Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
“Don’t touch me,” Victoria warns. I think she’s talking to me but she’s pushing Jaxon away from her. She stands next to Kylie, and I move to stand behind her and Jaxon comes to her side.
“Perfect,” Jill says, taking the picture, and I see a couple of the press guys come over, so I make sure not to stand too close to her. As soon as they are done, I make a beeline back to the pile of debris that has been fully cleared.
I’m looking around, seeing the guys scattered as some of them joke with the others and when I look over, I’m surprised to see Victoria walking toward me. I stand here taking her all in as she does the same. “Hi,” she says softly, “I brought you something to drink.” She holds up the bottle of water for me. “It’s closed so I won’t spill it on you,” she jokes.
I lift my hand to take the bottle from her. “Thank you,” I tell her and we share a look. A look that I hope she can see how much I miss her. “You have…” My hand comes up and my thumb brushes off the bit of sand that was on her cheek. “Some sand,” I say and I see her chest rising and falling, and I wonder if she’s still as affected by me as I am by her.
“Victoria,” someone calls her name, and she looks to the side, seeing the guy who was standing next to her when we got here. “Come and meet my parents.” Wow, I thought seeing her out on a date killed me, but hearing a man tell her to come and meet his parents feels like someone just kicked me in the balls.
“Excuse me,” she says as she looks away and heads to the man. She smiles at him and then she extends her hand and shakes the woman’s hand first and then the man’s hand, as they talk like if they are long-lost friends.
You fucking want her, my head screams to me. You had her and you gave her away. I shake my head, pushing away the words before moving back to the side and doing something else with the guys. What, I have no idea, all I know is that I need a distraction. I continue working around the playground as time passes, doing whatever odd jobs need to be done.
When our time is almost over, I pose for a couple of pictures, and every time I look over she’s busy with someone else. She’s the only thing that has made me happy these past few months and there is nothing I can do about it. Or is there?
The bus gets here as we take a huge group picture of the whole team with all the volunteers. I look over my shoulder at her when I get on the bus, and she’s giving Jaxon a hug, followed by Kirby and then Knox. I sit on the bus as the guys get on it, my heart heavy in my chest.
As soon as the bus starts moving, I get up. “I want to thank you guys for all your hard work today,” I tell them. “It means a lot to the community.”
The guys look at me as Jaxon speaks up. “If you guys aren’t busy later this evening, we are going to surprise the girls with a celebration dinner. You are all invited to join.”
I sit back down, and I get off the bus first, Cam heads straight to his car and Eric just watches him. “He’s never happy.”
“That’s not true,” I reply. “He’s happy when things go wrong.” He laughs as he walks inside the arena.
“Coach,” Jaxon calls, “you’re going to join us, right?”
Absofuckinglutely not, my head screams. “Wouldn’t miss it,” my mouth says. “The girls deserve the recognition.” I turn and head inside, knowing—at least for tonight—I’ll get to be in her orbit.
twenty
Victoria
“I can’t believe we did this,” I say, snapping pictures of the new playground that has been transformed from one that looked abandoned and haunted to one with a huge splash pad, a massive jungle gym, a newly paved basketball court, and now—according to Shauna—will also have room for an outdoor hockey rink.
“Your social media skills sure did help,” Lexi praises. “Who would have thought to reach out to vendors and ask them to donate in return for free promotion on our page.”
“Well, it did help that we had the LA Warriors coming to help us.” I look over at them and smirk. “I may have name-dropped a bit.” I see them look at me. “What? If I can’t use my brother’s name to get me things that aren’t even for me but for the community, what’s the point?”
“I agree,” Kylie says, with her hands on her hips. “If it makes you feel better, I would totally pimp out Knox.”