Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 141425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
She sounds enchanted, and that’s what I was going for.
Everly winces, but then takes a deliberate long breath, as if calming herself. “It’ll be fine. I’ll spin it. I’ll say there was some history. I’ll explain that heated words were said, but no one was hurt. That sometimes emotions run high before games. I’ll handle it,” she says, cool and calm, taking over the potential PR mess.
“Thank you,” I say, genuinely grateful because I didn’t make it easy for her. “Because I need to handle something else—”
“Time for warmups, boys. Let’s hit the ice.”
I groan at the sound of Coach’s voice and the herd of hockey players thundering behind me. My brother waggles my stick and helmet my way, a look in his eyes that says time to hit the ice now.
I grab my gear from him, but turn back to Sabrina, still standing, pressed against the wall in the tunnel. Eyes still sparking with…possibility.
The same possibility I feel down to my marrow.
I’d planned to wait till later, but sometimes you have to shoot your shot when it comes your way.
“I love you, Sabrina Snow,” I say, then I hit the ice.
49
A NAIL-BITER
Sabrina
When the second period ends, I’m ready. But in a whole new way. I’ve never taken the ice with someone backing me up like that.
Someone throwing down for me so clearly, so deliberately.
And so deliciously.
It’s a brand-new feeling, this buzzing in my bones, this bubbling through my bloodstream.
When the team’s emcee heads onto the rink with her mic, I take a deep breath from my spot in the darkened tunnel. “We’re thrilled to have former women’s figure-skating national champion and beloved local skating coach Sabrina Snow join us during our intermission.”
My heart climbs up my throat at the word beloved. Tears threaten to fill my eyes, but I swallow them down, smiling from the center of my soul as I take the ice.
I’m wearing…my Halloween costume.
The one-shouldered, crystal-blue skating dress that made Tyler’s jaw drop when he saw it.
I skate to the center of the arena with a stupid smile on my face. I stop, lower my face, and wait for the music to start.
It’s a pop song by Amelia Stone. Something the whole crowd knows. But a song Tyler knows too. One we’ve listened to together in the kitchen. “Only You.” The song I wanted to walk down the aisle to. A song that brings me joy.
And as it plays, I fly around the rink, arms spread, ice scraping, cool air rushing past me.
My parents tried. Oh hell, did they try. But they were never able to take my love of this sport away from me.
Now, I’m chasing the moon out on the ice with the strength of an army, it seems, behind me.
And I land every toe loop, every flip, every axel better than I ever have before. I feel like I’m both incredibly strong and utterly weightless.
When I circle the rink, my gaze catches on a row of people behind the boards. My people. Isla and Trevyn and Skylar, with Maeve and Josie right behind them. Then Jasmine and her parents. Tiffany and her mom. The head of the rescue, the heating repair woman, and…my fairy godmother.
Ah, what the hell. I give a quick wave to the row of them as I skate backward, faster and faster still. Crossing over, I move around the oval, and when I do, my gaze lands on three more people.
Elle, and the two little people I’ve fallen in love with. I can’t help it—I make a heart just for Luna and Parker.
And they give me one right back.
I skate to the center of the ice as the music swells, then glide on one leg, spinning in circles. After several, I then tuck my arms in and my knee, lifting my torso straight, whirling faster into a wild blur of a finale.
When I finish, I’m breathless. Electric. Overjoyed. Especially when Number Forty-Four tosses a bouquet of roses from the tunnel, right onto the ice.
I laugh, from happiness, from the thrill of a job well done, and from knowing that even though I didn’t see him, he clearly sneaked out of the locker room to watch me.
Like he did that first time.
I feel like I’m glowing from the inside out. Because this man has always wanted to let me shine.
But there’s still another period to play, and hockey games are hard-fought. When the Sabers tie it up, I groan from my spot in the corridor where I’m watching on monitors.
“Seriously?” I say to the screen, wrapping my arms tight around my chest. I’m still in my costume since Everly wanted me to skate at the end of the game if they win and toss crocheted dogs—modeled after the Sea Dogs mascot Scuppers—into the stands along with the team.
They’ve got to win though.