Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 116597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
I was just making sure he got his money’s worth.
That same voice within laughed at me as I found myself tracking him on the ice again. I did it without thinking, like he was metal, and I was a magnet helpless to resist.
He was crouched low in the face-off circle now, stick angled just right, eyes locked on the puck. The ref dropped it, and Carter snapped it back clean to Vince before exploding forward, skating hard into open ice. He cut across the neutral zone, dug an edge so sharp it sent a spray of ice into his opponent’s shins, and put himself in the perfect spot for the return pass.
The puck hit his tape, and in one fluid motion he curled toward the slot, pulling the defenseman with him. At the last second, he threaded the puck through a narrow lane — a perfect feed across the crease.
Vince didn’t waste it, hammering it past the goalie so fast the net barely rippled before the goal horn blared.
The crowd erupted, and Carter looked up toward our section in the stands. I couldn’t see his eyes from here, but I didn’t need to. I knew exactly how they’d look — bright and sharp, the edges of them crinkled with his signature smile as he prepared to land a joke.
I knew without needing confirmation.
He was looking for me.
A hot zing shot through me, butterflies fluttering low in my chest.
Thankfully, my best friend swatted them away just as quickly as they’d appeared.
“Come with me to get refills?” she asked, holding up her empty wine cup.
I nodded, and after we checked to see if Chloe or Ava wanted anything, we shimmied out of our seats and up to the suite.
We were sharing the suite with other wives and girlfriends of players — and me, who was somehow always included even though I was just the dentist. Then again, I guess if I was a general manager, I’d play nice with the woman who fixed all my players’ faces, too.
Maven was one of the favorites, the kind of woman every player and significant other wanted to be around. I took up her side proudly as she flitted from group to group saying hi on our way to the bar, chiming in with my own stories when it fit. This was the woman who had once felt unwelcome and out of place in a setting like this. Now, it was like she owned the place.
I loved to see that change play out in real time.
There was nothing better than watching a woman claim her power, especially when she was your best friend.
Eventually, we were able to refill our drinks — Maven a glass of red wine and me a gin and tonic. I went to fill a plate with chicken tenders and fries — Ava’s request — when Maven placed her hand over my wrist to stop me.
“Let’s pause. Ava can wait a second. I want to chat with you in private.”
My brows shot up. “Should I be scared?”
“Only if you have secrets to hide, which I’m betting you do.”
She gave me that sassy little whip of her head that always made me laugh as she dragged me to one of the high-top tables in the corner of the suite. Her eyes skirted up to the television as the crowd roared to a higher decibel, but when whatever was going on died down, she looked back at me.
“Alright. Here’s the thing. I may not be as good at this as you are, but I know when my best friend is off. And you’re off. So, I need an update on this whole wedding thing, and I also need to know what the hell is going on between you and Carter Fabri.”
There was a crack of a stick against the puck, but it might as well have been my jaw hitting the table.
“Don’t even try to tell me it’s nothing,” she said, holding up her hand before I could say a word. “Fill me in on wedding drama first, and then tell me what’s going on with our Center, or I swear, Livia, I will feed that Tory Burch belt you let me borrow to the nearest garbage disposal.”
“Rude!”
Maven just waved her finger in the air as she took the first sip of her wine, as if to tell me to get to yapping.
With a glare, I took a sip of my own glass before letting out a long sigh. “The wedding drama is… relentless. My sister is begging me to come. My mother keeps texting me to say that I better be there, that I better not let Lacey down, but then she makes all these passive-aggressive comments that give away her true wish.”
“Which is?”
“Come on. You heard her when you were at my condo the night she called the first time.” I paused, not wanting to say it. “She doesn’t want me there, Mave.”