Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 135831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Max: I sent in the adoption paperwork for Athena.
Everly doesn’t text back, but a minute later after I’ve pulled on a sweatshirt so I can head to morning skate, my phone rings. “You kept her! I’m so excited.”
So you can spend every night with us?
But Everly is a flower that opens slowly. You can’t rush the bloom. So I don’t say that. “Me too,” I say. “Especially since Athena is excellent at watching movies with us, and she doesn’t try to steal the popcorn.”
She’s become our movie companion at my home.
“She is,” Everly says, then takes a beat. “Thank you again for the breakfast and the latte. You’ve been spoiling me. This is the third day in a row.”
“Good. I like spoiling you.”
And I want to do it every damn day. Just let me.
“You really do,” she says, and briefly I wonder when my special gift will arrive. The company emailed that the custom order had been delayed, which is annoying, but it should arrive soon.
I hear the sound of a door snicking shut. “What can I do for you?” she asks quietly, even though she must have privacy now in her office. “You do so much for me and I want to do something for you.”
“Sunshine, there’s no ledger here.”
“But you give me all these gifts and do all these things.”
“And you give me you. It’s more than fair,” I say.
“Max, you know what I mean. What can I do for you?”
Tell your boss you want her to bend that rule. Tell her you’re falling for me too. Tell her to let you keep your job and date me.
But nothing worth having comes easily, and this is not a convo for the phone. It’s too important to have offhand. “My parents are coming to the game this weekend. I want to introduce them to you.”
“That’s what you want me to do? Let you introduce your parents to me?”
“Yes,” I say, emphatically. “I told you my dad knows about you. So my mom does too. And Sophie figured out long ago that I had it bad for you.”
“I like her,” she says, then her tone shifts. “How will you introduce me? Will you say I’m your secret girlfriend?”
I punch the sky. She’s calling herself that. That has to be a good sign. “Works for me,” I say.
“Then I want to meet them,” she says. “Also, don’t forget The Ice Men producers are here today shooting B-roll. Garrett’s already arrived. I’ve been keeping an eye on them. Everyone seems to be in a good mood. He’s been chatting with them the whole time.”
“Look at you. You’re like my inside woman, spying for me.”
“It’s secret girlfriend work,” she says, and that excites me more than a saved goal. I say goodbye, then head downstairs to my car. I swing by Asher’s place to pick him up.
The second he slides into the car, he says, “What are you going to do about the auction?”
“What auction?” I ask, wondering if that’s a new event Everly will want me to do.
“The annual player auction. I’m doing it. Gotta keep up my streak of going for the highest bid. Every year I’ve gone for higher and since I first entered the auction I haven’t missed a game.”
“I guess someone has to get the sympathy vote,” I needle him as I pull away from the curb.
“When they drop that hammer in a couple months’ time, I think you’ll see it’s lust in the ladies’ eyes.” Asher corrects me then grabs his chest, as if he’s been mortally wounded. “Wait—no. Are you jealous cause you didn’t get an invite? I mean, I figured it would be part of your makeover.”
“Ah, the bid-on-a-date-with-a-player thing. No, they didn’t ask. But I’d say no.”
“Because you’re taken,” he says in a leading voice as I cruise toward the arena.
“I fucking hope so,” I say seriously.
“How’s everything going with her?” he asks, dropping the teasing.
“She’s…incredible. I don’t deserve her and somehow she still wants me. She’s smart and bighearted, and cares deeply about her friends and the team and her job and the world. She likes to try new things, and she’s a great listener. She keeps me on my toes and doesn’t stand for any shit. She’s fiery and easy to talk to and she also likes to hang out at night and watch a movie, and she’s abundantly honest. Like, I know I trust her. I know she trusts me. She’s perfect for me.”
He whistles. “Damn. That’s quite a speech.”
“It’s just the truth,” I say as we reach the players’ lot. But even though it’s true doesn’t mean it’s easy. It’s harder than it should be. “Trouble is, I don’t know how to make it work since she faces most of the risks.”
He sighs thoughtfully. “We’re lucky, being athletes. A lot of things are easier for us. We’re forgiven for breaking rules. Well, not in the game itself,” he says wryly.