Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
I gave him a pointed look. “I don’t want anyone finding out about this. Not even Chloe.”
“I won’t tell a soul,” Asher assured me. “You have my word.”
With a nod, I looked out at the mountains in the distance. Even though this was my home, traveling to other cities for hockey made me appreciate where I lived. Trees, open skies, and mountains relaxed me. Nature was the ultimate reminder that we were just a speck in the grand scheme of things.
“I shouldn’t have interrupted you,” Asher said. “I think you had a point to make that I never let you get to.”
He was right, but I was aggravated now. I’d been trying to convince myself for three weeks to just forget about Shelby and move on. It wasn’t working.
“She’s not the type of woman I usually go for,” I said.
“No whiskers and bushy tail?” Asher quipped, one of his usual jabs about puck bunnies.
“Part of what I was going to say was whether I’d want to…” I looked over both shoulders to make sure we were still alone. “You know, conceive the kid with her. I thought we might be looking at multiple times and she’s…a very uptight attorney.”
Asher scoffed. “Say no more. I get it.”
“But then when I went to the clinic and…” I shook my head and looked away, regretting my decision to talk to him. “Never mind, man.”
“Hey,” Asher said. “Whatever it is, it’s okay. I’ll turn off the sarcasm and just listen.”
I turned back to him. Maybe saying what I was feeling would help me move on. I sure as hell needed to.
“I couldn’t do what I needed to do in the room at the doctor’s office, you know,” I said. “So, Shelby, she…talked to me.”
Asher furrowed his brow, confused.
“You know, she talked to me,” I repeated. “To get me into it.”
“Oh.” Asher nodded appreciatively. “Got it.”
“And I fucking came in record time, man. It was what she was saying and hearing her say it. And now I can’t stop thinking about it. About her. I fantasize about her all the time.”
My brother’s lips turned up in a small smile. “The woman you weren’t sure you’d be able to sleep with.”
I sighed heavily. “Yeah, joke’s on me, right? I tried to go home with a woman in Vancouver last week and I couldn’t even get hard. She was just so…not Shelby.”
“This sounds like a mental cockblock,” Asher said.
“Yeah, no shit. It’s obviously not physical. But what do I do?”
“I’m no psychiatrist,” Asher said. “Wait, yes I am.”
He laughed, but I didn’t, because he’d worn that joke out years ago.
“I think your mind is preoccupied with you last encounter with her,” he said. “You need to see her again. Talk about anything but sex. Try to drop in on her when she’s not expecting you. She might be annoyed, which would be good, because then that will be what your mind recalls as your most recent encounter.”
I just looked at him for a few seconds. “Really? This is what twelve years of college and medical school taught you?”
“You never said you wanted my professional advice. I thought this was just brothers shooting the shit.”
“Do you have any professional advice?”
He shrugged. “Honestly, I recommend therapy. You could benefit from talking to someone about what kind of woman you’re attracted to and why.”
“I’m not going to therapy.”
“I still have to bill you for a full hour since you asked,” he quipped.
“You’re an asshole.”
“You’ve got unresolved feelings, Beau. So resolve them. Maybe you should sleep with her. If it’s not great, you’ll have the closure you need.”
“And if it is great?”
He chuckled. “It won’t be. You’re a twenty-seven-year-old professional athlete. You’re nowhere near ready to settle down.”
“No, I’m not.”
The sound of a door opening made us both turn. Isaac stood in the open doorway, looking between us. “You guys are missing a great game in here.”
I stood up. “We’ll come back in. My nuts are frozen anyway.”
“You’re a pussy,” Isaac said. “I love this weather.”
As a trail and fly-fishing guide, Isaac spent more time outside than inside. The only way he’d ever settle down was if he found a woman who wanted to travel as much as he did and who wouldn’t stick her nose up at sleeping in a tent.
“That’s why you’ll end up married to a Squatch,” I said, patting him on the shoulder.
“Mother Nature is my bride.”
I scoffed. “Good luck getting head, man.”
Once inside, my brothers each opened another beer, but I switched to water. I needed to be sharp for practice in the morning. Isaac was right—it was a good game, but my mind was elsewhere.
I was thinking about Shelby Grant and wondering how she relaxed on days off. I had some specific ideas for relaxing her.
Maybe Asher was right. I was fantasizing about her words. If I could experience the real thing, that would provide the closure I needed to move on.