we land," he promises on his way out the door.
He doesn't call when they land. He sends me a text, letting me know that something came up, and he'll call as soon as he can. I don't hear from him again until nearly midnight. I spend the hours between trying not to freak out and think the worst.
He's confident Theo won't spill our secret to Jonas, and I don't think Kellan would do it without telling me first. Whatever is going on has nothing to do with us. I tell myself that a million times…but I still worry.
As soon as he calls, I snatch the phone from the bedside table, anxious.
"Hey."
"Hey." He sounds exhausted.
"What's wrong?" I sit upright in the bed, alarm bells sounding in the back of my head. Something is wrong. I can feel it. "What happened?"
"Kelsey finally told us why she's leaving," he murmurs, exhaling into the phone. "She's sick. Really fucking sick." His voice shakes. "She could die, Parker."
"Oh, Kellan." Tears spring to my eyes, my heart breaking for the team. Mostly, it breaks for Kelsey. God. I can't even imagine what she's going through. Or Kris. He's so in love with her. He has to be devastated right now. "I'm so sorry."
"Me too." Kellan sighs. "It has us all fucked up. She's trying to put on a brave face for us, but it's Kelsey." His voice cracks, sending tears trickling down my cheeks. "How the fuck are we supposed to say goodbye to her?"
He's breaking my heart. I just want to hold him, but I can't. We're not even in the same state. I should have flown out with the wives and gone to the game. At least then I'd be there right now. I could hold him.
Once again, I tangled us in a web and ensnared myself. Only, this time, Kellan is the one paying for it. I had a chance to tell Jonas about us and didn't take it. I put it off, letting everything else come first. And now, Kellan is facing losing one of his closest friends…and he's doing it alone.
Guilt courses through me.
"I'm so sorry, Kellan. I should be there right now." I would be there right now if I weren't such a coward. I'm so afraid I will lose one of the two most important men in my life that I just keep screwing up repeatedly. It's so selfish and so wrong.