Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103621 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103621 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Tears slipping down my cheeks, I nod. “Me, too.”
“No, I mean…” He exhales, before continuing in a steadier voice, as if he’s finally determined to let everything hidden out into the light. “I mean that I saw you on the street, El. Before we met at the party. I saw you and just…couldn’t stop thinking about you. And I’ve been beating myself up for being some kind of stalker who kept that from you, but—”
“I have a podcast,” I cut in. “I had one, I mean. I mean, I still have it, it’s still up because I haven’t taken it down, but I haven’t made any new episodes. But the ones I made… Well, a lot of them were about you and I… Well…”
“I know,” he says, making the rest of my sentence dry up in my mouth.
“Wh-what?”
“I know about Love on Ice,” he says, erasing any doubt that he does indeed know.
The world tilts. Or maybe that’s just the drugs and shock mixing in one hell of a cocktail. “How long?”
“Just since the game in Carolina,” he says, taking my hand and holding tight, silently assuring me that this isn’t the end. But still, my cheeks are burning as he adds, “Some player on the other team chirped at me about it during the game. Giving me shit for marrying a stalker. Then the guys played me a clip in the locker room. And at first it kind of threw me, but—”
“I’m so sorry,” I cut in, lowering my voice as Mimi shifts in her sleep. I can’t wait to hug her tight and promise her everything is okay, but I need make sure about that “okay” part first. “I wanted to tell you. But at first, it seemed like too much, and then by the time it didn’t, we were already—”
“I know, baby,” he says with a small smile. “I know. It was the same for me. By the time I realized I should really tell this woman I had a crush on her from the moment I laid eyes on her pretty face, you weren’t just a pretty face. You weren’t just the woman who stopped traffic downtown one day when I was driving home. You were Elly, my friend, my girl, and… I didn’t want to risk losing you.”
“I’m not the kind of woman who stops traffic,” I whisper.
“Woman, stop,” he says, love in his eyes as he adds, “You stop me in my tracks every damned day. Every. Damned. Day. And you always will. You understand?”
I nod, my throat too tight to speak. But not because I’m sad.
No, this time it’s because I know it’s real. All of it. The magic between us. The sense of Fate. The pull I’ve felt from the second Grammercy Graves skated onto my screen.
Meant to be love is real. We both felt it.
And now we get to keep loving each other with no secrets.
From now on, it’s just us.
“But don’t you dare try to tough shit out without me again, okay?” he adds in a stern voice. “You have a teammate now, chère, one who isn’t going to be okay without you. Next time you’re sick as a dog, lying on the bathroom floor, I’m going to be right there beside you, holding your hair while you puke and putting cold rags on your forehead. That’s it. End of conversation. Okay?”
I nod again, still fighting tears as I whisper, “Right back at you.”
“Good.” His shoulders sag as he squeezes my hand. “But if it’s coming out the back end, I’ll need to be alone for that part. I can’t number two in front of my wife. I need her to keep thinking I’m the sexiest man on earth.”
I start to laugh but realize that probably isn’t a good idea with all the tenderness in my midsection. I settle for a smile and squeezing his hand tighter as I promise, “You will always be the sexiest to me. And you’d better always be my husband. No take backs.”
“You guys are married?” Mimi murmurs sleepily from the cot.
Grammercy shifts, revealing a very groggy looking Mimi, with her hair sticking up in a thousand directions.
“We are, bébé,” Grammercy says, holding tight to my hand as he reaches his free one toward Mimi. “And we’re going to stay that way and be a family. How’s that sound to you?”
The smile that bursts across my little girl’s face is a firework lighting up the dark. “That sounds real good,” she says as she crawls out of bed, padding over to take Grammercy’s hand as she leans in to nuzzle her face into my armpit. “Mama, you scared me. Don’t ever get that sick again, okay?”
“I’ll try my very best, baby. I promise.” I bend my neck at an unnatural angle that hurts a little, but it’s worth it to feel her forehead soft beneath my lips. “I’m sorry I scared you, but I’m so proud of you. You were so brave. I couldn’t talk, but I could hear you and Grammercy taking care of me, and it made me feel so safe.”