Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
How could they?
Jett’s lips curve in a sad smile as he brushes his thumb along my top lip. “Princess, I agreed to put my body through hell just to skate with you again at the ripe old age of thirty-eight, when I’m pretty sure my knees and hips are sixty.” We share a smile, and he kisses my nose. “I would have skated with you until we decided we were done, and then I would have convinced you to marry me.”
My heart swells as I cover his hand with my hand. “I’m so glad I came back to Thistlebrook and argued with you.”
His lips pull up into the sweet, boyish grin I love as he nods. “Arguing with you is my favorite pastime.” He brings my hand up, kissing my palm. “But princess, you don’t need to argue with them.”
“I do,” I insist, stepping back. “I need them to know they won’t mess with the man I love ever again.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE
Jett
The problem when Fable gets deep in her feelings like this is that I never know what she’ll do.
Will she rage and scream?
Or will she lose it and stab her parents?
Will I be holding her to calm her or helping bury bodies?
I don’t know, but I’m on her heels as she marches up the sidewalk to her family home. She doesn’t even knock; she throws the door open, her body trembling with fury. The door bangs into the wall, knocking down some photos, the glass crashing to the floor and making Fable’s entrance even louder.
Her mom comes out of the kitchen in alarm as Kitty rises from her chair, her cross-stitching in her hands. “Fable? My darling?” she asks, worry on her face.
Elena looks annoyed. “What is your problem?”
My girl only shakes her head, her face full of wrath. “Where is Richie?”
Elena snorts in her snooty way. “Richie? You mean your father? Lord, you’re so over the top.” She glances at me and curls her lip. “What is he doing here?”
“Don’t you fucking dare!” Fable roars, her eyes wild. “This is not your house. This is Kitty’s, and I know good and well she loves Jett and me.”
Elena rolls her eyes, but I don’t miss the worried glance she throws Kitty. I almost laugh. Did Kitty tell them she wants them out? “What do you want, Fable?”
“Get your husband.”
Elena mutters something along the lines of Fable being dramatic before she calls for Richie. He comes through the side door by the library, his brow furrowing as he takes in the room. He’s dressed in a tennis outfit with a sweater wrapped around his shoulders. It’s ninety degrees outside, and he weighs as much as I do. He doesn’t need that sweater. “Fable, my love, are you okay?”
“I am not,” she answers through gritted teeth. Richie comes to stand beside his wife and looks over at her for answers. Elena just shrugs, waving Fable off as if my girl is inconveniencing her. It’s infuriating, and I know Fable is getting even more pissed with each second that passes. I slide my hand along her back to find that she’s shaking. It breaks my heart, so I rub my thumb down her spine and stand beside her with my shoulders back.
As much as these two people broke the boy I was, I won’t allow them to break the man I am today.
Not when I want to be strong for her.
“Did you split us up?”
“When?” Elena asks, her voice so tart.
“After Salt Lake,” Fable asks through clenched teeth.
She waves her daughter off again. “We offered him another opportunity. It was really for him. He loved hockey.”
“Did you tell him you wouldn’t pay for him to skate with me, when you didn’t have to pay for anything?”
Richie exhales, his eyes cutting to me. “We did say that, but we really thought there weren’t any sponsorships.”
“That’s not true,” Fable seethes. “We had sponsorships lined up, interviews, all kinds of stuff. And then it was all gone because you apparently manipulated him into leaving me!”
“There is no need to yell,” Elena says calmly, and I watch as Fable’s hand clenches to the point her knuckles are white. “And he jumped at the chance. He wanted to play hockey more than to be with you.”
“That’s not true. You told me my family would go into debt,” I remind her, but she dismisses me with an eye roll.
“They probably already were,” she says, crossing her arms. “We did you a service, really.”
“You tore us apart!” Fable wails, her tears coming down hard. “You made me feel like he didn’t want to skate with me. Like I was the problem. You said that no one was strong enough to deal with me and that I should just do solo.” I close my eyes and wrap my hand around her stomach, bringing her back into me for the silent support. Knowing she felt that way is another stab to my heart. I should have fought harder. “You sent me away, telling me it was for the best, but then kept the letters he wrote me?”