Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“I have something to tell you,” Koda says quickly but doesn’t get a chance to finish talking before the girls come into the room.
“Hey, you two,” I say to them, seeing them wearing almost the same tights as Koda, but they are wearing their jerseys.
“Uncle Chrissy,” Luna chirps, jumping at me, making me drop away from her mom and catch her. “I’m wearing your jersey,” she announces to me, trying to pull the back to the front.
“What?” I ask, then look over at Rain, then to Koda.
“The girls wanted to wear your jersey for the family skate,” Koda explains quickly as I stand here tongue-tied, not really sure what to say.
“Look at mine,” Rain says, turning around, “it says Stone.”
“I see that.” My throat closes from the lump that is growing bigger and bigger. “Um.” I kiss Luna on the cheek, putting her down and then squatting in front of them. “That’s a really big honor,” I say, clearing my throat, “it’s very special.” I look up at Koda, who just smiles at me. “Are we ready to go?”
“I’m ready,” they both say, turning to grab their jackets.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Koda asks from beside me, slipping her hand into mine.
“No.” I shake my head and look down before my voice cracks. “That was—” I try to clear the frog in my throat. “It’s—"
“Yeah, it is.” She puts one of her hands on my chest. “It’s all of that.”
“I’m going to go load the kids,” I tell her, leaning forward and kissing her cheek, but also the corner of her lips.
“I’ll be right out,” she says, turning to grab her leather jacket.
“You look good,” I tell her, winking at her and then smirking. “I see the tights will be a challenge.”
Her cheeks turn a bright pink. “I’ve never known you to back down from a challenge.”
I put my head back and bark out laughing. “Challenge accepted.” I wink at her again before I walk out with the girls toward her SUV. Opening the back door for them, I wait for Koda to come. I walk around the truck with her opening the passenger door for her to get in.
I get behind the wheel, something I’ve been doing for the past couple of weeks when we’ve gone out or to hockey practice or to pick up the girls. I drive them.
I make my way over to the arena with the girls chatting about their day and what they did. I pull into my spot, turning the car off and getting out. I open the back door on my side and Koda opens the back door at her side. The girls walk over to the trunk, waiting for me to hand them their backpacks with the skates we packed and their helmets and gloves.
I close the trunk and see the girls waiting for me and look over at Koda. “You ready?” I ask, and she takes a deep breath as she slips her hand in mine.
Our fingers link together. “Now, I’m ready,” she says, rubbing her thumb over my thumb. “Shall we?”
“I want to hold Christopher’s hand,” Rain states, walking to my side while Luna looks at her mom and runs over to hold her hand.
“Here we go.” I look at her as we walk toward the silver door. I release Rain’s hand for a second so I can open the door, but then she grabs it again as we walk in.
We walk down the hall, the four of us attached in one way or another. When we get to the locker room, the girls release our hands to run in and chat with a couple of the kids. “Hey, guys,” I say to the room, Koda’s hand squeezing mine tightly for a second. The room goes almost silent and you can literally hear a pin drop. I’m ready to throat punch anyone who says anything mean toward Koda.
I see a couple of the guys look over at us with a smile and then look down at our hands connected, their mouths opening and their eyes looking like they are about to bulge out of their sockets. “Hey,” a couple of the rookies respond, trying not to be too awkward.
“Uncle Chrissy!” Luna yells my name as she sits on the bench where I sit, taking her skates out of the bag.
I give Koda a squeeze of the hand before I let her go and walk over to the girls. Rain has her skates already on, waiting for me to tie them. I feel Koda behind me as she waits for the girls to get laced up. The chatter in the room is now back to normal as Rain stands up first and then Luna. “We are going to head out to the ice,” Koda says, “see you out there.”
I nod at her as she walks out with the girls, her head high, and I couldn’t be more proud of her. It took a lot to come back to this arena, and she did it time and time again. But then it took even more courage to come back while holding my hand. She did it, and she fucking killed it.