Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“Blake,” my cousin breathes, and he’s the only one to call me that. He couldn’t say Dimitri when we were kids, so they told him to call me by my middle name. To this day, that hasn’t changed. Well, he can say my first name now, but why, when Blake is just as good. I squeeze him a bit tighter.
I pull back, taking him by his shoulders as I shake him violently. “You’re a fucking liar! Told me you were going to the Wings’ training camp.”
He smiles, nothing but playfulness in his eyes. “Why wouldn’t you check on that?” he throws back at me, grinning, those eyes so damn blue. We always said we were supposed to be twins since our moms are twins, but we were separated at conception and he was born like four years after me. That’s beside the point, though. This dude is my dude. “Plus, I wanted to surprise you.”
I hug him again. I was ready to play by myself, to fight for myself, but knowing FJ is here, knowing he has my back… Man, what a relief. “I thought I wouldn’t get to see you until the wedding.”
“See? Surprise,” he says, punching me in the chest. I wheeze, but I can’t stop smiling. “Man, this is going to be fun.”
I grin widely at him, laughing at the fact that he surprised the hell out of me. Everyone did. I’ve always wanted to play with FJ, but I was in Russia and he was here. I got to play with his brother, Sawyer, and FJ on the USA team a couple years ago for the Olympics, but the Olympics is so damn stressful. It’s not as much fun as playing in the NHL. You don’t have the weight of your country on you. Sawyer is playing for the Sabres, but rumor is he’ll be moving to South Carolina soon. FJ was supposed to go to Detroit since that’s who drafted him, but I wouldn’t want him anywhere but here. Even if he’s my competition.
“So much damn fun!” I laugh as I back away once more, shaking my head, still completely blown away that he’s here.
He jerks his thumbs to the two guys near him. “These are my buddies, Darcy and Teddy.”
I smile at them, shaking hands but also sizing them up. I am bigger than both of them, maybe not as ripped as Teddy, but I’m not worried. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too,” Darcy says. “Flynn has told us all about you.”
“Awful things, I’m sure,” I tease, and they all laugh.
“Never. Only the good stuff. Like that time you snuck out and stole my mom’s Beemer,” Flynn admits, and I laugh.
“Um, did he add that we met up with some very fine, gorgeous cheerleaders at the pond? And didn’t my sweet baby cousin lose his V-card that night?”
The guys all laugh, razzing him as Flynn turns a nice shade of red. “That was a damn good night.”
“Real good,” I say, just as I see someone out of the corner of my eye. I look over, and I know I should take notice of Shelli and Aiden, but that’s not who has my attention. It’s Austen. Her face is flushed, and she looks like she is thinking really fucking hard. I watch as she snaps her wrist with the rubber band wrapped around her wrist that I noticed last night. There are three of them, all blue, and I wonder why she has them. They don’t look like the kind that would go in her hair, but they’re around her wrist where most girls keep hair bands. She shifts her gaze to mine, and a shocked look comes over her face. A grin pulls at my lips, and then I wave at her. Obnoxiously, if I may add. Her eyes widen, and then her brow furrows as she looks away, snapping that damn wrist.
I don’t know what that is about, but I have to admit, I think I like it.
“Who are you wav…” Flynn starts, but his words trail off. “Well, hello,” he coos, and I smack him.
“Nope. Mario!”
His eyes darken. “For real? Are you serious?”
“Yup,” I say sternly. “Fucking Mario.”
“So fucking rude,” FJ says, shaking his head, while Teddy and Darcy look at us in confusion. “When we were younger, you had to call who you wanted when we’d play Mario Party. We always fought for Mario, and as we got older and the ladies came along, instead of calling mine or whatever, we’d say Mario.”
Darcy looks between us. “That’s really weird.”
“Super fucking weird,” Teddy adds, and I laugh as I nod.
“Maybe so, but fucking Mario,” I say once more as I take her in. Her hair has come a little loose from the braids, the flush still on her beautiful face. Her nose is so dainty and red at the end. Her jaw is taut as she works her lip. She sure is pretty.