Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 130307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Add in the fact that one of their veteran wingers loved to chirp me and had a knack for getting under my skin, and we all knew I needed to be in the best head space to win tomorrow.
I went up to the team gym for a long bike session, telling myself I’d be fine.
By the time I hit the shower, I was convinced I needed to get laid by whatever means necessary. Clearly, my hand wasn’t doing the trick. And if I went another week wound this tight, I’d spiral.
I was even desperate enough to actually go out to Boomer’s if I had to.
But when I dressed and made it to my car, all I wanted to do was go home.
I was halfway there when I remembered that Ava was having her first sleepover tonight.
The realization made my foot slip off the pedal, my car slowing until I cursed, shook my head, and started driving again before anyone could honk at me. My heart started racing. My mind spun with thoughts that were as dangerous as they were impossible to stop.
Ava was gone for the night. She was sleeping at Charlotte West’s house for her birthday. She’d actually been excited about it, which I had no doubt was thanks to Chloe and the strides she’d made with my little girl.
I was picking her up tomorrow after morning skate.
Chef Patel had made cupcakes for Ava to take with her, and she’d also pre-made dinner and put it in the fridge for tonight at my request.
Chef Patel had the night off.
My Chef and my daughter would both be gone.
Which meant…
I swallowed as the implications set in, and I wondered how I didn’t realize this little tidbit when I’d first agreed to the sleepover. Chloe and I would be alone.
Then again, I had told her to take the night off, too.
Maybe she’d take the chance to go sleep at her own place — to get away from me for the night after a week of awkward silences and very clear avoidance.
Maybe she’d go spend time with her family.
Maybe she’d go out with coworkers, or with friends.
Maybe she’d be out on a date.
Even as I thought the options, my heart pounded faster with what I knew was the truth.
She’d be home.
At my home.
It would just be me, and her, alone.
When I hit the gas with a little more gusto, I knew I was literally driving myself crazy.
Because when I flew through the front door of my home, I marched straight through it and out to that pool house with only one thing on my mind.
No Kissing
Chloe
So, here’s the thing about my little Reddit post.
It had gone viral.
What I assumed would get me a few sarcastic comments and maybe one or two real pieces of advice turned into thousands of people deeply invested in my little predicament.
They were especially intrigued after I detailed what happened in the pool last week.
I, of course, had been vague about everything and had changed certain specifics to protect myself.
In my story online, I lived in Wyoming. My boss was a rancher, and I was his ranch hand slash nanny. But I told the truth about what happened in the pool, about how I’d taken my friends’ advice to be bold and confronted my boss.
About he’d looked like he wanted to eat me right there.
In the good way.
The way one might want to eat a sleeve of Oreos after being on a sugar-free diet for years.
But he’d stopped it. He’d told me I knew what he wasn’t saying.
“We can’t,” he’d whispered against my hair after he’d kissed my forehead.
My fingers floated up to that spot like it still burned as I read through comments that had come in overnight.
It wasn’t just strangers online whom I confided in. No, the girls had asked for an update on Noah just a couple days after the pool incident, to which I’d replied that I’d made a move and he’d turned me down. They’d been content to let it go.
And since my list of friends outside of the new ones I’d made recently consisted of my mother and grandmother, who I knew would have very strong opinions on this matter, it had become my favorite part of each day, to pull up Reddit and talk to these wise strangers.
And at least the story I’d fabricated for them was a bit more similar to the truth.
The advice varied widely, from those telling me to let go of the fantasy and focus on my job, to those who were begging me to test the line with him again. Some swore I’d regret it if we hooked up, that I’d lose my job (which, I confessed in the post, was allowing me to save more money than I ever could have imagined in my life). Others swore that he wanted me just as much as I wanted him, and that if we gave in, we’d end up falling in love, getting married, and having a house full of babies.