Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 136296 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 681(@200wpm)___ 545(@250wpm)___ 454(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136296 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 681(@200wpm)___ 545(@250wpm)___ 454(@300wpm)
“Wow. Okay. Um, my ex-husband is the worst choice I’ve ever made.”
“That’s saying something, since you’re sleeping with one of your students.”
I have to give it to her, she’s a straight shooter and a protective momma bear, which isn’t a surprise given the way Maverick talks about her. Her children are a top priority. I need to put myself in her shoes.
“I realize we don’t know each other, and maybe you have concerns—”
“Concerns? You’re sleeping with a twenty-one-year-old who happens to be my son.” She crosses her arms. “What could you possibly have in common, other than the fact that he’s in his sexual prime and you’re approaching yours?”
Blaming the man who likes to hold the blame would be a terrible betrayal to him and what we mean to each other. I wait again, unsure if she’s done or if she’s planning to rip into me some more. She has a right. It tells me what I need to know. That he’s important to her. That she cares. Just like I do.
“Well? Are you into hockey? Or just hockey players? Or is it limited to my son?”
The sarcasm is strong with this one. “Do you actually want an answer, or do you just want to attack me?” I ask.
“He’s my baby, and you’re taking advantage of him!” Her eyes are on fire. “He has a bright future, and you are not going to get in the way of that.”
“I don’t want to get in the way of his future. I know he’s on track to be called up by an NHL team. Whether we’ll be able to manage a long-distance relationship remains to be seen, but I would never try to persuade him not to go down that path, if that’s what he wants.”
“If? He’s been training his entire life for this. He’s lived and breathed hockey since he could walk. This is what he’s worked for, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let some woman with relationship issues drag my son down and ruin his future.”
If she could breathe fire, I’m sure she would. I can appreciate her conviction and her love for her son.
“I realize how this must look from where you’re standing, and I don’t think there’s anything I can say that’s going to make you see it differently. I don’t know if Maverick told you this, but he intervened when I was almost attacked by a group of men.”
“What? When?”
“It was the end of October. I was putting out my garbage, and a group of drunk men started heckling me. They surrounded me, and Maverick stopped whatever was or wasn’t going to happen. And then he made sure I was okay and suggested I take the self-defense class he teaches.”
Her brows pull together. “That sounds like him, but it doesn’t explain how you ended up in a relationship.”
“I’m getting to that. I want you to know it didn’t start with any sinister intentions.”
“He told me you hooked up in the summer.”
My eyebrows rise. “Wow. He’s really open with you, isn’t he?” I feel my face heat with embarrassment. Interesting that he’ll divulge that kind of information but talking about what happened to his sister is such a closed subject.
“He has verbal diarrhea. It’s hereditary. I’m sure if he could have kept that part to himself, he would have. As a mother of a daughter, I have to say, you are incredibly lucky that you hooked up with my son, and not some asshole.”
“It was . . . impulsive, and out of character, and not something I would typically do. I don’t know how to explain it, but I felt safe with him, despite not knowing him as well as I should have.”
“He wouldn’t hurt a fly—unless he’s on the ice, anyway.”
I nod. “He’s more likely to catch it so he can set it free outside. Anyway, I went to the self-defense class. Only once, but he was insistent, and I thought it was a good idea. He told me he started teaching them because of what happened to his sister.”
She takes a step back, and her fingers go to her bottom lip. She rubs the center of it, like Maverick does every time he talks about his sister. That scar. The one that came after the trauma, when she was locked in the closet during the game of hide-and-seek. “I don’t understand how all of this connects.”
“I got to know him as a person.” I look up at the ceiling. “He is very charismatic and also hard to say no to.”
“It’s the dimples. They’re a curse. His dad has them. Man can convince a desert dweller to buy a space heater like—” She snaps her fingers.
“The dimples are hard to resist,” I agree.
“This still doesn’t tell me what your intentions are. He’s young. A lot happens in your twenties, as I’m sure you’re aware. And his career is just starting, where yours is already established. How will that work? Are you planning to follow him wherever he signs?”