Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
My father’s eyes almost bug out of his head. “You know the owner of a professional hockey team? Well enough to track down an address late at night?”
My parents go to a lot of the Carolina Cold Fury games, so they know the other teams, but they wouldn’t know enough to know that Cannon is the Titans’ head coach or that Brienne is the owner.
I turn to Cannon. “You didn’t tell them who you are?”
“I gave them my name,” he says blandly. “I assumed you had told them who I was.”
“Who are you?” my dad asks, clearly intrigued and guessing Cannon is hot shit whoever he is.
“I’m the head coach of the Titans.”
“Oh my word,” my mother says on a long breath.
My dad chokes out as he turns to me, “Why didn’t you tell us?”
I throw my thumb over my shoulder at my brother. “I told Rob. I assumed he’d tell you.”
Which isn’t true since I specifically asked him not to, but it takes the heat off me. My parents both look at Rob with accusatory eyes, and he mutters, “Thanks for throwing me under the bus, Sis.” He then moves to our parents and ushers them out of the kitchen. “Let’s give them some privacy.”
My parents’ place is huge, and he leads them into the den, which is on the opposite side of the house. When we’re alone, I move to the counter where my parents had been standing as it feels necessary to put the island between us.
I press my palms down and ask the questions. “Really… what are you doing here?”
“You know why I’m here,” he says, rising from the stool and moving around the counter toward me, clearly not liking the barrier. “There’s only one reason I would have missed my flight to Denver for Thanksgiving, rented a car, and driven eight and a half hours through the night to get here.”
Turning to face him as he comes to stand toe to toe with me, I have to tip my head back to maintain eye contact. “You said you’d never hurt me intentionally, and you did it anyway.”
“I know,” he says softly, his tone laced with shame. “And I hate myself for it. I can’t stand how weak I was, and I will absolutely understand if you can’t forgive me for it. You deserve so much better than what I gave you.”
My heart throbs for that tiny concession.
“I made a terrible mistake, Ava, by pulling away when I should have been pushing full steam ahead because of how you make me feel.”
“And how is that?” I whisper.
“Alive, happy, whole,” he says, sliding a hand along my neck and grazing my jaw with his thumb. “I feel complete when I’m with you, and I want to feel that all the time. I’m tired of worrying about making the same mistakes again. As someone pointed out recently, it’s disappointing that I have all these amazing life skills and wisdom to build strong relationships within the team, and I don’t bother using any of them on myself to make me worthy of you.”
My head spins over the meaning behind his words.
“Ava,” Cannon murmurs, bending in closer to peer right into my eyes. “I want to be worthy of you. Actually, that’s not right. I’m ready to be worthy of you, if you’ll give me a chance.”
“Oh, wow,” I say with a gust of pent-up breath. He’s saying all the right words, but I’m afraid. He was doing all the right things before but then got scared. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure I love you,” he says, and my knees wobble. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
I pull away from Cannon, putting some distance between us because I was very much just in danger of falling right into him.
“I have to think about this,” I say, rubbing knuckles on my sternum, which is tight with worry. I’m in a bit of an overload right now. In a million years, I never would’ve expected Cannon to be standing here saying these things.
“Answer me one question first,” he says, and my hand falls. “Do you love me?”
This is not something I have to think about. “I knew I was in love with you when you wanted to take a break. My heart wouldn’t have been so shredded if I weren’t.”
“Then let me fix it, Ava,” Cannon exclaims, reaching out and taking my hands. “I swear I’m solid and I’ll heal your heart. I want to leave here with you. I want us to start a life together. Come back to Pittsburgh with me tomorrow, and you can move into my place—”
“Whoa, wait a minute,” I say, pulling my hands away. “This is the exact thing Derek said to me, and we know how that turned out. I don’t want to make the same mistake.”