Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
“Hey there, I was wondering when you guys would get here,” Matthew says when he meets us coming out of his house. “You look like shit.” He hands me a water bottle.
“Bite me,” I say, grabbing the bottle. “Who are all these people?”
“Some are from Mini Cooper’s hockey league. The rest are coaching staff and a couple of players are here. Some rookies,” he says and then stands straight and crosses his arms over his chest. “Don’t get any ideas.”
“Did Max give you a ride to the rink last week?” I ask him, and he just nods his head. “He banged Allison in the same car.”
“Motherfucker,” he says, turning and walking away from us with Evan laughing beside me, and Zara holding up her hand.
“Oh my God, I think I’m going to die.” I spot Vivienne while she comes up to us, and she is wearing a checkered bikini.
“You look like a checkered flag,” Zara says.
“Gentlemen, start your engines!” she yells, turning around, and no one really notices her but Max, who laughs at the joke.
“Oh, look who’s here. Viktor,” Evan says. “I’m going to go say hi to him.”
“Evan, can you put in a good word for me?” Vivienne asks him. “I’ve been trying to get his motor running, but he’s too busy ignoring me.” She then turns to us. “I’m so thirsty.” She winks, and my stomach suddenly knots and burns. “I’ve been saying that all afternoon, and Matthew and your dad have been getting me drinks.”
I shake my head with a laugh. “I’m going to go say hi to my parents.” I turn to walk toward them, but my head is down, and I smack straight into a white shirt. I’m about to bounce off the hard chest, but his hands come out to catch me before I lose my footing.
“Sorry,” I say and then finally look up into Viktor’s blue eyes. Eyes that taunted me in my dream all night. “Sorry about that. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“It’s okay,” he says, and then the noise from all around us stops him. “Listen, about yesterday …”
I’m not sure I want to hear why he was a dick. I’m not ready for this conversation, least of all not with everyone here. “Forget it. It’s fine,” I say, and I don’t wait for him to answer. I just walk around him and into my father’s open arms.
“You look sick,” he says, kissing my head. “Are you sick?”
“Yes,” I tell him, “of wine.” I try not to look around and see where Viktor went off to. I shouldn’t care, and I don’t care. Maybe if I keep repeating it, my brain will finally get the memo.
“Did you girls drink too much last night?” he asks, and he doesn’t let me go. I don’t tell him that I was drinking to forget about what a dick Viktor was.
“Where’s Mom?’ I ask, and then I feel a little finger on my thigh.
“Auntie Zoe,” Alex, my niece, says softly. Her whole body drips with water because she just came out of the pool, and she still has her floaties on her arms. “Will you come in the pool with me?”
I squat down in front of her. “Why? Is this a trick?” I ask her, and she just shakes her head.
“Mommy won’t let me swim without my floaties,” she says, and I understand it now.
“So you want me to take you in the pool and take off your floaties?” I ask her, and her face fills with a huge smile that looks exactly like her mother’s. “You’re lucky I love you,” I say and peel the dress off my body.
“I’ll be back, Dad,” I say, walking away to the pool holding Alex’s hand.
“Where is the rest of that bathing suit?” I hear my father shout, and I just shake my head.
“Zara is wearing it,” I say over my shoulder. Looking at Zara, I see she’s talking to Viktor, but their talking stops while they watch me. “Zara, show Dad your suit.” She throws her head back and laughs, slipping the dress off and showing us that she is wearing a one piece. “Traitor,” I say, and then I spend the next hour in the pool, pretending to be carefree except the heaviness of Viktor is weighing in.
Chapter Nine
Viktor
“Hey, nice to see you again,” Zara says as soon as Zoe walks away from me, but I can still feel her in my arms. She wasn’t even looking where she was going. She just had a head-on collision and then she looked up, and even though I couldn’t see her eyes, I knew she must have been shocked it was me. I tried to apologize, but she wouldn’t let me and shrugged it off.
“It’s great seeing you again,” I answer Zara, and then I spot Evan coming over. He stopped to talk to me on his way to get his wife a drink. When I walked into the yard two hours ago, the last thing I expected was a circus. I thought it would be a low-key affair, but I should have known that Matthew didn’t know what low-key meant.