Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 53034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
I shouldn’t like it, but I do. It feels damn good to see Lucien pounding on my horrible ex. Kyle’s a little shorter than Lucien’s six foot two, but he’s much leaner. Lucien is dominating him.
D-men don’t usually have lightning-fast reflexes, but Lucien does. He bobs and weaves like a boxer. He’s fast and fearless. I’ve never seen anyone take the punches he can without reacting.
“Beaumont seems to be trying to get thrown out of this game,” one of the TV announcers says.
“This is what he brings to his team, John,” the other one says. “He calls it Loki energy. Beaumont is like a plane nose-diving into the opponents’ offense.”
They think this is just Lucien being Lucien. I would’ve thought the same if he hadn’t made that last comment to me about enjoying the game.
He’s doing this for me. I never want to be involved with a hockey player again, because once was more than enough. But it’s sexy as hell that Lucien is trying to make me feel better. Taking body shots and actually bleeding over me.
Kyle had to go to the locker room after that last fight—probably to get stitched up. The game is tied 2–2, and even though I’ve seen my dad yelling at him when the camera cuts to the bench, Lucien is on a mission.
When they show a view of him sitting in the penalty box, it feels like he’s looking right at me.
You’re a beautiful, strong woman.
No one but my parents has ever called me beautiful. Kyle and I were both drunk the first time we slept together, and we just kind of kept doing it. I never felt like we fell in love exactly; we just became close friends who also fucked. There was no wooing.
When Lucien wiped my tear away earlier, I got a flutter. I didn’t want anyone to see me crying over Kyle, but he made me feel like it was okay. Understandable.
This morning, my dad asked me if I wanted to stay home today. He didn’t even have to say why he was asking—we both knew. I didn’t want him to know I was bothered by the thought of seeing Kyle, so I told him I wanted to go.
I like my new routine of helping him and his team out. I assist Melina, stretch Lucien before and sometimes after games, and help Marco in the kitchen when he lets me.
He taught me how to make an omelet, and now I make them for my dad and me all the time. It feels good to be great at something, even if it’s something small and simple like making an omelet.
On a commercial break, I walk into the kitchen and grab a snack. Pistachios, because there’s not much junk food here. We grab ice cream from a local place a couple times a week, though. Dad’s not against junk, he’s just not home much to need groceries.
When I’m back on the couch, a comfy blanket on my lap and the game back on, a text comes in on my phone.
Audra: I heard you’re living with Dad now. That’s great.
My heart pounds as I read the message a second time. Is she being passive-aggressive? I can’t tell. She might be at the arena right now, watching the game.
We used to be close. We talked several times a week and met up for brunch every Sunday. I often wonder which brunch it was that I sat across from her, happily chattering and sipping a mimosa, while she knew she’d just fucked my boyfriend.
It had been going on “for a while”, Kyle said when he told me about him and Audra the night he broke things off with me. He didn’t believe in marriage, he reminded me, and he’d changed his mind about being tied down to just one woman.
Three months later, he and Audra announced their engagement. That cut me even deeper than the cheating. I was with him for two years and he said he was adamantly opposed to marriage the whole time.
Guess he was only opposed to marrying me. I know I’m better off without him, but it still hurts. If it had been anyone but Audra, it wouldn’t have been so completely crushing.
I put my phone face down on the couch cushion next to me, returning my attention to the game. I haven’t responded to any of Audra’s texts since I confronted her about Kyle, and I don’t plan to start now.
I made a fool of myself that day. I went into her apartment full of rage, planning to unleash my fury on her. That didn’t last long, though. I ended up bawling my eyes out and asking her why. And how. And where.
She flinched, like the questions were hurting her. Such irony. I don’t hate her, but a betrayal like that isn’t something I can overlook. My therapist told me I should forgive her for me, not for her, but I’m not ready.