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)
“I have to go get something to drink. I think I’m going to head to the lodge,” I tell Karrie, and she looks around and just nods her head at me.
“I’ll come with you,” Parker says. We walk away from everyone and make our way to the private lodge. We walk in, and Chase squirms out of Parker’s arms to go down to the playroom where the kids hang out.
I walk to the bar and pour myself a glass of white wine. “Would you like a glass of wine?” I ask Parker, and she smiles and nods. I hand her the glass I poured for myself and then fill another one for me.
“To not being thirsty today.” She holds her glass to me, and I have to throw my head back and laugh.
“How long did it take you to figure out?” I say, clinking her glass and then taking a sip.
“Five seconds,” she says, taking a sip, and before she answers, she hears Chase call her. She puts her glass down and walks to the adjoining room, and I look at the ice, seeing it clean and empty. I look at the seats that are still empty and wonder if Mark’s parents are here and where they are sitting. Before I have time to dwell on it, the door opens, and everyone starts to walk in. The kids go straight to the other room, and the food arrives.
“I need wine,” Zoe says, and I look over at her going straight to the bar. “I’ll have one for Zara also.” She smiles at Zara. “Don’t say I never did anything for you.”
Zara walks to the couch and sits down with her hand resting on her small baby bump. I walk over and sit next to her. “Did you lose weight?” Zara looks at me, and I just shrug.
“I don’t think so,” I tell her, taking a long gulp of wine. Zoe comes over with her wine glass filled almost to the rim.
“You look like you have,” Zara says and then looks over at Zoe. “I need food,” she says, getting up. “I’ll bring you something,” she says to me, and I just nod.
“Are you on a diet?” Zoe asks, and I roll my eyes.
“No,” I say, looking at Karrie, who now comes over with her full plate of food. I grab a piece of pizza from her and bite into it. “I was just working last week, and time would run away from me.”
“Are you dating?” Zoe asks, and I smile big.
“You know me, I like to dabble,” I say, and the pizza suddenly feels like lead in my stomach.
“Oh, we know,” Zoe says, laughing, and I look toward the ice when I hear the cheering start. “Well, guess that means the guys took the ice,” she says, getting up. “I need a refill,” she says then looks at me.
“I’ll take another one,” I say, handing her my empty glass, and she walks away.
“Dabble, my ass,” Karrie says under her breath. “How many dabbles have you had?” She looks over at me, and then Zara calls us.
“Come sit down and watch the guys,” she says, going to the seats right outside the lodge.
I get up and walk to Zoe, grabbing my wine glass, and then walk to the seats. I take a seat, leaving the seat next to me open, and Zoe sits in it. Karrie and Zara sit behind us. Looking at the ice, I see the guys skating shooting at the empty net. I brace myself for when he skates out. I am ready for anything and everything, I tell myself. Then I see him walking to the ice and then skating onto the ice. He’s wearing his helmet, and I thought I was ready. I. Was. Not. My heart speeds up just a touch, and my stomach dips as I see him nod to the kids watching and then skate to the goal. He puts his mask on his face and then gets down into position. I spend the whole time trying not to look at him but failing miserably while I listen to the chatter around me. The noise almost drowned out by the beating of my heart echoing in my ears. The team skates off the ice, and I turn to the girls to see Zara and Zoe chatting away while Karrie just looks at me. I smile at her and bring my wine to my lips, taking another sip.
The lights turn off, and they start introducing the players. One by one, they skate on the ice, number by number. When they show his picture on the jumbotron, the crowd goes wild. They show clips of his saves from last season, and there is a cool shot of him going down and then doing a glove save. Then it switches back to him standing in the back waiting to go out. He walks to the ice and then glides on, holding his hand up to wave to the crowd. Looking from right to left, he skates with his hand in the air, going toward center ice where everyone else is lined up. He doesn’t smile, and he doesn’t talk to the person next to him. He just stares ahead as the rest of the team is introduced. The crowd goes equally crazy for Viktor, the new player on the team, and when Evan comes out, you can’t even hear anything because the cheering is so loud. I look over at Zara who stands there proudly with a smile on her face.