Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 79670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“The actor who does all those crazy stunts,” Matthew adds, looking at him and then at me.
“That would be my dad,” I finally say, and he throws his head back and laughs.
“Yeah, I think we met once in New York,” Matthew states.
“Of course you did,” Nico says, rolling his eyes.
“I did,” Matthew declares. “Don’t be mad that I know more people than you do, Nico.” The two of them go back and forth, and I find myself laughing a couple of times until something happens on the ice, causing everyone to gasp.
I look down and see a guy in the corner throw down his gloves. “That’s Wilson.” Christopher comes next to me. “He’s married to my cousin, Franny.” I nod at him, and he looks over at the girls. “Come meet my cousins and my sisters,” he says. “I’m going to introduce him to the girls,” he tells Nico and Matthew, who aren’t even paying attention to him.
He walks me over to Viktor, who I met briefly in the other room before he went to look for his wife. “These are the aunts,” Christopher says to me. “That is Auntie Allison, Karrie, Zara, and Zoe.” He points at the women individually, and then I see that Zara and Zoe are twins.
“Guys, this is Romeo Beckett,” Christopher introduces as I smile at all of them, but this time, I hold up my hand to them.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I say to them.
“Is your mom Jessica?” Zara asks, and I smile, nodding my head.
“I know your mom,” she says. “I’ve dressed her a couple of times over the years.”
“Zara’s Closet.” I point at her, knowing her name rang a bell.
“That would be me.” She nods with a smile. “I think we met when you were very, very young. Are you here with your parents?”
“No, I’m solo,” I say to them, “just checking what Dallas has to offer.” I try not to look over to where I know Gabriella is. My heart knows she’s here, so it’s beating erratically.
“Zoe is a real estate agent,” Zara states, looking over at Zoe, who smiles at me, “in case you want to move to Dallas.”
Zoe laughs. “I’m more of a New York real estate agent. I’ve sold a couple here, but all to my family.”
“Good to know.” I nod at her. “I am looking.” I take a chance to look around.
“Let me know. I’ll be happy to help.” She smiles at me, and then I see a baby pass from one set of arms to another.
“Well, well, well.” I hear a woman’s voice and turn around to see all the women who were sitting are getting up. I look over and see it’s the end of the first period. “Look what the cat dragged in.”
Christopher laughs. “Romeo,” he says, “these are my cousins, Franny and Vivi, who are married to Wilson and Xavier.” He mentions the guys I met before the game when I went down with Nico. “That is Erika and Julia, who are married to Cooper and Chase.” I reach out my hand to shake their hands.
“I met your husbands before the game,” I tell the four of them, and then one of the kids comes up and asks if they can have soda. Erika leaves to go and take care of the problem.
“This is Alex and Jillian, who are married to Dylan and Michael.” He points at the other two women, who smile at me when I shake their hands. “At last, my very pregnant sister, Abigail.” He points at Abigail. “And her twin, Gabriella.” I look over and see if she is going to say anything about knowing me, but all she does is nod at me as I shake her hand. Out of all the women, she’s the only one who feels like an electric shock ran through me. I’m also surprised that I’ve been talking to Christopher, not knowing this is her brother.
“Nice to meet you,” I tell her as I hold her hand in mine, shaking it up and down, my heart beating normal for the first time in the past four days. Every single day, actually every single hour, I either wanted to pick up the phone and call her or just show up at her house. I had to stop myself and give her the time she needs to process things.
“I’m surprised you guys don’t know each other,” Christopher says as Gabriella lets go of my hand. “She was in LA for school.”
“LA is very big,” Gabriella reminds us. I fucking hate that she’s pretending not to know me. I hate I’m doing this whole thing with her not at my side as she introduces me to her family.
“Excuse me, I’m going to get a drink,” she says, turning to Abigail. “Do you want something?”
“Water,” Abigail replies before she puts her hand on her stomach.