Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Everything was so confusing, but by the end of the second period, Aynslee not only knew what icing and hooking were, but she was quickly turning into a hockey fan. The rush of the game was unbelievable—she loved it! The Odder guy hadn’t let one goal in, but she wished she could see Jordan play. He looked as if he were sleeping, but when a puck flew into the bench, everyone hit the deck except Jordan, who caught the puck with his big glove and handed it back to the coach. He moved like a ninja, and she’d bet he was the same way on the ice. Or in bed.
Sigh.
“I wish he were playing.”
Sadie shook her head. “Nah, we’re playing the Wings; we need Odder in the goal. We can’t lose, and, like I said, Ryan isn’t the goalie he used to be.”
“That’s so sad,” Aynslee said, her heart breaking for him.
Maybe that was why he’d walked away from her. Why he was so closed off. She wanted nothing more than to close the distance between them and tell him that, even though she didn’t know him well or know how he played, she thought he was awesome anyway. Aynslee shook her head; she couldn’t do this. It didn’t seem right to watch him from afar when she knew that something had been between them. There had to be a way to meet up with him again.
“Do you know where they practice?” she asked suddenly.
“Yeah. They are leaving for a road trip tomorrow; their next home game is next week, Saturday, and there is a practice that Friday morning.”
Aynslee thought for a moment.
“And next Friday’s the last day of our break.” “Yup. Wanna go?”
“Yeah,” Aynslee said with a nod. “And I’m gonna get that man’s number.” “It’s thirty.”
Aynslee looked over, ready to smack Sadie, but she was grinning and all Aynslee could do was laugh.
Shoving Sadie’s arm, she said, “Shut up. You know what I mean.”
“And you thought that when you Googled him, you were stalking him,” Sadie said, still grinning.
Yes, it was a little stalker-ish to show up at his practice, at the place he worked, but she had no choice. Surely when he saw her, he would know that he couldn’t walk away again.
Maybe he’d thought about her as much as she’d thought about him. She wondered if he went to sleep at night wishing she were there. Or maybe he was fucking anything with tits and had completely forgotten about her. It was a possibility, but Aynslee couldn’t give up, not yet.
With a huff, Jordan ran his hand through his hair as he waited in line at Starbucks. He hated
waiting in line, and if he hadn’t had a good hour and a half to spare before going to the airport to leave for South Carolina, he would have been irritated. He was not excited about this trip at all— another game where he would keep the bench warm. He wished his body ached, that he had the bruises that Tate had after last night’s win, but instead he had nothing. He may have jammed his finger when he was putting on his pads, but, other than that, nothing.
Jordan had planned on getting a coffee and relaxing in his favorite chair just to pass time and to get ready for the meeting he had late that afternoon with the IceCats. He hoped to God they liked him and wanted him; he was tired of not playing, and with each passing day he was becoming increasingly bitter. He was never like this, and he knew something was really off. He couldn’t blame it on the fact that he wasn’t playing, though, because that had been going on for months. Recently there was a new loneliness, and there was only one reason that would make him feel like that. Or one person.
Aynslee Shaw.
God, he’d fucked up. He should have tried to get her into bed, at least get laid, but he knew that it wouldn’t end like that. She was the kind of girl he could fall for and even marry. Jordan didn’t understand the instant attraction or the need he felt for her, but for the last five days all he’d done was think of her. Even when he was on the bench last night, acting as if he was watching the game, he scanned the stands for a fiery redhead, knowing he wouldn’t find her.
Jordan never regretted anything, but he regretted just walking away.
But he’d had no choice.
She wasn’t someone he could leave behind, and with the uncertainty of everything in his life now, there was no way he could get into a relationship with her—even if she made his heart want to come out of his chest and beg her to love him. Nope, he had to keep that shit locked up. Things were too complicated. In a perfect world, things would be simple and he could pursue her, but his world wasn’t perfect. Not even close.