Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101505 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101505 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Nolan returns his attention with pure, frosty annoyance.
Jake chuckles. “You’ve already got one foot out the door with us. Don’t you, Nolan?”
“I’m all in,” Nolan says. “I’ll be on the ice. What I do with my personal time doesn’t really matter.”
“It matters if it’s distracting you,” Jake says.
“You think I haven’t played through distraction?” Emotion finally touches Nolan’s voice. “You want to know why I’ve been so pissed? Is that it? You want me to tell you that my mom got back with my shitty dad and cut me out of her life two years ago? Or that Mia broke things off with me a few days after I found out? Or that I’m sick of feeling like I don’t know how to be happy, because everything I try just…” He stands suddenly, chair scraping and nearly tipping over.
Nolan kicks open the double doors of the bed and breakfast, stepping outside to leave us all sitting there in stunned silence. My stomach feels like it’s on the floor after hearing his admission.
“Shit,” Jake says. “Did any of you know?”
I wipe at my eyes. I knew a little about his past. He told me his dad wasn’t good to them. At some point, Nolan’s dad left the family and Nolan had to step up at a young age to be the man of the house for his mom’s sake. It sounded like they were incredibly close. It also seemed like what his father did was still an open wound for him.
The idea of his mom going back to his dad and cutting him out of her life after everything he did for her is absolutely heartbreaking. “If I knew…” I say, voice thick with emotion.
“Damn,” Liam says. He works his lips to the side and folds his arms. “Why didn’t he tell us?”
Jesse is staring down at his cup as he rocks it in a circular motion, eyes distant. “Nolan was always the guy trying to dissolve tension for us. The peacemaker. A guy like that? He’s probably not going to want to weigh us down with his own drama.”
“Dumbass,” Jake sighs, but he doesn’t sound entirely mad. Actually, I’m not sure if he’s talking about Nolan or himself. “He thinks we’re going to be able to help him if he bottles shit up?”
“Yeah,” I say, voice dry. “Because none of you macho hockey guys ever bottle things up and hide your feelings?”
The guys all stare at their Bingo cards.
“If anybody wants to vent,” Paisley says. “I’ll listen without judgment.”
Liam grins. “I can vent. I made fun of the guys for thinking a golden thong was good luck. Then I wore it for the first time last season and had the best game of my career.”
Paisley’s cheeks go bright red. “Oh. Okay.”
“My turn,” Jake says. “I think Jesse’s sister is kind of hot.”
Jesse sits upright, glaring. “Not funny.”
Jake shrugs. “You married my sister. Pretty sure you gave up your right to cockblock me with yours.”
“Now it’s my turn, then,” Jesse says. “When you caught me and Andi on the vibrating waterbed two years ago, I had just gotten an eyefull of her boobs. And I liked it.”
Jake and Jesse both glare at each other, then they smile.
I’m barely listening. My own thoughts are bouncing between going after Nolan and giving him space. After a few seconds, I stand suddenly and rush outside to find him.
25
NOLAN
I’m trying to walk fast, but then I hear Mia’s voice. I hesitate. She’s calling out my name.
She probably wants to talk about what I blurted out back there, and I’m really not interested in “exploring my feelings,” or whatever she’s hoping to do. I start walking again. Then I hear Mia yelp in what sounds like pain.
“Shit,” I say under my breath. I turn and jog back, dodging patches of ice and snow as I round a corner and the bed and breakfast comes into view. Mia is slowly getting to her feet with a hand on her hip, wincing in pain.
“What happened?” I ask.
She brushes snow from her pants and shakes her head. “I promise, I didn’t just wipe out to lure you in.”
“Are you okay?” I reach for her leg, then pull my hand back.
“I’m fine. I just lost my balance on some ice and rolled my ankle a little,” she says, smirking. Only my pride is injured.” Her cheeks are already flushed red from the cold and there’s a snowflake on her long lashes. She looks so perfect, it almost hurts.
“Alright, well,” I say, turning to leave.
She stops me with a hand on my sleeve. “Hey,” she says. “I didn’t know.”
I frown. “I’m supposed to believe you never read my texts, then?”
“What?” Mia’s face suddenly goes white. “I changed my number, Nolan. Right after we broke up. Shit,” she says. “Look,” she fishes her phone out and pulls up her info screen, showing me the new number.