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 grip his sweater with both hands, waiting for him to meet my eyes. When he does, I’m smiling. “Say it again,” I demand.
His smile comes slowly. “I love you?”
I kiss him so fiercely it hurts, but I don’t care.
“There’s something I need to do,” he says, face flushed red after our kiss.
“What?” I ask.
“Wait here.”
He goes up to the stage, thumps over to the mic in his bulky skates, and grabs the microphone again. “Andi Summers is my girlfriend and I love her. That’s all.” He gives me a look that’s almost giddy, drops the microphone, and climbs down as there’s confused clapping and a few whoops from his teammates, who are scattered around the harbor.
I watch him skate back toward me. If I didn’t already know I love him, too, I’d know it in my bones now. That smile of his and the way he runs his hand through his hair as he reaches me, grinning like a kid who just pulled the fire alarm at school in all his charming glory. “Sorry,” he said. “I wanted you to know I’m not holding back with you. I’m all in, Andi.”
“Good,” I say. “Because I don’t care if it’s crazy, either. I love you too. And tonight has been perfect. I wouldn’t trade this for anything.”
“It’s one of many to come,” he says, pulling me close and kissing me again.
44
EPILOGUE - JESSE
It’s Christmas morning and I’ve got Andi Summers lying in bed beside me. Fuck whatever’s under the tree. This is all I need.
I smile sleepily as I lift a lock of her dark hair and watch it practically sparkle in the morning light streaming through my window. She groans, squeezing her eyes until her nose wrinkles, and then yawns.
“Hey,” she croaks. As soon as she spots me, she scoots closer and curls into me.
I put my arms around her, pulling her even closer. “Merry Christmas,” I say.
“Oh!” She pops upright, almost headbutting me in the chin. She looks down, realizes she’s not wearing a top, then covers her breasts and laughs. “What did you do to me?”
I chuckle. “Come on. Let’s get dressed. Carter is always the first one awake on Christmas. If we don’t get out there, he’ll probably open all his presents without us.”
Andi, clad in nothing but a pair of panties, scrambles out of bed and starts gathering her clothes from my floor and tossing them on as she finds them. I get dressed, brush my teeth, and head out to the living room with her.
Nolan is up and making coffee. The whole cabin smells like syrup, biscuits, and cinnamon.
Carter is sitting very close to the tree looking suspicious.
“Morning, Captain,” Carter says, giving me a cheesy salute.
“Joker,” I say, grinning. “You aren’t trying to peek at your presents, are you?”
“I just shook ‘em a bit.”
“Bad luck,” Maddox says. He’s shuffling into the living room, clad in PJs with his hair a mess. “Every time you peek at a present, a cute kid dies somewhere.”
“Dude,” Carter says, shaking his head. “You just made that one up.”
Maddox shrugs. “Did I, though? You won’t ever know for sure. You’ll just be blasting kids all over the globe because you’re too impatient to wait and see what you got. Is it worth it?”
I laugh, because Carter looks seriously concerned.
“Biscuits?” Nolan asks.
“Me!” Andi says, rushing toward the kitchen. “Where’s Mia, by the way?” she asks around a mouthful of hot biscuit.
“She… couldn’t come,” Nolan says.
Evasive. Something’s going on there. The two of them haven’t admitted they’re into each other, but it has been pretty obvious for weeks now. If she’s not here for Christmas, he must’ve screwed something up.
Jake slaps me on the back and gives a squeeze. “Morning, asshole.”
“Morning,” I say. “Merry Christmas.”
He points at me, still gripping my uninjured shoulder. “You did a good job last night, by the way. That was… yeah. Andi deserved something like that. I’m glad you gave it to her.”
I nod. “She did deserve it.”
“And you were a dick for not realizing it sooner.” He reaches up to mess up my hair and then turns to grab two biscuits. He shoves one in his mouth, chewing and then flicking Andi on the head. “Morning, Goober.”
“Merry Christmas!” she says, hugging him.
Maddox turns some cheesy Christmas music on his phone and yanks Carter to his feet, forcing him into a kind of weird waltz. Nolan is humming as he pulls out some cookies from the oven, and Jake is talking with Andi about their plans for later to meet up with their parents at Caroline’s bed and breakfast.
The big windows of my cabin have piles of snow gathering at the ledges and the trees outside are all frosted white.
I don’t know if anything is truly perfect, but I’m not sure I could think of a better morning or a better moment. I’ve had thousands of fans screaming my name–people telling me how good I am at the thing I’ve spent my life perfecting. I’ve had highs and lows. But this? I’m not sure how I’ll ever top it.