Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
I find her standing there with who has to be her mother and next to her none other than her father, Cooper Stone. She spots me first, and her eyes go soft. I walk to them, and the woman stands there with a smile on her face with Cooper holding her by his side. “Hey.” She kisses my lips. “There he is, the first star of the game.” I shake my head, and she brings me to her parents. “Mom, Dad,” she says, “this is Evan.” Her smile so bright. “Evan, this is my mom, Parker, and my dad, Cooper.”
I put out my hand first for her mother and then for her father. “Mr. and Mrs. Stone, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“It’s great to finally meet you,” Parker says. “Zara has told me wonderful things about you.”
“That was a good game out there,” Cooper says to me. “We should get going, or they will close the kitchen.”
“We are going to walk to the bar. It’s right around the corner,” Zara says, and we follow her parents all the way there. Cooper holds open the door Parker and then for Zara. I hold out my hand to hold the door for him, and he nods at me and walks in after the girls.
The place is jam-packed, and I see Zara walking toward the back. Making my way through the noisy crowd, I walk by the bar and finally get to the back of the room where I see six tables with a reserved sign on them. People are filling the tables, and I spot a couple of the players who all see me and give a chin up. One of the tables is full, and I spot Zoe, who gets up and comes to greet us. Zara moves to the side so her parents can go find a seat.
“Are you okay?” Zara asks me, and I just nod at her. She grabs my hand and then pulls me to the table.
“Everyone,” she says, “this is Evan.” I smile at everyone and wave while Zara names everyone to me.
“Hey mister two in a row,” someone says, and Zara just shakes her head.
“That is Vivienne.” She laughs. “You have to ignore everything she says.”
“Do you want to go to the bar and get something to drink?” she asks me, and Zoe finally gets to us.
“Hey there,” she says to me and comes in for a hug. “Great seeing you again.”
“Nice seeing you too. We are going to get something to drink; does anyone need anything?” Zara asks, and Parker orders a glass of white wine while Cooper just asks for water. They are sitting side by side, but his hand is on her neck. I’ve noticed that every single time I look, he’s holding or touching her.
We walk to the bar, and I get the bartender’s attention and order a water for myself and a couple of glasses of wine. “You look beautiful,” I tell her, and she looks up at me and smiles, and then she looks to the side and her whole face changes.
“Oh my gosh, Zara,” a man’s voice from beside me says. “Jesus.” Then he looks at me, and his mouth hangs open. “Oh my, you’re Evan Richards.” He holds his hand out to me. “I’m a huge fan.”
I look at Zara, waiting for her to say something, but she just looks at him. “Zara,” I say to her, and she looks at me and then looks back at the man.
“Ed,” she says, then laughs. “This is my ex, Ed.” She points at the guy, and I now look at the man who broke her heart so badly she tweeted me. I want to reach out and shake his hand and thank him.
“Baby,” a female’s voice says, and I look over at the woman he must have left Zara for. She is smaller than Zara with brown hair and brown eyes. It is like night and day compared to her.
“Holy shit,” someone says behind me, and I see Zoe coming toward us. She looks at the bartender. “Lou, give me five shots of tequila.”
“Hey, pencil dick,” Zoe says to him, then looks over at the girl. “My condolences to you.”
He just looks at Zoe with his mouth pinched together. “Why is it no surprise you would be five steps behind?”
She shrugs. “Why am I not surprised that you would show up here knowing we are always here?” She leans on the bar and grabs the shot that the bartender puts in front of her. She hands one to Zara. “To the past,” she says, and Zara quickly swallows the shot and then grabs another one. I watch her, and she winces when she takes the second shot but then quickly takes the third one.
“Well, it was nice seeing you,” he says and then ducks his head and walks out with the girl beside him.