Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 89535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
That’s going to take some getting used to.
“Have you got big NHL dreams?” Kole’s mom asks.
“I do. Until then, I just hope to do the school proud.” All this acting like a respectful human being is making me gag. I reach for my water.
Kole leans in and mutters, “Kiss ass,” and I practically choke on my drink.
I cough and splutter. “Thanks for that.”
“The NHL is grueling,” Kole’s mom says. “Paul only played two seasons before becoming a coach. You have to be built for it and be committed. It doesn’t leave much time for … the important people in your life. Oh, and don’t even get me started on the trades. That only happened once with Paul, but the other WAGs would complain a lot.”
“It’s a big commitment, I know that.” But that doesn’t answer her implied question.
Do you think you could handle it and still make my son feel loved?
That’s a question we’re so not ready for.
“I don’t want you to leave,” Ben says beside me.
I ruffle his hair. “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
Kole catches my eye, and he’s staring at me with such … I don’t know what it is, actually. Awe? Like I’ve said something melt-worthy when all I did was tell my brother I won’t leave him.
He smiles at me, so I return it and reach for his hand on top of the dining table.
“What do you think about these two being boyfriends?” Coach asks West while waving his fork between us.
My gaze darts to West’s, and I silently plead for him to not be a dick.
West rubs the back of his neck. “Kole’s been a good influence. It’s the first time I haven’t had professors tracking me down and telling me how poorly Asher’s doing in school. Well, apart from one …”
“That’s because Eckstein’s a …” Do not swear, Asher. “Hard professor to impress,” I finish and give myself a mental pat on the back.
West snickers because I assume he knows I wanted to call Fuckstain a dick.
“Is that why he was at your house the other week?” Kole asks.
“What? Why the hell would Eckstein be at my house?”
“I swear I saw him pull up there when I was leaving the morning after our date …” Kole trails off and throws a guilty look at Coach.
Coach snorts. “Staying with Katey, my ass.”
Oops? But he knows we’re dating now; surely Kole spending the night will be a given.
West quickly changes the subject, and it takes a few moments for his words to sink in. “Asher and Kole ending up together was definitely not what I thought would happen when I asked Kole to keep Asher in line at the beginning of the year. I thought Kole quitting his spot as equipment manager after a week was more likely than them actually liking each other.”
I blink.
Under my hand, Kole’s tenses.
“You asked Kole to keep me in line?”
“Well, to keep an eye on you mostly. It was the away games I was most worried about.”
Is that why Kole wanted to room together?
“I told Kole to stay away,” Coach says. “I guess we both set up the perfect storm.”
He. And West.
I pull my hand out from Kole’s and sit here stunned. I shouldn’t be, but I am. The Coach thing makes sense, and I remember Kole mentioning Coach was worried about his grades slipping because of me, but West …
Kole grips my bicep. “That’s not really how it all went down—”
Out of nowhere, Emmett screams, and when I look over, blood is gushing out of his hand.
I stand so fast my chair topples over. West is closer, and he’s quick to put a napkin on Emmett’s palm, but he’s already looking green.
West and blood don’t mix, and don’t even get me started on the fact he’s a hockey player who faints at the sight of blood. There’s a reason West never got into fights on the ice, and it had nothing to do with having been a passive player because he wasn’t. He was aggressive, right up to the point of fighting. Then he’d back off.
I get to their side and take over while West reaches for some water.
Emmett is still screaming his head off, and there’s commotion around me—Kole’s mom’s saying something about Coach getting the first aid kit.
Kole appears at my side. “Can I take a look?”
I let Kole lift the fancy cloth napkin that’s now covered in blood while I get Emmett’s attention.
“Hey,” I say softly. “It’s going to be okay. It’s just a little cut.”
His screaming lessens but doesn’t stop.
“It’s going to need stitches,” Kole says. “It’s really deep.”
And now Emmett’s screaming at the top of his lungs again.
“We need to go to the hospital,” I say and then look around the table at our millions of damn siblings. “Crap, we only brought one car.”