Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 130307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
I couldn’t imagine how exhausting that must have been.
It had also been the most heartwarming moment of the game, because as he attempted to shake off the goal, Ava had sighed, whispering under her breath, “It’s okay, Daddy. We are doing our best.”
It was the same thing she’d said yesterday when I’d brought her to his practice, and I wondered if it was a sort of mantra for them.
I loved it.
Even if it made my eyes water every time she said it.
Ava was just finishing up a chicken nugget from the snacks provided in the family lounge — and ignoring every kid who tried to play with her — when Will spilled in from the hallway.
And I promptly stopped breathing.
He was freshly showered, his long, damp, chestnut hair pulled into a low bun at the nape of his neck. That delicious stubble peppered his jaw, his signature scowl firmly in place, his eyes as deep and haunted as ever. He was no longer in his gear, but in a charcoal suit, instead. It was custom fitted and hugged every lean angle of his body, a black tie fastened at his neck, and he didn’t have to turn around for me to know those slacks would show off that perfect ass of his, too.
And as if all that didn’t make it hard enough not to drool, he searched the room with a menacing scowl before softening as soon as he found his daughter.
She ran to him, her arms open wide, and he dropped the bag off his shoulder and slung her up the second she made it to him. It didn’t matter that she was five. It was like she weighed nothing in his arms, and he pressed a kiss to her nose before listening patiently as she talked about the game.
He watched her like she was his entire world.
My guess was that she likely was.
I knew from my first meeting with Will before the school year that his wife had passed away in the first year of Ava’s life. Every time I thought too hard about it, my eyes would prick with emotion that I’d have to sniff away.
I couldn’t imagine losing my husband, especially after having a child.
Then again, I couldn’t imagine having a husband, either.
My hormones were being pesky little buggers as I watched Ava nearly smile in her father’s arms. He had said something to her to make that almost-grin appear, and then she started rambling on with her own stories. It was the most I’d heard her talk.
And I stood there on the other side of the room with a half-eaten cookie in my hand and my stomach flip-flopping.
I’d always wanted a family. When I was younger, I’d imagined having the opposite of what my mom and grandmother had. I pictured a little house with a little yard, a husband who adored me and worked with me as an equal partner, and maybe two or three little ones running around.
Of course, after my one and only experience with a member of the opposite sex, I realized how delusional that dream was.
But just because a dream is nonsense doesn’t stop it from existing.
Ava said something that made Will frown a bit, and his gaze scanned the room until he found me.
Those deep brown eyes locked on mine, and I thought I saw his furrowed brows bend even more before the corner of his mouth twitched into the best sort of smile he could manage. He said hello to a few people in the room as he passed, and when he made it to me, he dipped his chin.
“Well, how was your first hockey game?”
“Entertaining and informative,” I answered. Then, I narrowed my eyes. “Wait, how did you know it was my first?”
“I told him,” Ava volunteered.
“Ah, I see. Ratting me out already, huh?” I reached forward to tickle her side, and she squirmed away with a playfulness in her eyes that was new to me — though she still didn’t smile.
“I’m glad you could come,” Will said, and when I brought my gaze back to him, I saw the sincerity behind that statement.
“It was nothing. Honestly. I had a great time.”
He nodded, his lips pressed together as he checked the time on his watch. “Do you have a moment to talk about the week ahead?”
“You can have me all night, if you want.”
I said it as a joke. At least, I attempted to say it as a joke. I meant it in the self-deprecating I’m a loser with no social life, so yeah, I have time way. Instead, it came out like a poor excuse for a flirt, which promptly made my eyes widen in horror and my cheeks burn so fiercely I felt like I had a sunburn.
Thankfully, Will just arched a brow with an amused quirk of his lips. Then, he set Ava down and told her to go talk to Maven for a moment before launching into what to expect over the next several days.