Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
The game ends with us winning by one point, and I honestly don’t care. I rush to the dressing room and am the first one in the shower. When I’m finally dressed in my suit, I walk out of the room and look for her. I spot Tristan talking to someone, and all he does is point at a room. I walk to the closed door, and I knock before opening it.
When the door finally opens, I see Zara sitting on a chair in front of a brown wooden desk. When she looks up from her phone and sees me, her whole face lights up. The baseball cap gone now leaving her hair in just a ponytail.
“There he is, the man of the hour,” she says, getting up, and I look around looking for Zoe.
“Where is your sister?” I ask her, walking into the room and closing the door.
“She went to the bathroom,” she says, using quotation marks. “I think she just wanted to give us privacy.”
“Did she now?” I say, the smile not leaving my face. “That color looks good on you.”
“Does it?” she asks, and she turns around. Seeing her wearing my jersey makes me want to go all hulk—rip off my shirt, puff out my chest, and roar. I put my hands in my pockets before I yank her to me. “Thank you,” she says, her voice going soft, “for the flowers and the fruit and the merchandise.”
“It’s the least I can do. That tweet put me in running for bachelor of the year.” She laughs, shaking her head, and covers her face with her hands. “Don’t do that.” I close the distance between us and reach out, pulling her hands away from her face. “Don’t hide your face from me.”
“This is crazy,” she says, and I turn to sit on the chair in front of her. “You live in Dallas.”
“You live in New York,” I tell her. The same thought was running through my mind all day long.
“You travel all over the place.” I look up at her.
“You do too,” I remind her, and I can’t sit any more while she tries to talk herself out of whatever this is. She stands there in front of me, and my hand reaches up to cup her face, my thumb rubbing her cheek. “Why don’t we play this day by day?” She looks up at me, her eyes a shade of crystal green with blue inside them. I hear the racket coming from the hallway and know that my team is getting ready to leave. “I can’t kiss you right now,” I tell her, and her mouth opens a touch. “And it’s not ’cause I don’t want to. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life.” She looks down now and then up at me. “It’s because one kiss won’t be good enough. I know if I kiss you, I won’t stop kissing you.”
“Okay, people, time to load the bus,” someone shouts from the hallway.
“You have to go,” she says, and her hand comes out to hold the wrist cupping her cheek.
“Sweet Zara,” I say softly. “Sweet, sweet Zara,” I finally say and lean in and kiss her on the cheek. When I lift my face, I’m so close to her lips, so very close. I look into her eyes, and I swear it’s more dangerous than swimming in shark-infested waters.
There is a soft knock on the door, but I don’t move. I don’t drop my hand from her face. I do nothing but get lost in her. “Sorry to interrupt,” Zoe says, sticking her head in the door, “but …”
“You have to go,” she says again. My heart sinks while I nod my head because I know I won’t see her tomorrow. I know I won’t even see her the day after that. I let my hand drop from her face, and her own hand drops like lead to her side.
“Good job out there tonight,” Zoe says. “Great time on the ice,” she says, and I shake my head and laugh. How are these two so oblivious to hockey when their whole family is the face of hockey?
“Take care of her, Zoe,” I tell her, and she nods. I step out of the room, pick up my bag that I put down before I went in, and walk out of the arena, never once looking back.
Chapter Eleven
Zara
I watch him walk away from me. The black suit molding him with his leather backpack slung over his shoulder.
“I knew I shouldn’t have come tonight.” I look at Zoe once I can’t see him anymore, yet I can still feel his hand on my face. When he walked into the room, I knew I was fucked. And not even in a good way. His suit was on point, his hair still wet from the shower, and I know he just ran his fingers through it because you could see it. But then he smiled, and I literally forgot my own fucking name.