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)
“How am I supposed to find a man if I have everyone covering me up?” she asks us. We all look at her, but no one answers her.
“Here,” Matthew says to her, handing her a plastic bag with the team logo on it. “I just bought this for you.” Max is beside him, trying not to laugh.
She snatches the bag from Matthew, and Max bends to pick up his daughter, kissing her neck. I watch as she puts her arms around his shoulders. “You will never give me trouble like Auntie Zo Zo, right?”
“I’m not wearing this,” she says, throwing the bag back at Matthew.
“It’s the team jersey,” he says. “You have to support.”
“It’s a men’s large,” she says, and then looks at him, and I see she is spinning something, and I can’t help but smile. “Actually, I can wear this with a belt, and it can be a dress.” She tries to snatch the bag back, but Matthew is faster. “I mean, these shoes don’t go with the outfit, but I can make it work.” And just like that, I picture her wearing nothing but the jersey. I also picture her against a wall somewhere with the jersey pulled way up there while I’m buried in her.
I’m taken out of my daydream when Matthew claps his hands. “Okay, we have to go,” he says, then leans over and kisses Alex in Max’s arms. She blocks her neck, so he has to kiss her cheek. “You are pretty just like your mommy,” he says to her, and she smiles.
“Give her to me,” Zara say, reaching for her, but she shakes her head.
“Come on, sweet pea,” Zoe says, holding out her hand, and she lunges for her. Zoe sets her on her hip, and I take her in as she whispers in Alex’s ear, “Tell Uncle Evan to break a leg.”
“Break a leg,” she says softly, then turns back to Zoe. “Now can I have candy?”
We all laugh but turn to walk back into the dressing room. I take a second to look back over my shoulder. I know I shouldn’t, but I do anyway. She is walking away from us now, her hair swinging left and right while she does it. The only one who actually sees me looking at her is Alex, who waves at me and then turns around to talk to her aunt.
“Get your head in the zone,” I mumble to myself. “The zone is the only place you have to be.”
Chapter Sixteen
Zoe
“How long is it again?” I ask Zara while I sip my wine and watch the game. Usually, I sit up in the suite, but now, I’m sitting in the chairs right outside next to Zara and Karrie. Allison and Vivienne are sitting in front of us, having their own conversation. From back when Matthew started playing here, my parents bought a lodge in the arena, and Karrie’s father, Doug, who owns the team has the lodge right next to us, so there is one huge room with couches where you can watch the game and eat and drink. It’s almost like a living room. A counter with four barstools separates you from the seats in the arena, which is where we are sitting now.
“How”—Karrie turns to me—“do you have hockey all in your family, and you don’t know anything about it?”
I throw my head back and groan. “What don’t you guys understand! I don’t actually like hockey?”
“She never did,” Allison pipes in from in front of me, taking a sip of her wine. The good news about having a suite is that the kids have their own section so they are always busy and not all over us.
“It’s not a foreign concept,” I tell them. “I come so I can eat and drink for free. It’s called socializing.” Taking another sip of my wine, I try not to see if I can spot Viktor from the players on the bench.
“And take pictures,” Vivienne says, turning to nod her head. “You have the best selfies.”
“Thank you,” I say, smiling. “See, someone actually gets me.”
“You know who else gets you? Viktor,” Zara says from beside me, and I whip my head in her direction. “What? I swear he was looking at her like he hasn’t had a meal in a year.”
“He was not,” I say, shaking my head and thinking he looked so good in that suit he had on. He stood with his hands in his pockets, and that pose made his arms fill it out even more. I swear it looked like he was going to bust out of it a la hulk style. “We are friends. How many times do I have to say it to you?”
“Would you bang him?” Vivienne looks at me to ask the question, and I shake my head and lie. It’s such a lie I’m surprised my nose isn’t poking her in the face. “Seriously, you can’t say no to that. He’s hot. Look at him,” she says, pointing at the jumbotron that now shows his face. When the game started, they introduced the team one at a time, and they skated out by number. The only ones out of place were the captain and the two assistants. Viktor was second to last because he was assistant. Something that apparently just happened tonight also. The crowd went wild when he came out, and I just watched him skate to center ice and hold up his hand to the spectators. His eyes were blue, and his smile tight, but you could tell he was nervous when he skated to the blue line with the rest of the players and he shook his hands at his sides.