Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 94653 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94653 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
She releases a steady breath before jerking her head into a tight nod. “All right.”
As soon as my brain gives the command to touch her, my fingers lock around hers as I navigate the sea of students. When she tenses, I wait for her to untangle herself from me and sever the connection. If I’d been thinking clearly, I would have kept my distance. Maybe placed my hand against the small of her back to steer her through the thick crowd.
It takes no more than a couple steps before her muscles lose their rigidity.
Even though I’m afraid to push for too much, too fast, I can’t help myself. It’s only now that she’s back in my life again that I realize how lonely I’ve been without her.
And Miles.
They were my entire world for more than a decade.
They were all I needed.
All I wanted.
They completed me in every sense of the word.
And then, one day, they vanished.
There wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
Over the years, my teammates at Western have become like brothers to me, but it’s not the same. There’s no way for these guys to know me the way Miles and Fallyn did, because I’m not the same person I was back then.
How could I be when the most important people were ripped away?
That’s something that changes you for the worse.
The entire time we move across campus, her fingers stay ensconced in mine. I couldn’t be more hyperaware of their softness and warmth if I tried.
“People are staring,” she mutters from the side of her mouth.
Unaware of the students who surround us, I glance around and realize that she’s right. People are staring. Well, chicks are staring with wide, disbelieving eyes. A few have their mouths hanging open in shock.
Good.
Maybe now they’ll finally get the hint that I’m not interested. I have zero interest in anyone other than the girl at my side. I want everyone to know that Fallyn DiMarco belongs to me.
Whether she understands that or not.
My fingers tighten around hers as those thoughts roll through my head. I can’t say they don’t fill me with genuine pleasure.
“Who cares? Let them stare.”
She presses her lips together, uncomfortable with the attention.
When the arena comes into view, she grounds to a halt and glances at me. I keep my fingers locked around hers, unwilling to give her the chance to take off.
“What are we doing here?” There’s a scraped raw quality to her voice. Almost as if I’ve betrayed her and it makes me feel like shit.
But we need to do this.
She needs to do this.
I keep my tone casual. “There’s an open skate, and I thought it might be fun if we dropped in for a bit.” There’s a beat of silence. “When was the last time you were on the ice?”
Her other hand rises to rub at her chest as she turns ashen.
My attention drops to the movement. Only now do I realize that she’s rubbing the scar. The one I didn’t know she had until I pulled the edges of her robe apart and stared at her chest. It fucking tore me up to see that her body bears a constant reminder of the worst day of our lives. I couldn’t help but lean down and press my lips against the puckered flesh as if it were possible to take away all the pain that lives inside her.
The text she sent after our first meeting asking if it repulsed me shattered my heart into a million jagged pieces. I had to stop myself from swinging around, stalking back to the suite, and gathering her up into my arms.
My guess is that it’s the reason she’s still a virgin at twenty years of age.
I hate that she’s embarrassed about her body. If it were possible for me to leech away her pain and take it onto myself, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
“I haven’t skated since before…” her voice trails off.
“You used to love it,” I remind softly.
She gnaws her bottom lip as her gaze slides back to the massive structure.
“It’s time, Fallyn. Time to move on and stop allowing the accident to control every aspect of your
life. Miles wouldn’t want that for you.”
Her muscles turn rigid.
Just when I think she’ll pull away and tell me to fuck off, she says instead, “I don’t know. Maybe you’re right.”
Chapter 24
Fallyn
As soon as the words escape from my lips, I want to stuff them back inside and tell him to forget it. I’ve only stepped foot inside this building one other time. And that was for my cousin, Viola.
When I’d agreed to attend the game so Vi could watch Madden, I hadn’t expected all those old memories and feelings to get dredged up and churn inside me. For the most part, hockey rinks are all the same.