Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 147051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 735(@200wpm)___ 588(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 735(@200wpm)___ 588(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
“Girlfriend, eh?”
“Yeah. We made it official and stuff.”
“You always had a soft spot for her,” Dad says.
“How’s Flip feel about that?” Brody asks.
“He’s good with it now.”
“So he wasn’t good with it at first?” he presses.
“He knows how I feel about her.”
“You mean he knows you’re in love with her?” Brody says with a smirk.
I give him a look.
“Dude, you were looking at her like she was the freaking sunrise at Thanksgiving. I’m surprised it took this long.”
I roll my eyes. He has a point. “Yeah, Flip knows I’m in love with her.”
“She’s good for you,” Dad says.
“She is.” And I plan to do everything I can to be good for her, because that’s what she deserves.
CHAPTER 31
RIX
“I’d like to say I can’t believe you’re wearing that tonight, but it seems fitting, considering the crowd,” Hammer says.
We’re in Vancouver for an away game. Tristan wanted to fly me out, and I convinced the girls to make a trip of it since the game falls on a Saturday. And it means I get in an unexpected visit with Essie right before the holidays—like a pre-holiday gift.
“You know what they say… If it looks like a bunny, and it dresses like a bunny, and it acts like a bunny…”
“It is a bunny?” Tally says.
Essie’s eyes light up. “He has to fuck you like a bunny.”
“Oh, shit,” Hemi laughs.
“That’s actually genius,” Hammer says.
“I must try this.” Shilpa’s eyes are alight with excitement. “You are opening my eyes to the possibilities.”
“Get ready for some fun times in the bedroom.” I pat her arm.
“Why would you want to be a bunny when you’re Tristan’s girlfriend, and he’s totally in love with you?” Tally asks. Bless her sweet, untainted heart.
“Because sometimes it’s fun to shake things up, and he’ll have to behave himself while we’re out. It’ll be a win-win all the way around. No matter what, we’ll have victory or consolation sexy times.”
“Relationships mystify me.” Tally sips her giant soda.
While it’s typical for me to wear a jersey with STILES and number 44 on the back, it’s unusual for me to have turned that jersey into a dress with a low-cut V neck. I also don’t usually wear thigh-high boots with ridiculous heels. Outfits like these are reserved for the bunnies who attend games and compulsively troll the players’ social media accounts, hoping to figure out what bar they’re going to after. I’ve seen plenty of altered jerseys. I’ve also never forgotten Tristan’s and Flip’s comments before we started hate-fucking each other about how Vancouver has the best bunnies.
Am I secure in my relationship? Absolutely. Tristan worships me. I also know what riles him up.
We have seats at center ice behind the visitors bench tonight, and we get settled as the teams take the ice to warm up. A few minutes in, Tristan comes over to take a drink from his water bottle. When his gaze lands on me, he tips his chin up, like he’s asking me to stand. Which I don’t do because the cameras have caught us interacting and suddenly, we have their attention, as well as what feels like that of the entire arena. But not for long since I’m wearing a Toronto jersey and we’re in Vancouver.
It isn’t until later, when the team files onto the bench, that he’s able to get a load of my outfit, or lack thereof. He gives me a devilish smirk.
“Oh, you are in for it tonight,” Hammer snickers. “It’s a good thing he booked his own room or Flip would be sleeping on my dad’s couch.”
As soon as I agreed to come for the weekend, Tristan booked us a suite in the hotel. It’s ridiculously lavish and has its own separate bathroom and living room. Essie stayed with me last night, and Hemi, Hammer, and Tally have two other rooms on the same floor. Ashish obviously got a room for him and Shilpa. Hopefully they have a fun night, too. Essie’s original plan was to go home tonight, but we convinced her to bring an overnight bag.
It’s an incredible game, and much to Vancouver’s dismay and Toronto’s delight, Tristan scores a goal in the first five minutes of play. After that, Toronto keeps the lead all the way through. At the beginning of the third period, Hollis is on the ice, and Tristan is on the bench. Thirty seconds into his shift, he gets checked into the boards and they pull him from the game, sending Tristan back in. Vancouver gets a two-minute penalty, giving Toronto a power-play advantage.
“I don’t think Hollis will be back on the ice tonight,” Hammer says.
“Yeah, that was a dirty hit,” I agree.
We’ve been waiting for another team to use last season’s injury against him. Hopefully, the trainers are being extra cautious and he’s fine. The power play works to Toronto’s advantage, and Tristan manages an assist while Flip scores a goal in the first minute. They almost score again, but Vancouver’s defense finally wakes up and starts playing. Still, we win five-three, which is amazing.