Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 53238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Several of his teammates are here with us. Four of them and two non-hockey-player friends were his groomspeople. My bridespeople were my brothers, Dex, Harry and Mara. The girls were all junior bridesmaids.
Our wedding was perfect. This time, Carter and I wrote our own heartfelt vows. I slid his ring back onto his finger. Back home, I borrowed it for a few days and had it engraved with the words “At Last” because our song is “At Last” by Etta James.
He added a beautiful band to my existing ring, and I cried when I read the engraving, which says, “At Every Table, I’ll Save You a Seat.” His thoughtfulness in using one of my favorite Taylor Swift Lyrics melted me.
Carter is sitting at a table with some teammates, looking engrossed in a conversation with Bash. He catches my gaze and motions for me to come over.
When I get to their table, Carter wraps an arm around my waist, resting the side of his face against my side.
"She gives amazing advice,” he says to his best friend. “Tell her about it.”
Carter stands up, kisses me and walks away, going over to the table where Hallie and Mara are working on something.
“What’s up?” I say, taking Carter’s seat.
Bash looks miserable. He has dark circles under his eyes and the corners of his mouth are turned down. I thought he looked bad because he’s been drinking so much more than usual here and he’s hungover. There must be something else going on.
He sighs heavily. “Right before we left for this trip, I found out an old friend got engaged. It’s the younger sister of my best friend growing up, her name’s Lainey. And she’s marrying this absolute douchebag.” He shakes his head. “It makes me sick.”
“Do you and her have a history together?”
He looks away. “Not really. She made a move on me once, but I put her in the friend zone because she’s Eric’s sister.”
“So this is just brotherly concern on your part?”
“Yeah, I mean...I care about her. I don’t want her making the biggest mistake of her life.”
“What does her brother think about the guy she’s marrying?”
“Eric?” He scoffs. “He doesn’t get it. He says Shane’s changed from when I knew him in high school and he’s great for Lainey.”
“But you don’t think so?”
“Hell no.” He shifts in his seat, looking like he wants to go run some sprints or something to burn off extra energy. “Lainey’s only twenty-four, she doesn’t need to be getting married yet.”
“How often do you see her?”
He shrugs. “I go home in my offseason and for holidays. A few times a year, my brother and a big group of friends from home come to my games and she’ll be there.”
Carter returns, setting a piña colada with a little pink umbrella in it in front of me and a bottled Corona in front of Bash. I look up and smile at him.
“Do you feel like you can be honest with Lainey about what you think of Shane?” I ask.
He balks. “She won’t listen. That girl’s so stubborn I couldn’t even convince her the sky’s blue. She’s got a temper, too.”
I sip my drink, thinking. There are no easy answers for this one.
“I’m not sure there’s much you can do,” I say. “But if it were me, and I cared about her, I’d still try. I’d have a private, in-person conversation where I shared the things her fiancé has done in the past few years that you’re concerned about.”
He takes a long pull on his beer. “There is nothing from the past few years. It was all stuff in high school.”
“Oh.”
“He’s a fucking asshole and she’ll be so unhappy with him. He’ll want to get her knocked up right away with a little receding-hairline Shane Jr., and then she’ll really be stuck.” He shakes his head and takes another drink. “Fuck it. Might as well just drink ’til I don’t care anymore.”
Bash is very agitated. I meet Carter’s gaze and see concern there. I know what’s going on, but I’m not sure he does.
“So...do you think it’s possible that maybe...you might have some feelings for Lainey?” I say.
“Me? Fuck no. No way. That’s insane. I just don’t want to see her stuck with that douchebag for the rest of her life.”
“Right.” I clear my throat. “I think you should talk to her as soon as you can. In person.”
“Yeah, maybe. Someone has to talk some sense into her.”
Carter goes over to him and claps him on the back. “You want to go to the bar and grill next door and get something to eat?”
Bash shakes his head, then finishes his beer. “This group activity thing is a cool idea, but I don’t feel like being around anyone right now. I think I’m gonna go back to my room and take a nap.”