Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“No, she didn’t,” I said.
“She wanted me to keep going,” he said, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes. “Life doesn’t give us unlimited chances. She used to say that all the time. I’ve seen the way you and Kon look at each other, and I know what you’ve both been through to get here.”
It was strange, looking at both the little boy who had dumped sand in my hair in our sandbox, and the man who had fought through his grief to give life another go.
“I’m really proud of you,” I said. “For so many reasons.”
He smiled. “I’m proud of you, too, sis. Now let’s try a boring, predictable life for at least a little while, okay?”
I laughed. “Yeah. Okay.”
My heart wasn’t in it, though.
Everything inside of me screamed that Kon needed me. Just as I needed him.
Beneath that gruff, tattooed exterior was a gentle, sensitive man. Sawyer and his teammates probably would have burst out laughing if I said that out loud—but they weren’t intimate with him. They didn’t look in his eyes when he was inside of them, baring his soul in a way I’d never thought possible with any man. Much less a guy like Kon. They didn’t know the broken man beneath like I did. And that man fucking needed me.
Sawyer was distracted doing something on his phone, so I pulled out mine thoughtfully.
Kon would never make the first move if he thought I was too good for him or whatever bullshit was going on in his head. So it had to be me, despite my own similar thoughts.
Because I loved him. I wasn’t falling for him anymore. I was already head over heels. I’d sensed it before everything went to hell, but the moment I’d seen him hiding behind that dumpster, ready to save me? I’d known he was it for me.
Now it was just a matter of convincing him to give us a chance.
Lucy: Hey. I wanted to check on you, make sure you’re okay. And I never had a chance to thank you. Will you call me? Please? I have something I need to get off my chest.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Kon
I slept for sixteen hours after finally being released from jail.
Jail.
It had been a strange experience for me. One I never wanted to repeat. I’d been willing to do whatever it took to save Lucy, but I would have been a liar if I hadn’t felt like someone was choking me while I’d been behind bars. I wasn’t generally claustrophobic, but knowing I couldn’t leave? That had fucked with my head big time.
I’d been in jail before. Arrested twice for minor teenage infractions, shoplifting and breaking and entering, but this had been different. As a kid who’d been starving, I’d been full of hate and bravado and misplaced determination. I’d had nothing to lose, after all. As a grown man who made millions of dollars and had a very exclusive life, I had fucking everything to lose.
Luckily, my teammates and then the owner of the Mavericks had gotten involved, so I’d been out faster than I would have thought. Charges had been dropped, the truth had come out, and from what the lawyers had told me, everything was going to be okay. Rosa Romano, who owned the Mavericks, had said she wanted to meet with the four of us who’d gone to get Lucy, so I figured we were going to get some kind of lecture. But that was okay. She’d saved my ass and I’d take whatever lecture or fine or anything else she chose to dish out. My only concern was that she would try to trade me. I really didn’t want to go anywhere else after all of this. The Mavericks were more than just teammates; they’d become my family.
That meeting wasn’t for a few more days, though, and Coach Gizzard had told me to take a few days off to decompress before coming back to work. The team was on a road trip for a few more days anyway, so I didn’t have anywhere to be until the day after tomorrow, which was why I was restless as hell today. I’d already worked out in my building’s gym, ordered groceries, talked to my grandmother, and checked in with Wes. Now there was nothing.
It was strange how lonely it felt to be this separated from everything I loved.
Hockey.
My teammates.
Lucy.
Fuck, I missed Lucy more than I wanted to admit.
I’d used the word “love” when I’d been with Svetlana because it was expected. We were a couple. We lived together, slept together, and planned to be together forever. I’d said it because it seemed oddly rude not to. But I hadn’t felt it. I just hadn’t known it at the time. I’d thought pleasant and comfortable was what love was.
Now that I’d actually fallen in love with someone, I realized how wrong I’d been.