Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
This would be the first time back on the ice since the season ended for most of us, and it wasn’t just Osprey players, but guys from other leagues, too. We’d meet to just get some ice time in, run drills, and play a few scrimmages — anything we felt we needed to do to get prepped for camp.
Staying in game shape was a commitment to my team — one I couldn’t break. And it didn’t matter that I wanted the summer and this trip to last forever. Reality was knocking hard on the door.
The season was coming, and I had to get ready for it.
Grace deflated a bit as she put the pieces together.
“The first?” she asked.
I nodded, searching her eyes as she did the math.
“One week,” she breathed.
“Six days, to be exact. I’ll need to catch a flight on the thirty-first.”
Her nostrils flared, and for a split-second, I thought… I thought I saw something. But she nodded immediately, smiling and leaning down to press a swift kiss to my lips.
“Well, that’s actually perfect! I’m meeting some college buddies in Costa Rica for a birthday yoga retreat. So that will give me just enough time to stop by Mom and Dad’s, do some laundry, maybe see some friends, and then head out.”
My chest hollowed out. “Oh.”
I searched for any sign of her hiding her emotions again, for any sign of tears she was holding back. I was pretty good at spotting it in her now — the fake smile, the sadness that would tinge the edges of her eyes.
But this time, I found nothing.
My next swallow felt like I was working a wine cork down my throat. Of course, she had plans. She knew this wasn’t going to last forever just like I did. It shouldn’t have hurt that she already had her next destination planned. In fact, I should have been happy. She had somewhere to go. She had people waiting on her. She had the rest of her life to live.
But I was a selfish fucking prick, and it killed me to think about her moving on without me — even when I knew, deep down, it was what I wanted for her.
“It’s going to be amazing. Oh! Let me show you our bungalow!” She rolled off me, grabbing her phone and pulling up the listing. She leaned against me as she thumbed through the photos, rattling on about how they’d have yoga on the beach, sound baths, daily meditations, and a bunch of other shit that I tuned out.
Not that I didn’t care — because I did. And that was the fucking problem.
I cared so deeply for her that I knew now I would be a fucking wreck when we said goodbye in a week.
I’d told myself not to fall for her. I’d told myself not to even think about touching her, because I knew — I fucking knew this would happen.
And yet, it was like it was inevitable, like we had no choice but to crash into each other and exist in the wreckage when the time came for us to part.
Swallowing, I wrapped my arms around her, my chin on her shoulder as I listened to her detail the trip. I felt the excitement rolling off her, and in the same breath, felt my heart give way to a single, deep crack.
But I closed my eyes against it, inhaling her scent and committing it to memory.
One more week.
I had her for one. More. Week.
Yours and Yours Alone
Grace
We pulled into Canmore just before noon the next day, and I felt like a freaking puppy.
I hung my head out the window, eyes wide as I attempted to take it all in. The air was crisp and light even in July, the sun shining but with a cool breeze right on its heels.
As if the breathtaking views of the mountains all around us weren’t incredible enough, the town itself was adorable. There was a little main street lined with shops and restaurants, a boardwalk along a gorgeous flowing river, and people everywhere soaking up the beautiful weather. There were bike-riders and families on skates, hikers with packs and locals taking their dogs for a walk, young couples blowing up paddle boards and friends joking around as they geared up for a climb.
It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced — which was my favorite feeling in the world.
Add in the fact that Jaxson was right beside me, smiling as he watched me, his hand on my thigh… and it was the most perfect moment.
Deep in my chest, a stone hand was wrapped around my heart in a tight fist. It was a constant sensation — my heart struggling to beat against it, my lungs tight as they forced every breath. But I ignored it all, pretending like the end of this week wasn’t something that would kill me, like right now was all that mattered.