Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 89535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Cohen scored us seats in the fourth row, really close to the ice, and Foster Grant’s partner is already there waiting for us. Cohen kisses Seth on his cheek and leaves to get to work while we settle in.
I’m taken back to going with Dad to watch some of West’s games whenever we could, and his voice rings in the back of my head, telling me that I’ll be out there soon.
His dream of having both sons play for the same team at the same time in the NHL will never come true now, but I also think that was a pipedream. I was drafted to Buffalo, West played for Boston. If anything, all it would have done was cause a bigger rift between us, so it’s probably good that’s not happening.
Things with West are improving. Ever since he admitted he hasn’t got his shit together, I’ve been sympathetic. I used to see his holier-than-thou attitude as a way for him to always put me in my place, but the truth is he’s as clueless as me when it comes to expressing himself.
Hopefully one day he’ll meet someone who’ll be there for him the way Kole is for me.
“I can see me doing this in the future,” Kole says next to me. His arm is looped through mine, and he glances around the arena like he knows one day it will become his second home.
“Going to hockey games with me?”
He shakes his head. “Going to see you play hockey in the NHL.”
“That’s the plan.” I link my fingers with his. “I kind of can’t wait, but at the same time I want to enjoy having the time we have together now before life gets even more chaotic.”
“It’s hard to believe our lives could get more chaotic.”
“Hey, if we can handle spending nights in my household with that many kids, helping them with homework and putting them to bed, I’m certain you and I could handle anything. The NHL, a hospital residency … pfft, it’ll be a cakewalk.”
“I hope so, because I kind of have plans for you.”
“Oh, do you? What might they entail?”
“Hmm, doing my residency in whichever city you sign with. Getting a small house with a yard for Hades.”
“Careful, that’s starting to sound a hell of a lot like a white picket fence future you were so against.”
Kole smiles at me and leans in to brush his lips against mine. “Maybe a white picket fence future with you wouldn’t be so bad.”
As the teams take to the ice, that calling I’ve always had since slipping on a pair of skates reaches for me. The ice is my future, but so is the guy right next to me.
There will be times when it’s difficult because hockey schedules and a doctor’s shift schedule don’t exactly line up, but I know we can do it because no one has ever made me step back and look at myself the way Kole does. No one’s ever been there for me the way he is.
Like I told him, I can’t wait for the future to be here, but I also love where we’re at now. Because when I’m with him, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. Except maybe alone with him.
I lean in and whisper in his ear. “How long do you think we should stay for the game?”
“You want to leave in the middle of it? You. Mr. Hockey.”
“You’re more important to me than hockey. I’m desperate for you.”
I’ll always be desperate for him.
“After first period, we’ll leave.”
“I was kind of hoping for sooner than that, but deal. As soon as we get back to the hotel, I’m going to strip you bare and taste every inch of your skin until you’re writhing and begging for my—”
Kole stands abruptly. “Changed my mind, let’s go now.”
Yes.
It seems he’s just as desperate for me as I am for him.
When we get back to the hotel and I lay him out beneath me, I can see this.
Us.
For the rest of my life.