Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 82634 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82634 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
“That’s where you're wrong. I have breakfast with Jaxon, and I have dinner either with him or by myself,” he says, and my heart hurts for him, living in a house like you’re a stranger.
“I don’t know what the right answer is,” I tell him, and he bends to kiss my lips, and I have to live in the moment.
“I don’t know either,” he says, pushing my hair behind my ears. “But I do know one thing for sure.”
“What’s that?” I ask, drowning in his blue eyes. His lips are still wet from my kiss. I lift my hand to touch him. To make sure he’s real. To make sure it’s not just another dream. My finger touches his lips, and he kisses it, and then he bends down to kiss me softly again. I wonder if he feels the same. I wonder if he needs to touch me just to make sure that this isn’t his dream, either.
I don’t know what he’s going to say, but I do know that when he says them, it leaves me speechless and breathless, and it just makes everything a bit more complicated because just like him, I feel the same emotions. Just like him, I’m torn; just like him, I don’t have the answers. “I can’t let you go.”
Chapter 19
Manning
I slam the door behind me when I walk into the house two hours later. “Well, look at who decided to show up.” I hear and look up the winding staircase to see Murielle standing there in her workout clothes. Ignoring her, I walk up the stairs and go to my bedroom. “Manning.” She calls out for me, and I want to vomit.
“What?” I say, looking over my shoulder.
“I was talking to you,” she says, walking toward me. I don’t want her to get too close in case I smell like Evelyn, and she picks up on it. Not that I give a shit. But I don’t want to bring this shit to Evelyn, not when I just got her back.
“What do you want, Murielle?” I ask. She stops, and I breathe out a sigh of relief.
“Where did you sleep last night?” she asks. “I know that you guys got back last night.”
“What do you need from me?” I ask.
“I need you to answer me.” She glares at me.
“I’ll be home by five to take care of Jaxon.” I ignore the question. “So you can go get that itch checked out.” I turn to walk away. “If it helps, one of the rookies caught it last year, and all he had to do was take four pills.”
“You are such an asshole,” she tells me, and I nod.
“Yet you refuse to let me fucking go!” I shout, and she looks around to make sure the cleaning lady isn’t buzzing around. “You’re kidding, right? You fuck your trainer in the basement, and you think she doesn’t know?”
“Well, she signed an NDA.” She folds her arms over her chest. “So the joke’s on her if she tries to sell the story.”
“I won’t sue her.” I walk now to my room. “I might actually help her win her case. Bye, Murielle,” I say, shutting the door behind me and locking it.
I undress, throwing my shit in the wash and then take a shower. Grabbing my track pants and jacket, I make my way over to the rink to work out. I walk in and see that most of the rookies are coming off the ice. Today was an optional skate, so the “old” guys usually just work out in the gym.
When I toss my keys and wallet on my shelf in the locker room, I grab my phone when it beeps. I see it’s from Peter, my financial advisor, and only when I open it do I remember that I put Evelyn’s number under there. I smile when I read what she wrote.
Peter: Remember that challenge you accepted? Well, I just had to pretend that I went hard at the gym last night.
I laugh at her, smiling as I answer.
Me: If you want, I can massage you tonight.
Peter: If it’s the massage I’m thinking of, that isn’t going to help anything. I literally groaned when I got up.
The smile on my face is permanent, and when I walk into the gym, I’m not surprised to see Ralph and Miller both on the bikes. They look over at me, and Miller stops pedaling right away. He looks around, and when he sees it’s just the three of us, he points at me.
“You had sex.” He looks at Ralph, who stops pedaling to take a drink of water. “And he did it all night long.”
“What?” I ask, shocked, and I walk to the door of the gym and lock it in case someone tries to come in while we are talking. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I don’t make eye contact with him as my phone buzzes in my hand, and I look down, seeing it’s Evelyn.