Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
“I know this is a bit . . .” He sounds almost unsure himself.
“Overwhelming? Weird?”
He chuckles awkwardly. “We’ll go with overwhelming.” He offers me a smile, but I can’t even force one of my own.
“I know this is a lot. It is for me too,” he admits. “But for what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here.”
I’m not sure how to feel about his words. Surely some warmth or happiness should envelop me, right? Wrong. I feel nothing but uncertainty and insecurity.
“Let’s take it day by day, shall we?” he says, and I nod.
That’s as much as I can offer. Because no matter how glad he is that I’m here, in twenty-two years, he’s never once came for me. And that’s something I won’t forget.
“About this job. What exactly will I be doing? Because I have to tell you, I don’t think I’ll make a very good winemaker.”
He quirks a grin. “No winemaking in your immediate future.”
“Oh, thank God,” I say with a massive breath of relief.
He cocks his head to the side. “Didn’t your mother tell you why you were coming here?”
I rock back on my heels, suddenly uncomfortable hearing him speak about my mother in any capacity. I don’t know anything about their relationship because she refused to talk about it. As far as I can guess, I’m the product of a one-night stand that was never going anywhere.
That makes me think of the stranger from last night, but I tamp that down because I do not want my mind to wander to comparisons when my mother is part of the equation.
Yuck.
“I need assistance in marketing for the hockey team I coach,” he says, and I can’t help but groan.
“Hockey,” I mutter. “As in sticks and black rubber.”
He perks an eyebrow. “Not a fan of hockey?”
This feels like déjà vu, and I wonder if the universe is truly out to get me. Regardless of my less-than-fond thoughts on the homicidal sport, I need this job.
“I’ll admit I don’t know much about it, but I’m a quick study and ready to learn.”
He nods his head. “Great. That’s what I like to hear. Team player.”
Something tells me he wants me to smile, but I can’t. Everything feels twisted and wrong. What have I gotten myself into? Can I do this?
Yes.
I don’t have a choice. Getting work experience is what I need. Without it, I’ll never get a real job. I will make this work, and I will prove to my mother that I’m not a lost cause.
Universe, please be kind.
8
DANE
Hudson changed the name of the chat to “Hockey stick up Dane’s ass.”
Mason: Not cool, Wilde.
Dane left the chat.
Mason changed the name of the chat to Redville Sinners.
Mason added Dane to the chat.
Hudson: Aww, he’s back.
Mason: Stop acting like a douche.
Hudson: Just keeping it real.
Hudson: He did in fact have a stick up his ass.
Dane: Fuck off.
9
DANE
An impromptu meeting with the team and our coach wasn’t how I wanted to spend my day.
Not only am I still hung over from last night, but I’m not in the mood to be lectured that I bailed out early on the party.
And Coach will lay into me. Rightfully so, of course, but my head is killing me, and the truth is, I’d very much like to linger in the high I’m still feeling from bumping into the little hellfire in the vines.
Fuck.
There are no words to even describe how much I needed that.
She was everything I didn’t know I needed at the exact moment I needed it.
Pure perfection.
A silly goddess, one with a trident, but a goddess, nonetheless.
When she started walking the “tightrope,” I knew she was like no one I had ever met before, and for the first time since my parents died, I felt anything was possible.
Too bad it couldn’t last longer.
Luckily, the memory is mine, and I’ll be replaying it in my mind for a long time.
My phone rings, and I know who it is without even looking at it. By now, Molly has found the little surprise I left for her at her front door.
I grab it from my pocket, swiping the screen to answer it.
“What the hell did you do?” Her high-pitched voice is a bit much after last night, but I understand that she’s excited, so I’ll give her a pass for practically blowing out my eardrum.
“You’ll have to be more specific?”
“Don’t be an ass. You know what I’m talking about. The ticket. The trip.”
“No one in the world deserves it more than you.”
“It’s too much, Dane.” A crashing sound echoes through the phone. “Shit. Sorry. I’m fine, just dropped my cell.” Her voice sounds far off, and I can’t help but laugh despite the pain it causes me in my hungover state.
“You good?”
“Yeah, sorry. But seriously, Dane, this is too much.”
“Nothing is enough for all you do for me.” I halt my steps, not ready to walk into the arena yet.