Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 72659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“I guess we’re about to find out if you find being in my arms as thrilling as your sister does,” I grin.
"Get fucked," he says giving me a death stare.
“It’s either that or I can tie you to the tow-ball and roll your ass there.”
“Fine,” he grunts. “But make it quick. I don’t want anyone to see.”
I grin and take my sweet-ass time hoisting him up into my truck and take pleasure in the way he groans about it in the process. I make my way around the front of my truck and get in.
We make small talk and before we know it, I'm parking in the athletes parking and helping him down. I take him in through the player's entrance and introduce him to as many of the guys as possible which turns him into a fucking fan-girl.
We make it through to the main arena and I can’t help but look around. It’s completely decked out for the game. Music is playing as the fans pour in through the doors and climb the grandstands. Fans point me out instantly and I sign a few autographs and shake hands before excusing myself and Brendan.
“Wow, you’re Mr. Popular,” he muses as I deposit him into the V.I.P section.
“Yep, comes with the territory, man,” I tell him as I squat down to reach his height. “Look, I’ll make you a deal,” I tell him. “If you work your ass off to get back on your feet, I’ll get you back on the ice with some of my guys.”
“Really?” he questions with hope in his eyes.
“You got my word.”
“Even when you inevitably fuck up and Elle dumps your sorry ass?”
I roll my eyes at his enthusiasm. “Dude, that’s not going to happen. You’ll be walking her down the aisle before I let her get away.”
“Pretty confident,” he scoffs.
“Can’t afford not to be.”
He’s quiet for a short while. “Fine,” he says, holding his hand out. “You got yourself a deal.”
I nod my head and shake on our deal. “Good. Text me if you get cold and I’ll get you a jersey with my name on it,” I grin as I stand up.
“Get stuffed,” he murmurs as he turns and focuses on the ice, once again, turning into the tough-love younger brother.
I laugh to myself as I duck out of the seating area and back into the hole. I make my way into the locker room, bypassing Elle’s room. I send a wink her way before making it into the locker room.
The boys instantly start cheering as I make my way in but I know they are only doing it to give me a hard time, rather than actually cheering for their captain. “Knock it off,” I grunt as I dump my shit in my locker and start getting myself ready.
The locker room soon turns into a jumble of the boys warming up and taking practice shots and it’s not long before Coach Robinson is coming in and giving us his first pre-game motivational pump-up speech.
He gets that shit over with and discusses our plays before checking in with all the new kids on the block, making sure they're good to go, after all, our games are highly televised so there's no room for mistakes.
Our team is finally called for the beginning of the game and I lead my boys out of the hole. We walk straight past Elle’s door and she grins as we pass her, though it’s damn clear she’s checking me out in my gear and from the smile on her face it’s pretty obvious she hasn’t noticed her brother sitting out in the stands, though, I’m sure she will in the next few minutes.
We break out into the arena and the sound within the building instantly triples. I look up into the stands and find my family sitting exactly where they said they would be, decked out in the Thunder’s colours, scarf, blankets and foam fingers, the only difference is Cass is wearing a jersey with Jax’s name on the back but that’s a loss I’ll have to deal with. Even Jace and Lacey are sitting up beside Sean and Sara
But… Brianna sits in the sea of thunder colours wearing just the opposite as we're up against the New York Titans, which her twin brother and Jax's best friend Bobby happens to be a player on but she will soon see that she has chosen the wrong colours today.
We step onto the ice and the crowd continues to go nuts.
Jax comes up beside me with a grin the size of Texas on his face as he looks up at the massive crowd. “This ain’t college hockey anymore,” he says.
“No, it’s not,” I say to the kid who has been a little brother to me for longer than I care to remember. “You ready for this?”