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)
“All right,” I say to them. “I’m going to go get ready. See you out there.” I nod at them and walk away to the dressing room.
“Everything okay?” I hear from beside the door and turn to see Matthew. “You good?” he asks with his chin up.
“Yeah, we were just catching up,” I tell him.
“Is this going to be a problem?” he asks, and I just look at him, shaking his head. “Good. I’m here if you need me.”
I don’t say anything to him, I just nod and go into the room and undress. I don’t chat in the room before we take the ice, and I don’t dillydally, but I do make the mistake of looking in the box, and I hope she isn’t there. Deep down, I hope it’s been like all the other times I’ve looked up there and haven’t seen her. But not tonight. Tonight, she’s there, standing in jeans and a white shirt. She isn’t talking to anyone. No, tonight she’s looking straight at me. Our eyes meet, and I can see the hurt in her eyes. I can see the questions she’s probably asking herself.
I look down at my skates and begin my warmup by skating a lap around, and then I see the kids all down hitting the glass and calling my name. I smile at them and toss a couple of pucks over. Get in the zone, I chant to myself over and over.
“You going to be okay out there?” Evan turns to me and asks me when we line up to go back on the ice.
I snap at him and regret it the minute I do. “I’m going to be fine. Everyone just needs to get off my case.” He nods at me and walks away, and I want to apologize, but he’s gone on the ice. I’m the last one out there, and we stand, and I take off my helmet for the national anthem. I bounce on my skates as the surge of energy radiating out of me is too much to control.
I skate to the center ice on the right side and meet Mika. “I fucking can’t wait for it to be over,” he says, and I just nod at him. “This team sucks,” he says, hitting my leg with his stick. “Good luck.”
I knock his legs with my stick. “Good luck,” I tell him and then get into position, my stick fighting his as Evan and Chris take the face-off. Evan wins it and sends it to me, and I skate around Mika, easily bringing it into the zone. Passing it to the rookie who is playing on our line tonight, he takes a shot on net, and to everyone’s surprise—his especially—it goes in. I skate over to the kid and knock his head. “Look at you.”
He beams with happiness and skates to the bench to give everyone high-fives. We win five to one, and when we get off the ice, everyone is happy and smiling. I take a shower and dress before everyone else, hoping to slip out. “You going to come with us to the pub?” Evan asks, and I just shake my head.
“Not tonight. See you tomorrow,” I tell him and walk out of the dressing room where the guys are waiting for me.
“Thank fuck. You took so long,” Mika says. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
I’m about to bow out when Kevin slaps me on the shoulder. “Fuck, it’s good to see you.”
“Yeah, you, too,” I say and then walk out with them. We walk out into the street, and my head is swirling with everything, and by the time I look around, we are walking into my apartment. I toss the keys on the table.
“This place is a shoe box,” Kevin says, taking off his jacket and going over to the window.
Mika on his phone texting away. “Pizza should be here in thirty,” he says, and I just nod at them.
Mika goes over and looks outside, and then twenty minutes later, the door is buzzing, and when I answer it, I step back. The blonde runs in and goes straight to Mika. “There she is, Mrs. Hoover.” He uses the nickname he does for a girl who sucks his cock like a vacuum.
She throws her head back and laughs, and her four friends come in and toss their jackets and purses everywhere. “Where is the bathroom?” one of the brunettes asks, and I point down the hall. I look around the apartment at Mika, who is dry humping the blonde against the wall.
Chris is sitting on the couch with a girl on each side of him, both girls petting his chest. Kevin sits in the single chair with another girl in his lap, his hand already halfway up her skirt. My heart starts to beat fast, and I know I have to get out of here. I know I have to get as far away from this situation as I can. And right before I’m about to walk out, the brunette comes back out of the bathroom, wearing garters and a bra. “Did someone say this is where the party’s at?” she says, her hands going out to the sides. From one hand hangs a bag of bills, and from the other hand hangs a bag of coke and a couple of baggies of pills.