Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“I’m Jesse Prince. Most of you know me, some of you don’t. Sorry to interrupt your night, but I need to send a really special message to someone. I’m just, uh, not sure she’s here. Can anyone help me find Andi Summers?”
My stomach clenches in fear. Caroline is suddenly behind me. She lifts my arm high and shouts. “Got her right here!”
Most of the town is in front of me on the ice, so they all turn toward me, the sudden attention making my cheeks burn. There’s a confused round of clapping, laughs, and murmurs.
Jesse turns to face me and I feel myself freeze in a way that has nothing to do with the cold. What the hell is he doing? If he’s about to engage in the world’s most public, embarrassing break up, I’m going to kill him. Then I’m going to cut a hole in the ice, step into the water, and drift away into oblivion.
“Andi, I know this is crazy. I’m not sure it was even a month ago when we met. I know it’s supposed to take longer than that to develop feelings or decide how you feel about someone. But I’m done caring about that. I know how I feel. I thought I was being smart by keeping all that bottled up. It’s easier to lie to yourself and say it doesn’t hurt if nobody knows the truth but you, or something like that. So, I guess this is me making sure everybody knows the truth. This is me making sure it will hurt if you go, because it should.”
He takes a step closer to the edge of the stage, raising his muscular arm again to shield his eyes so he can try to see me better. “Andi Summers, I care about you so much I’ve been questioning my sanity. I want to be with you. I want to follow you to New York if you go after that job and I want to make you part of my life here if you don’t. I just want to be with you, no matter how it happens.”
He pauses and the echo of his voice through the microphone seems to go on for several seconds. Nobody makes a sound, then Carter lets loose a loud “Whoo!”
“Go kiss her!” Carter yells.
There’s scattered laughter and it feels like a thousand faces turned toward me.
I’m not sure I’ve breathed for a full minute. When I finally do, it comes in a shaky gasp. Did I really just hear all that? Or did I try to skate, hit my head on the ice, and now I’m hallucinating?
Caroline leans close to me, whispering over the growing noise. “What are you gonna do, Andi?”
My body moves. I’m not wearing skates, so I’m awkwardly slipping my way in tennis shoes onto the ice, excusing myself as I bump into people and push past them on my way toward the stage.
Jesse drops the microphone and gets down on the ice. He only has time to take one step on his skates before I crash into him, arms tight around his body. There’s a rush of clapping and excited conversation as soon as we meet in our hug.
“You really mean all that?” I ask. For some reason, I’m crying.
“All of it.”
“All right, all right,” Caroline says. She has recovered the microphone. “For all you tourists out there, sorry for the sideshow. Mia, hit the song!”
Maggie flashes a thumbs up and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” starts to play.
I laugh. “Oh my God. I love this song.”
Caroline is still holding the microphone. She points behind the stage to where I know the pyrotechnics are set up. I also know they aren’t supposed to go off until the end of the night, but I have a hunch that plan has changed.
“Who’s ready for some fireworks?” she shouts. “We were going to save them for later tonight, but fireworks are fireworks, right? Who cares if they are early!”
There’s a loud cheer and kids are hopping up and down on their skates all around us. A few of them wipe out, nearly taking parents with them as they crash to their butts, laughing.
“Hit it!” Caroline calls into the mic. She sets it back on the stand and Mia cranks up the song louder.
Jesse has me by the hand with his other hand on my waist. His eyes are all for me, even when the boom of the first firework goes off and whistles upwards. I look back at him, waiting for the pop of its detonation.
I hear the sound and see the red sparks reflecting in his eyes. Everyone around us “oohs” and “aahs’.
Even though I know he must have had to beg Caroline to move up the firework show for me, I can’t seem to take my eyes off him.