Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 83927 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83927 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
The bidding quickly takes off. Just like Tank, it starts at one thousand. It goes higher and higher as bidder after bidder raises their hands.
The bidding flies easily past three thousand and jumps to three and a half when he releases one of those damn sexy half-smirks that only a man can do.
He glances at me with mischief in his eyes, and no matter how much he hates taking another woman out, he truly does love the attention. He slowly shrugs out of his shirt, showing off his perfect body and sending the crowd wild. Particularly the women, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I saw a few men getting a good look at my man too.
The bidding rises to four thousand and then to five and comes to a screeching halt when one very familiar woman stands up, raises her hand, and calls out, “Ten thousand dollars.”
Miller’s head whips around to the voice with confusion, probably wondering why some strange cougar is dropping so much money on him.
I hear a chorus of “Fuck,” murmured through the surprised crowd.
“Mom?” I ask, stunned.
The crowd hushes as they try to figure out what’s happening with eyes flicking between me and my crazy mother. “Sorry, hon. I couldn’t let you auction off your man,” she shouts over the distance.
I see Miller visibly relax from the corner of my eye, and I can’t help but smile for my own relief. “Well, there you have it, guys,” I say into the microphone. “Thank you so much for making it out tonight. Please make sure that all of our successful bidders make their way down to sort payment and find your man,” I explain. “And boys,” I say, fixing them all with a hard stare. “Remember what we discussed in the locker room,” I remind them, referring to the rule about no sexual favors. They all groan and smirk as they nod along.
“Alright, get out of here,” I laugh.
The crowd quickly shuffles out of the ice rink as the boys make their way over to me.
“That was surprising,” Coach Harris says, extremely stunned.
“Do you have any idea how much money we raised?” Aaron asks.
“Not sure,” I tell them. “But my guess would be somewhere upwards of twenty-five grand. I won’t know until I can sit down with a calculator, but that, including the thirty we’ve already made from the calendars, is pretty damn impressive.”
The boys laugh as we celebrate our huge win for the night. “Go get your skates off. You’ve all got a woman to impress,” I say, then glance over to Jaxon. “Except you. Jared loves Chinese food, by the way.”
“Shut up,” he groans as they all break away and head for the locker room.
Miller stays behind and helps me down off the little stage before carrying me to the side where I can stand without making a fool of myself. “Looks like I’ve got a date with your mom,” he comments.
“Looks like it,” I laugh.
“Any tips?” he asks nervously.
“No, she’s super easy,” I tell him. “Just be your normal, charming self. But if that fails, lose your shirt.”
Chapter 16
Miller
“Hey man, have you seen this?” Tank asks as he kicks his way through my front door.
I hit pause on my game as I glance up at him. “Seen what?”
He throws his phone down into my lap as he passes me and heads for the kitchen, opening the fridge and pulling out a beer. “The girls’ latest article was just posted.”
“Ahh,” I say, picking up his phone to find the article. I quickly read through it and find a huge grin on my face by the time I get to the end. “Fuck, they make us sound so much better than we are,” I laugh as I scroll through the pictures Dani attached to the article. I get to the end to find it’s already been viewed over two thousand times.
Tank comes and joins me on the couch, picking up my discarded controller and hitting play. “I know,” he says. “They’re killing this assignment.” He grins proudly, and I must say, it’s a nice change to see this guy finally with a woman he loves.
“Yeah,” I smile. “So, what’s up?”
“Nothing. Wanted to chill.”
“Bullshit. I saw you two hours ago. You never want to chill after a gym session.”
He places the controller down on the coffee table next to his beer and takes a deep breath. “I’m thinking about asking Sophie to move in with me,” he says just as I lift my drink to my lips and tip its contents down my throat.
I do my best not to spray it all over my living room as I take him in. “What?” I ask, completely shocked. Tank prides himself on living alone and hates company. Hell, the dickhead didn’t even want to move in with me. “That’s pretty serious. It’s a huge step for you.”