Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
“Hey,” I say, drying my hand with a paper towel. “Is everyone gone?”
“Yes,” she says coming to me and tucking my hair behind my ear. “My sweet and strong, beautiful girl.”
I look at her, trying not to laugh. “What did I do?”
“Nothing,” she says. “Absolutely nothing.”
“Why are you acting like this?” I ask. She looks around and sees that it’s just the two of us. Everyone else is cleaning up and putting things away.
“He’s going to see it,” she tells me. “I can see it.”
“Who is he, and what do you see?” I ask her, swallowing and knowing she’s seeing right through me. She could always see right through us no matter how much we tried to hide it.
“He walks with so much baggage that he can’t stand up straight,” she starts to say.
“Mom,” I say, looking down. “He’s a friend.”
“Yet you can’t seem to stop yourself from being drawn to him. You can’t seem to look at him and not want to be next to him. You want to help him carry all his baggage.”
“Isn’t that what you taught us?” I ask her, blinking away the tears. “Help people when they are down.”
“Yes,” she answers. “And to carry the ones we love.”
“I don’t love him,” I say, rolling my yes. “I might like him a bit, but love is a big—”
“Step,” she finishes the sentence for me, and I’m saved by my father, who comes looking for her.
“There you are,” he says. “We’re almost done.” He leans down to kiss her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” my mother says. “We were just talking about Christmas and New Year’s.”
“You going to come with us, right?” my father says, and I look at my mother.
“The team is going to be on the road again this year,” my father says, and I groan.
“Again?” I tell him. “It’s been four years in a row.”
“Now, here’s the good news,” he says, smiling. “They play in the afternoon and will be back by seven p.m., and then Oliver is transforming the whole arena into a supper club kind of thing.”
“Oh, thank God,” I say to them. “I was so not wanting to spend it in a hotel.”
“Doug also rented rooms for anyone who wants,” my mother says. “But it makes sense for you to go home.”
I help everyone clean up, and my parents drop me off at home before taking the drive all the way back to Long Island with Zara in the back complaining about having heartburn. When I wave to them, I walk into my house. I don’t bother turning on any of the lights before I get undressed in the dark and slip into bed. Hoping that somewhere in my dreams, it’ll give me the answers I’m searching for.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Viktor
My fingers tap on the steering wheel with the beat of the song. One hour ago, we finished our last game before the Christmas break, and I took the six-hour drive home instead of waiting until the morning. We are off for five days, and it’ll be a good break, so there was also no excuse to stay away from my family.
The drive to Canada is dark, and not many cars are on the road. I stop once to fill up and grab another cup of coffee from a twenty-four-hour diner. When I pull up to my rental property I got for the holidays, only the porch lights are on. I get out and feel the cold right away, my breath puffing out in front of me. Opening the back door, I take my bag and walk up the steps, entering the code on the door I was given.
When I open the door and step in, there is a light on in the hallway so I can see. I kick off my shoes and take the stairs on the right, going straight up to look for a bed. I slip my suit jacket off and toss it on the chair in the corner of the master bedroom. Or it could be the guest bedroom. I didn’t really look. I just walked into the first room I saw. When I finally slip into the bed, my body finally relaxes just a touch, and I fall asleep.
When I get up, I see it’s almost noon, and the sun is trying to peek into the room around the closed curtains. Grabbing my phone, I see that my sister texted me this morning asking me where I was. Instead of texting her back, I call her, and she answers after one ring.
“Hey,” she says, and I hear Christmas music playing in the background. “Where are you?”
“I’m at my rental house. I decided to drive after the game instead of this morning.” I turn in the bed.
“Mom said you could have stayed here with them,” she says, and my body gets tense.