Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 79207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“Aww,” Stacy croons. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you refer to him as your partner.”
“Shut it,” I say through gritted teeth.
I’m led back to a room where Damon’s fully conscious. His graduation gown is folded on the seat next to him, and he’s in his regular clothes.
“What, no sexy hospital gown for me to perv on you?”
“I’m going to kill my sister,” he says.
“Get in line.” I approach and kiss his cheek. “So, concussion, huh? Is that one of those conditions where I’m not allowed to give you bad news?”
“Don’t think so. Why? What’s the bad news?”
“I was going to surprise you tonight. Tommy gave me tickets to the New York versus Boston game.”
“I’m fine.” He tries to get out of bed but as soon as he sits up, he wobbles. “I’m good. Seriously. I wanna go to the game.”
I push him back down. “You’re not fine. You have a concussion. We can’t go where there’s bright lights and lots of noise. You can meet Tommy another time.”
“Or right now.”
My brother-in-law stands at the entrance to Damon’s room, along with one of his teammates and my sister.
“Jacie told us what happened,” Tommy says.
“Holy shit,” Damon says. “You’re …” His gaze flits between Tommy and his teammate. “And you’re Ollie Strömberg. Do concussions cause hallucinations? Don’t you two have a game right now?”
“We’re not due at the rink for another hour,” Tommy says.
“I’ve had a concussion before,” Ollie says. “When I was on the farm team. Almost cost me my career. When Tommy said what happened, I said I’d tag along. Tough break, man.”
Tommy puts his arm around Ollie. “And this guy is also interested in setting up a meeting when you’re back on your feet.”
“My current agency is screwing me on a contract extension, and there’s been rumors of a trade,” Ollie says.
“Uh … umm …” Damon stammers.
I lean in and whisper, “Dude, you’re a sports agent. Be cool. One would think you’ve never met a famous athlete before.”
Damon shakes his head and then winces. “Sorry. Kinda wish this wasn’t happening while I had tiny jackhammers going off in my head, but yeah, definitely. Meeting.”
While they talk over the details of when they can meet, Jacie comes to me and wraps her arms around me. “Hey, little brother.”
“Don’t you mean cuz?”
“Whatever. You’ll always be my weird little brother.”
I laugh. “Thanks, Jacie. I see you managed to dump the kids for the night.”
“Mom and Dad are happy to see the grandkids, and Tommy and I got a hotel room. You want to come out for drinks after the game and catch up?”
I glance at Damon in bed and hesitate. “I should probably—”
“Yes, he’ll go out,” Damon says. “Visiting hours will be over by then, and you never see your sister. All I’m going to be doing is getting woken up every two hours to make sure I don’t die.”
“My boyfriend’s a little dramatic,” I say to the others, and they snicker.
“Seriously, Maddy. Go out. I’ll be fine.”
I turn to Jacie. “Text me where to meet you after the game.”
The conversation turns to hockey, so my sister turns to me. “You know, I always thought the gay thing was a lie to break up with your crazy high school girlfriend.”
I laugh. Hard. “Here I thought I’d fooled the entire town when I’m starting to think no one believed me. I don’t know if Mom and Dad told you, but I’m not gay. I’m bi. It’s a long confusing story.”
“As long as Damon makes you happy, we’ll all love him.”
“He does.”
“We better get to the rink,” Tommy says after a while. “Feel better, and we’ll see you at the next family get-together.”
“Like there’s many of them,” I say.
“Maybe you all could come to Boston for Thanksgiving,” Jacie says.
“Okay, I’ll see you in six months,” I say dryly.
“We’ll organize something in the off season,” Tommy says.
“Sounds good,” Damon says, and I love that he immediately knows it includes him too. When they leave, Damon slumps back in his hospital bed. “I need to get my sister back for this.”
“Oh no. He’s gone to the dark side. Fight it! Don’t stoop to our level. Save yourself!” My dramatic crying has a nurse coming to check on Damon.
I chuckle and wave her off. She tells me to keep the noise down.
“I bet she’s fun at parties,” I say.
Damon ignores me. “I could be hanging out with Tommy-fucking-Novak and Ollie-fucking-Strömberg tonight instead of being stuck here. Vengeance needs to be served cold, and I have the perfect plan.” He turns to me and grabs hold of my hand. “I had a surprise for you tonight too. Where’s my phone?”
“I have it. They gave it to me in the ambulance.” I pull it out and hand it to him. It takes him a while to find what he’s looking for because he can’t focus on the screen without wincing. He gives up and hands it to me. “It’s in my email. First one in the starred file.”