Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
“No.” I shake my head. “We were supposed to go during graduation year, but Zara and I got kicked off of the trip.”
“Should I ask why?” he asks me, trying not to laugh.
“You can, but it’s dumb,” I tell him. “I mean, how were we supposed to know that if you cut a little hole in football pants, they can split right down the middle.” He throws his head back. “Zara was dating the quarterback, and she thought he was cheating, so we just cut a small hole in his pants to give him a breeze.” His laughter gets even louder, and I roll my eyes. “It’s not that funny. Anyway, he got sacked or tackled, whatever they call it, and when he got up, he bent down to grab the ball, and his whole pants split open.” He holds his stomach now. “Again, why wasn’t he wearing boxers?” I grab another meatball. “And well, apparently, the jock strap is sewn into his pants, so we got the whole ball shot.” I close my eyes, trying to forget it. “Needless to say, we didn’t make the trip.”
“You two together is almost scary,” he says, and I don’t try to tell him it’s all Zara.
“Technically it was all Zara’s idea.” Smiling at him. “Do you have any siblings?” I ask him, taking a bite of the salad.
“I have a sister, Natalia, who is two years younger than me. She’s a model,” he says, and I look at him with my eyes wide. He grabs his phone and finds her picture. “There she is.”
“She is gorgeous,” I tell him honestly. “You guys look alike.”
“Are you saying I’m gorgeous?” he jokes. When I raise my eyebrows, he says, “She is way better looking than me.”
“Are you as annoying as Matthew?” I ask him, leaning back in my chair. I have to stop eating or I’ll be full by the time the pizza comes.
The rest of the meal goes off flawlessly without us touching on his past or his addiction. When the bill comes, we fight over it, but agree that I will get it next time. When we finally walk out of the restaurant, it’s packed.
“Are you going home?” he asks me once we walk out of the restaurant, and I stand in the middle of the walkway.
“Yes. I have two contracts to look over,” I tell him. “What about you?”
“I’m going to hit up a meeting,” he says, his voice lower than it should be. His eyes avoid mine, and I smile, knowing it wasn’t easy for him to tell me that.
I walk to the corner of the sidewalk and hold up my hand for a cab. “I’ll text you when I get the final contract for you to sign.” A cab stops, and I start to walk away.
“Thank you, Zoe,” he says, and I look back at him. “For everything.”
“No worries, Viktor,” I tell him, and he smirks. I turn around before I question anything else. I get in the cab, and I don’t look over at him. I know he’s standing there, I can feel it, but I’m not going to go down this road. I can’t, end of story, no matter how much my heart is telling me to just try it.
Chapter Eleven
Viktor
“Did you get the schedule?” Evan asks me, sitting next to me three weeks after I bought my house. We just got off the ice at practice, and I’m huffing and puffing.
“I did,” I tell him, thinking back to the email I got that morning. It was right after I got an email from Zoe telling me she is going to have my keys ready for me at five. I haven’t seen her since the day I bought the house.
“You excited?” he asks me, unwrapping the tape from his socks.
“I am. It just sucks that I’m leaving the same day my furniture gets here.” Ever since I signed the contract, it’s been an endless amount of time and energy trying to get my shit out of storage and delivered to me. If I’m not on the ice, I’m organizing the moving truck or doing something else for the apartment. I should have sold it all and just bought new stuff here.
“Let us know if you need help,” he says and walks away. His family and this organization have accepted me with open arms, and my life is slowly coming together. The nights are still the roughest, but now that hockey has started back, it fills my time during the day, and the nights have been slower than usual. I attend up to five meetings a week, and so far, I’ve only needed my sponsor that one day. I know that it isn’t going to be this easy as time goes by, but I’ll take it one day at a fucking time.