Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Of course, she likes you,” he whispers, and now Yanni comes in.
“What happened to her?” he asks with worry. “Angela, what did you do to her? Did you give her the talk?”
“Oh, would you hush,” Angela says hisses to her husband. “They live together. You think I need to give her the talk?”
I try to stop the laugh from coming out, but I can’t, and my arms wrap around Mark’s waist and then I look up at him as he looks down at me. “Love you,” I tell him, and he leans down and kisses me.
“Mom, that lasagna was amazing,” Chris says, coming in and rinsing off his dish right next to me.
“What is wrong with you?” Angela asks Chris. “Vivienne is crying, and all you can think about is lasagna.” She puts her hands on her hips.
He wipes his hands and is coming toward me, holding out his hand, and Mark holds out a hand. “Don’t even try.”
“See that, Mom?” Chris says. “He threatened me.”
And just like that, everyone laughs, and I feel just like one of them.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Mark
I walk up the stairs to the little corner of the garage with my ear pods in and the tennis ball in my hand, and when I finally get to the last step, I see her leaning against the wall.
“Hey there,” she says, putting her phone away. “How’re you feeling?”
“Good,” I tell her and go to kiss her. Tonight, we play for the Cup, and she’s been a nervous wreck for me. We still haven’t come out as a couple. Neither of us really cares, but at night, we go to bed together. Half of her stuff is at my house, and now she spends more time there than at her apartment. As much as I want her to just move in completely, I also don’t want to push her.
“Are you nervous?” she asks me, and I just shrug.
“My parents just got here,” I tell her, and she smiles. After Christmas with my parents, she and my mom have become very close, and just as my father calls me every night at five to check in, my mother does the same with Vivienne. At first, I thought it was too much, but then one night, Vivienne called her before she had a chance to check in. Plus on Mother’s Day she flew her in and took her to the spa all day and had her glammed up.
“I’m going to go and see them as soon as I go in,” she says, coming to me. “Whatever happens tonight, I want you to know how proud I am of you.”
“I know.” I smile and kiss her. “Now get out of here so I can get in the zone.”
“Fine,” she says, and she kisses me on the lips and then wipes off her glitter.
I get in the zone, and when I go back into the room, the energy is just crazy. Half the team isn’t talking while the other half is overtalking. “This whole year,” Viktor says from beside me as he drinks his energy drink. “It’s all led to this.”
“I’m retiring,” I tell him. Something I haven’t really told anyone yet, but my contract is up, and it’s time to hang up my skates. He looks over at me with shock. “I mean, I say that every single year.”
“I celebrate one year sober tomorrow,” he says, tapping his finger on his bottle. “One year ago, it was a totally different story.”
I look at him. “You did it, man.” He really did. For the past year, he busted his ass to be where he’s at. “You should be proud.”
He just shakes his head. “Win or lose this game, I still win the year.”
“Yeah.” I smirk at him. “But how much better would it be holding the Cup over your head?”
“Good point,” he says, and we get up to walk out and get on the ice. The fans have already started coming in, and I look at the seats and find Vivienne sitting with my mother and laughing about something while my father and brother sit next to each other talking.
I look toward the box and see Matthew not even there. He’s in the press box tonight, where he’s been the whole series. We lost the first game at home and then won the next one and then went to St. Louis and took the two games. I start my stretches, and by that time, the national anthem has been sung by one of the top Broadway girls. I look ahead, and when the lights come back on, I take my spot between the pipes. I skate back and forth in front like I always do and then skate side to side.
The puck drops, and I get ready in the crease, head down for just a second, and it was at that second I didn’t see the puck passed from one side to the next, and it flies over my shoulder and into the net. Seven seconds in. “Fuck,” I hiss, putting my mask on top of my head and squeezing the water into my mouth while I watch the replay.