Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 129323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
The redheaded, middle-aged man nods before grabbing the whiskey bottle off the top shelf.
For the next thirty minutes, we drink together in silence. My eyes remain trained on my glass, and he appears to watch whatever’s playing on the TV behind the bar. The silence is good. It’s why I chose this place.
This is the type of place you come to forget. Everyone within these walls has something they’re running from. Even Dane.
“You didn’t call me here to sit in silence,” Dane says, breaking the peaceful moment.
“I’m good with it. Just make sure I get home…” I shake my head. “No…not home… anywhere but there.”
He purses his lips, watching me far too close for my liking.
“What’s going on, Slate?”
“I no longer know what to think. Or how to even answer that question,” I admit. “You wouldn’t understand anyway.”
“Try me,” he says, never turning away from me. “We all have our secrets, Slate. You’re not the only one.”
I let out a deep sigh. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”
He sits back, crossing his arms over his chest. “I find the beginning to be the easiest.”
I huff out a breath. “Shit, that would take forever.”
“I have time. No place to be.”
I pick up the glass, inspecting the rim, feeling wholly uncomfortable with Dane’s focus being on me.
“Does this have anything to do with Cassidy?”
“No. I don’t even know…”
I was about to say I don’t even know her, but I’m not sure how much I want to confide in Dane yet. I’m still trying to make my way through the mess.
As I think about all the shit that went down back at my house, all I can do is groan out, “Fuck!”
He nods as if he finally gets it. But I know without a doubt he doesn’t. How could he? It’s too complicated.
I never told him about Pip. Never told him about my home life at all, really.
“Your mom, then?” he asks, continuing to guess.
“No.” I lift my hand and run it through my hair. “But…yes.”
His head tilts to the side. “Not following at all, buddy. You lost me back at fuck.”
I huff out a humorless laugh. Not at Dane, but at the situation.
“It has to do with where I grew up. My past before hockey.”
“All right. I’ll bite…what secrets are you harboring, Slate? Is there a body we have to bury?”
For the first time since leaving my apartment, I laugh, but it only takes a second to dry up on my lips as I take a swig of my drink. I brought Dane here, and I should’ve known there were going to be questions. Hell, if I were him, I’d have already pried it from his mouth.
It’s time for someone to know.
“Cassidy isn’t who I thought she was.”
His eyes widen, but he doesn’t interrupt. Dane has known me long enough to know I don’t share my life, my secrets, or my past with anyone. The fact that I’m talking to him now means that shit is really bad. That I’m at rock bottom and need help clawing my way back to the top.
“I didn’t grow up the way you think. I obviously explained most of this already when I told you about my mom. But what I didn’t tell you was that there was this girl…”
“Isn’t there always?” He huffs, taking a long pull from his whiskey.
If I didn’t have a mountain of problems, I’d dig into that a little more, but there will be time to uncover Dane’s secrets later.
“Not the way you’re thinking. She was younger. Much younger. I was younger,” I clarify. “This girl was like a little sister to me. She saw me. Understood me. Never judged me.”
I give him a small, sad smile as I lift my glass to my mouth and take another swig.
“Her name was Pippa. I called her Pip. She was this little thing, but she was strong. Fierce.” I sigh. “She was…she was like me.” Or maybe even better. Before she got caught in her lies.
“Like you how?” His eyes squint as they bore into the side of my head. I can see them out of the corner of my eye.
“Getting to that…”
“Sorry. I guess I’m just invested,” he blabbers. “Continue.”
“We were both alone. We had parents, but they weren’t around. We bonded. Became our own family of sorts.” I let out a breath. “We were there for each other.” I turn to look at him, thankful I chose such a dark place.
It allows me a modicum of safety. I don’t feel so vulnerable because a part of me is hidden in shadows. Just like he is.
“I know it sounds weird, but she was my best friend. A twelve-year-old, but she lived a life most couldn’t comprehend, and so had I. She’s the reason I’m a hockey player.”
He pulls his mouth off to the side, confusion evident. I can practically hear the questions rattling around in his head.