Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
But I’m sure this is a sleep or nutrition thing, or maybe my fucking skates weren’t sharpened correctly. I’m positive it has nothing to do with a sexy blond who isn’t quite fitting into my plans the way I’d anticipated. There’s no way my disappointment about not seeing her during the upcoming road trip has anything to do with anything.
“Kids go down okay?” I ask.
Kiera pushes her reader away and nods. Pulling one foot up on the chair, she wraps her arms around her shin. “Yeah. I think they’re finally getting settled into the new beds. I let them watch the first period of the game, but Tanner and Colby conked out about two minutes in. Jake didn’t want to stop watching, and I had to use stern Aunt Kiera to get him to bed. He babbled the entire time as I was tucking him in that he’s going to be a goalie like his daddy. They might be a little tired for school tomorrow, but I think watching you play is really important.”
My fucking chest swells. It’s weird, because I have this steady, constant well of love and devotion for my kids. But sometimes they do something—it could be just a smile, or a funny statement, or a cuddle—and it makes my heart feel like it will burst.
“I need to get Jake into a youth hockey league.” The boys all know how to skate, but over the last two years with Crystal going off the rails, there’s been no time to enroll them in organized sports.
It’s time, though.
“How come you didn’t go out with the guys after the game?” she asks.
I shrug. “I felt like I should be here.”
Kiera’s brow furrows. “Why?”
“Because my kids are here.”
“But… they’re asleep. You won’t see them until morning. You could have gone out with your buddies, and the kids would’ve never known. You need to have fun, Drake.”
“I don’t want to.” Rubbing my hand over my jaw, I realize that’s not quite true. I do like my teammates a great deal.
“You’re restless,” she observes. “You might not have wanted to go out with your teammates, and you might feel like you have an obligation to come home to your sleeping kids, but you don’t want to be here.”
I glare at her, pissed at her perception. But I find myself admitting, “There’s a woman.”
Kiera grins, her eyes sparkling with curiosity as she leans forward. “What? Like an honest-to-God woman you’re interested in?”
I grunt in dissatisfaction at her characterization of things. I can tell she’s romanticizing this because she hates that Crystal broke my heart, and then broke me from trusting again. “It’s not like that,” I assure her.
Disappointment draws her mouth downward. “Oh… a booty call.” Then her smile returns. “Okay, I totally get that. Who doesn’t love a booty call? In fact, I need to find—”
“Stop,” I growl, holding up a hand. “There is nothing I want to hear about you and booty calls.”
Kiera laughs, then reaches out to rest her hand on top of mine. “Go see her.”
I sigh, flipping my hand over so my fingers curl around hers. Squeezing briefly before pulling away, I say, “It’s complicated.”
“Married, huh?” she says with exaggerated disappointment.
“No,” I snap. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Prostitute, then?”
“Kiera,” I warn with narrowed eyes.
She snickers and throws up her hands in surrender. “Okay, seriously… why is it complicated?”
Tipping my head back, I take in a breath. It’s do or die… lie or tell the truth.
It’s my sister, though, the person I love most next to my kids. Bringing my gaze to her, I admit, “It’s Brienne Norcross.”
Kiera just stares at me, eyes wide and blank.
“Say something,” I demand.
Her foot comes off the chair and she doubles over laughing.
Like, hysterically.
Straightening slightly, she gasps, “Brienne Norcross?”
I nod curtly.
And she starts laughing again.
Settling back in my chair, I drum my fingers on the table and wait for her to get it out. Eventually, her laughs turn to chuckles and she sits up again, wiping tears from her eyes.
“Are you done?” I ask.
“Are you fucking crazy?” she throws back at me with a snicker. “You’ve got a crush on the owner of the Titans? Are you trying to figure out how to ask her out or something?”
“It’s not a crush.”
“Then what is it?”
She’s so damn naive sometimes, and because she laughed at me, I decide to shock her. “We’re fuck buddies.”
The remainder of the humor fizzles from her eyes, and her mouth sags in disbelief. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
“I’m not.”
“Oh, wow.” She leans back in her chair, curling a lock of her blond hair around her finger in contemplation. “How did that even happen? I thought you couldn’t stand her.”
“She grew on me,” I mutter. “Suffice it to say, and sparing you the details, we’ve been together a lot, but it’s obviously a secret.”
“That is a complication,” she says, sympathy shining in her eyes.