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)
His brow furrows sympathetically. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I slouch deeper into the lounger, which is surprisingly forgiving. It’s honestly more comfortable than the couch I’ve been sleeping on for the past year. “We were both seventeen, both convinced we were poet scholars in love. I was going to get my degree in journalism, he was going to study the classics and become a tweed-wearing professor…” I sigh. “We dreamed of studying in Scotland and buying a castle together someday. Instead, I got pregnant, his parents freaked out, and the Castellanes moved to Toronto. He wrote me one email, apologizing for leaving me to ‘figure things out’ alone and offering to send money for an abortion, but…that’s it. When I said I wanted to keep the baby, I never heard from him again.”
“Would you like me to hunt him down and introduce his ass to my foot?” he asks. “I have a game in Toronto later this season. Wouldn’t be a bit of trouble.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m over it. Really, I am. He got that ‘bright academic future’ his mom was so worried about me ruining and…I got Mimi.” I shoot him a smile. “Maybe I’m crazy, but I think I came out on top.”
Grammercy’s expression softens. “You sure did. She’s a special kid, but still… What about your bright academic future? You’re smart as a whip, woman. My mama made me read a book a week since I was six years old, and you still use words I have to look up on my phone sometimes. Ever thought of going back to school? I bet you’d do great.”
The compliment touches me more than he knows.
Ever since that positive pregnancy test at seventeen, so many people have automatically assumed I must have the IQ of a promiscuous poodle. I’m cute and all, but clearly not too bright. The newsroom was the first place to look past my GED and lack of college degree and see that I had a mind worth putting to use. All my other jobs were mindless grunt work that left me feeling hollow at the end of the day.
“Thank you,” I say, resisting the urge to squeeze his arm. Getting into the habit of touching him isn’t a good idea. Still, I’m sure my heart is in my eyes as I add, “That means so much to me, Grammercy. Really. And yeah, I have thought about it, but…” I shrug. “Honestly, there’s never been enough money or time. But maybe now, with rent off my plate, and once I find a job…” I smile. “Maybe remote classes could be on the table. I do have time at night, after Mimi’s asleep.”
Time I’ve been using to make an obsessive fan podcast about you, in fact…
The thought makes my throat close up.
I have to tell him about the podcast. Right? Before he finds out on his own and decides I’m a creepy lying stalker, not just a normal stalker?
But how to tell real life Grammercy who’s becoming my friend that I’m the most cringeworthy human on the planet?
“We could always get a sitter for Mimi after school or whatever, if you wanted to go to classes in person,” Grammercy says, seeming excited at the thought.
Excited for me. A stranger he barely knows. God, if I weren’t already half in love with him, I would be falling fast.
As things stand, when he adds, “We could also get a sitter for fun. Any interest in a date this weekend? To celebrate?”—I nearly fall out of my lounge chair.
“A date?” I ask, my voice hitching into an embarrassing squeak.
His nervous smile is as charming as his flirty one. Maybe even more charming, if such a thing is possible. “I mean, I know it wasn’t a real wedding, but it still feels like something worth celebrating. It’s a fresh start, with new opportunities in it, and I’m off Friday and Saturday after the opening game. Coach decided to give us some time off to decompress after the grind of camp and all the publicity building up to the season opener. It would be nice to burn off some steam, maybe hit a blues club?”
“I love a blues club,” I breathe. “I haven’t been to one in years, but…yeah. I love them.”
“Me, too,” he says. “I used to sing with a band back in the day. Just amateur stuff, for fun, but I miss being part of the music.”
“That’s so cool. I used to sing with a jazz group in high school!” I say, blood fizzing in my veins as my inner fangirl freaks out about her hockey crush also being a music nerd.
“Then we have to go,” he says, catching my excitement. “Friday night? I can call the nanny service my brother used the last time he was in town, or—”
“I’ll ask Nancy first, but if she can’t make it, that sounds fine,” I say. “Assuming they’re okay with Mimi’s health issues and are ready to take action if anything happens. I mean, fingers crossed, it won’t—she’s bounced back really well from the little flare she had this time—but I’d want to be sure she’s one hundred percent safe.”