Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“Yeah, when I was ten,” Matthew says, and I just shake my head.
“I’ll see you when I get out.” I look back at Matthew and Max. “M&M, want to tour a winning locker room?” I joke with them, and they just glare. “I didn’t say it.” I look at Cooper who just smiles. “The stats did.”
“Can I tag along?” Cooper asks, and I nod.
“Well, in that case, I’m not staying with the women,” my father says, and we both walk toward the dressing room.
My father and Cooper walk behind us, and Matthew and Max walk with me in the middle. “So you guys had nothing better to do than to come all the way to Dallas to watch a hockey game?” I ask them when we walk into the hallway and then turn on them. Looking over my shoulder, I see that Cooper is already being recognized and is shaking hands.
“What can I say?” Matthew starts. “I live for the game.”
“I just came because it meant I got to spend the weekend alone with my wife,” Max says, shrugging.
“That’s gross. She’s still my sister,” Matthew hisses at him.
“Your other sister is living with him,” Max says, pointing at me.
“Do you guys ever not fight?” I ask them.
Matthew and Max both answer at the same time. “No.”
“So why the sudden need to come to Dallas?” I ask them again. “Cut the bullshit, will you.”
“Zara called my mom, and she was almost in tears about meeting your mother with your sister there.”
“She was in tears?” I whisper. “She never said anything.”
“That is just the way those women handle things,” Max tells me. “You are always the last one to know.”
“We came to show her that we have her back,” Matthew says, and I glare at him.
“I have her back,” I tell him, and he holds up his hands.
“Relax, there,” he says. “I know that feeling when you want to kill everyone who thinks they know your woman better than you do.”
“Oh, I remember that,” Max says, leaning on the wall now. “My wedding day was one of those.”
“You eloped with my sister,” Matthew snaps at him. “Not cool.”
“Never going to apologize for it,” Max says, smiling. “Best day of my life.”
“I love her,” I tell them both, and they just look at me. “I told her I love her, but I haven’t told her she’s the one yet because I don’t want to scare her off. But I’m not going anywhere.” I look around and then look back at them. “She’s mine. There is no other way to put it.”
“What are you going to do about your contract next year?” Matthew asks me, and I don’t answer him. “You know that she comes from a close family. Her twin lives in New York, and those two cannot be separated for long.”
“I’m not deciding anything without her,” I tell them the truth. “I won’t even sign a contract without her approving it.” Matthew looks at Max, and they share a look.
“How serious is this thing with your sister?” Max asks me. “I’m not saying anything, but you push one of those girls against the wall, and it’s almost like you are taking them all on.”
“My sister is worried about me,” I tell them. “Same as you are with Zara.” They nod. “I have to get ready.” I turn and walk away.
“Skate hard,” Matthew says, laughing, and I flip him the bird over my shoulder. When I finally get into the locker room, there is chatter everywhere.
“You going to be okay?” Corey asks me, and I just nod at him.
“Never better.” I shrug off my jacket. “Never fucking better.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Zara
It feels just like it does when I’m home. Sitting in the box with my girls, my father standing there watching every single play, but this time with Matthew and Max. Patrick and Cooper stand side by side as they discuss whatever it is they are discussing, both of them with their hand in front of their mouth. Just in case the cameras spot him and try to read his lips. It’s like he has all the secrets. They actually had him on the jumbotron when the game started, and everyone turned to clap and stand. He got recognized the minute we started walking to the lodge as did Matthew and Max. But nothing can compare to my dad.
“What do you think we should make tomorrow?” Jackie asks me, and I look over at her. I’m sitting in a chair with Jackie on one side and my mother on the other, nursing the same glass of wine since we got in. My nerves are on edge, and every time the door opens, I think it will be his sister. Zoe is sitting behind me with Karrie and Allison laughing away.
I mean, I guess if I were kid free for the weekend, I probably would be living it up. Karrie told me that Doug has her kids while Denise, Max’s sister, is babysitting their kids.