Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Jourdanne shrugged.
“You’d be surprised,” she replied in a sing-song voice. “Matt and Leandro won’t be here for another hour. I need a proper send-off.”
I lifted my eyebrow out of intrigue as she dug around in her bag. When she pulled out a bottle of pink lemonade vodka, a laugh broke from me.
“A shot in your honor,” I said.
Jourdanne scoffed and shook her head as she grabbed two plastic cups.
“Shots, honey,” she corrected me as she poured us both some. She then lifted her cup. “To love and the journey of finding it.”
I smiled at how cheesy it was, but I toasted her. She was a good friend, and I wanted things to work out for her. Maybe things would work out for me too. Maybe I would fall in love with someone and know what it was like to be head over heels. I hadn’t ever experienced that before.
After another shot and promises to see each other on campus, Matt and Leandro came by and got her and her things. Before I knew it, she was gone, and I was all alone in the dorm room. An eerie silence filled the space as I glanced around, realizing how much space was left now that she was gone.
I should’ve been excited about utilizing the extra space for my stuff, but all I felt was an empty feeling in my chest. I didn’t have her to talk to after a long day of classes and practice. She wouldn’t be here to wake up with and grab breakfast before my workout in the morning. It would just be me now.
All by myself.
At least I still had my team. They were my family away from home, even if there was some stress that accompanied me being captain. I didn’t want to mess up and disappoint the girls that I looked up to me and relied on me to rally them and lead them.
It didn’t help that I not only had to worry about rival women’s teams, but I also had to deal with Hugo and his team. I hadn’t ever dealt with this much pressure before, and it would’ve been so much easier to flat out hate Hugo and the others.
But I didn’t. There was a sliver of me that liked being around them. Liked being challenged by them. Liked feeling their hands on me.
It was twisted and confusing, but I couldn’t cut out that part of myself. I just had to stifle it.
With a sigh, I grabbed my biology textbook and left my dorm room, figuring I needed to study for my test next week. I still needed to prioritize my grades on top of it all. Since it was an overcast, cool autumn day, I decided to find a quiet spot outside and read.
I ventured through campus, trying to pick one of the many trees to sit under. However, the sight of a familiar person stopped me in my tracks. One of the guys from the men’s hockey team was sitting beneath a tree with a book in his hands. The European one.
I was about to walk off, but he looked up at me, an expression of recognition crossing his face. My curiosity got the best of me when I peered at the cover of his book. It looked like a fiction book, but it was in a different language.
“What book is that?” I asked as I walked closer to him, drawn closer by the curious expression on his face.
“Oh, this? A Book of Memories,” he replied as he showed me the cover. “My unokatestvér sent it to me from Hungary.”
“You’re what?” I asked with a perplexed laugh as I crouched down in front of him and took the book to take a closer look at it. The cover was worn, and the pages were slightly tinted yellow from age.
“My cousin,” he told me.
I looked up at him.
“I don’t think I’ve gotten your name,” I said.
“Mikael,” he replied. “And I very much know you.”
“You’ve heard of me,” I corrected him. “What’s this about?”
“A man in a love triangle,” Mikael told me. “I can imagine it being hard having to fight against someone for the one you love.”
At least Jourdanne wasn’t in a volatile love triangle. The men she was with were willing to share her. I wondered how often that actually worked out.
“That does suck,” I said as I handed him his book back. At least he hadn’t made any smart comments or shallow quips like before. I found it interesting that he had family in Hungary, though, and his accent was quite… delicious.
“What are you reading?” Mikael asked as he nodded to the textbook in my hand.
“Biology,” I replied as I wrinkled my nose. I would rather read about a love triangle.
Mikael chuckled lightly.
“I like science,” he said. “I’m actually a Biology major.”