Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
“Sorry,” I mutter, looking up only for him to just say yeah and walk around me. See, asshole. That is why we aren’t talking about him.
Now here we are five minutes before they skate on the ice, almost three hours before we can start loading the bus. My first time going away. I have about a million Post-it notes all lined up in my office. I stand here almost in the corner, watching the guys get up and start to walk out to the ice. If I thought they were big before it’s nothing like when they are on skates. Matthew walks in front of Phil, who is in front of him. He motions for me to come to him, so I do.
“Squirt, remember that time in peewee when I used to put my glove in your face for good luck?”
“Matthew, I will fucking put Nair in your shampoo if you put that nasty glove in my face,” I threaten him while I look up at him and Phil just pushes him ahead.
“Don’t worry, squirt, I’ll look out for you.” He smiles at me.
“Are we not playing a fucking game?” Max walks past us.
“Ignore him, he gets pissy on game day.”
“Well, what excuses does he have for every other day?” I ask under my breath.
Phil laughs out loud. “Fuck if I know.”
Fans erupt in cheers, so I know the guys are on the ice. I go to my office, making sure all my things are in order for when we check in. No one has crazy demands, but then again the big guns aren’t going.
I make my way up to the team lodge, showing them my badge, and then walking in.
“Auntie Allie.” My niece Franny runs to me, jumping into my arms, and wrapping her arms around my neck. “You so pretty.” She leans closer. “Did you bring lip-gloss?”
I kiss her cheeks. “No, but how about you come to my office after and make me a picture I can put up?”
She nods.
“Where is my little Vivi?” I ask, looking around for my little niece.
“She stayed home because it’s too loud,” she says and wiggles herself to go down and join her brother Cooper.
“Hey there, my little man, where is the love for your aunt?” I say, bending to hug him. “Did you guys go downstairs and see them skate?”
They both shake their heads. I look over to see my sister-in-law Karrie talking to her father.
“Hey, I’m going to bring the kids down to see Matthew,” I say and she nods.
We walk down the hallway, both of them holding my hands, and we go down the stairs to the glass around the boards. Cooper stands near the glass, slapping it when he sees a couple of players he knows and they smirk at him. I lift Franny up and hold her on my hip as I point at Matthew.
“There is Daddy,” I say and she yells Dada, but just then Max skates in front of her.
Cooper slaps the glass, yelling Max’s name. He looks at Cooper, gives him a high five on the glass, and then looks over at Franny, who hides in my neck. He winks at her and shakes his fingers, telling her hello. She smiles at him, and I smile at her. My eyes meet his for the first time in two weeks. It’s for a split second, a blink of an eye, but it’s enough for my stomach to fall. I don’t have time to think about anything because Matthew finally comes to the side of the glass where he leans down and points at Cooper and then blows kisses to Franny, the press capturing everything. Both of them are wearing Grant jerseys, so there is no mistaking that these are his, and well, they look exactly like him. Poor kids. The buzzer sounds, telling us that the Zamboni is going to come on, so we make our way back to the lodge where they tell their mother about seeing their daddy.
I take my spot beside Karrie, who has Franny on her lap as Cooper sits with Doug. No doubt telling his grandfather all about his hockey moves.
“So you ready for the travel?” she asks me and I look away from the ice. “No, not even fucking close.”
“That’s a bad word,” Franny says.
“Oops.” I put my hands to my lips. “No, I’m not. I have seven backup plans in case the first six mess up. Seven.”
“It’ll be fine. As long as they have a bed to sleep in, they don’t care.” She holds a bag of chips in her hand and Franny eats them one at a time. “I got the memo for opening day. You are going all out there this year. I heard you’re trying to get Jay Z to come and sing.”
I smile. “Well, he did say he bleeds blue, no?” I look over at the bench, seeing the players that aren’t starting take their seat. The five starting players get ready. Matthew is center with Phil on one side and Max on the other. They each skate in a circle around their position. The two star defensemen Jamie and Peter are starting also with Luka between the pipes. Toronto looks ready to rumble and Matthew takes his place as the referee is getting ready to drop the puck and then the music dies and the puck hits the ice.