Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
He dips his face and growls as he crashes his mouth against mine and kisses the sense out of me. I have no doubt he’ll manage to convince me to say yes by the end of this. Not that he has to. I’d say yes in a heartbeat if he actually asked.
67
JOSSLYN
1 MONTH LATER
Iround my shoulders and stretch my neck as I watch my teammates take practice shots during our pre-game warmup. It’s my first game back and I’m so nervous, I actually threw up in the bathroom before coming out here. As I stand there, I look at the seats in the arena, which are filling up little by little, and smile wide when I spot Lyla and Theo courtside sitting next to my mom and Titus. When Theo looks up from his bag of cotton candy, he sees me and hops out of his seat. Lyla holds his little shoulders before he takes a step and whispers something in his ear that makes him scowl and sit back down.
Behind them, Patrick, their head of security, laughs and makes a comment that makes them all laugh as well. I start walking and stop a ball that bounces next to me. Without thinking much of it, I turn, shoot, drain it, and wink at Cassie and the rest of my teammates who cheer me on for it. They’ve been the best source of motivation for me while I’ve been recovering from my injury.
Thanks to them—especially Lyla, who called one of her best physical therapists to help me—I have full mobility and can play. Not to say I’m not sore as hell, especially when I push myself, but it’s better than sitting out my last season. When I reach my family and Theo hops out of his seat again, Lyla lets him run to me. I’m not even fully crouched down when he lunges at me and knocks me on my ass.
“Theodore!” Lyla scolds.
I laugh and return his tight hug. “I’m so happy you’re here, buddy.”
“Me too!” he says, tightening his hold around my neck before pulling away. “Look! We’re wearing the same jersey!”
“We are!” I smile wide and lower my voice to a whisper. “You think you can go out there and play for me if I get tired?”
His entire face lights up with his laugh. “You’re so silly, Joshlyn!”
I kiss his forehead and stand up to greet his mom and mine—who are also wearing my jersey—and Titus and Patrick. I thank them for coming, and they all roll their eyes and tell me to stop being ridiculous. Mom points behind the basket to tell me where my aunt and Lyla’s dad are sitting.
“Have you seen any highlights of the Owls game?” Titus asks.
“I saw Dame scored a nice little ‘Bar Down’ in the first ten minutes,” I say, smiling as I air quote the term.
Even after all these years, I don’t know hockey terms, but that’s one I’m familiar with now. I guess I better be since it’s what most of Finn’s teammates call him. I have to admit, it is a pretty cool goal to see.
“Barlow scored when they got back from intermission,” Patrick says.
My smile grows. “I’ll have to watch the highlights.”
We talk a little more and land on the topic of Christmas Eve—“real Christmas” for half of us—which is coming up in a few days.
“Finn thinks it’s weird,” I say to them after we discuss it.
Lyla laughs. “Lach thought it was so weird, but then he smelled that roasted pork and had a change of heart.”
Titus laughs. “Can’t blame him. Same thing happened to me the first time my father-in-law made one.”
We come to an agreement on what we’re going to do before I’m called away by a journalist who’s a former player for the team Fairview is playing against tonight. We catch up quickly and she asks me questions about being back, how I feel, and what the future holds. I give my usual honest answers and thank her before walking back to my teammates.
Livie bumps her hip against mine after coming down from a shot. “How you feeling?”
“Good. Great.” I smile and step away from her to take another three-point shot.
“We got shooters!” Cassie shouts and the rest of the girls do our typical celebratory dance and hand gestures to celebrate when one of us is on fire.
We talk to some of the girls on the other team and then go back to the locker room to get into game-mode. By the time we come back out, the stands are full. They announce the starters for the other team, and then, since it’s a home game, lower the lights and make a show of announcing us.
When they announce my name, the arena goes wild and even though I fight to hold back tears of gratitude, they fall anyway. I’m always grateful for their love, but it means more than ever tonight because they’re not cheering for me for my popularity or because they like me as a player. They’re cheering for me as a person and celebrating that I’m okay, and that means everything.