Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Missy and I are sitting in great seats. Ares gets two tickets to every home game. Usually, Zeus uses them to watch him play, as he lives over in Port Washington, which is only an hour’s drive away. Lo and Missy use them when they’re home.
But, tonight, it’s me and Missy here, supporting him.
I could have gone in the box with the wives. Not because of the fact that Ares and I are together; that’s still a secret, and that’s because I haven’t found the courage to tell my dad despite the pressure from Ares to tell him.
But my dad is the coach, and I work for the team, so I have access anywhere. But I didn’t want to sit up there. I wanted to be out here, among the action, close to Ares.
“He’s been playing great tonight,” Missy says to me.
“Yeah, he has.” I nod.
“It’s because he’s happy. Have I told you how glad I am that you and my brother are together?”
“Only about twenty times.” I chuckle.
She grins. “Well, it’s true. I’ve never seen him this happy before, and that makes me happy. And, also, it makes me love you even more than I already do.”
She loves me. That lights me up like the sky on the Fourth of July.
“Thanks, Missy. It means a lot. And you know that I…you know…too.” Expressing emotion isn’t one of my strengths.
She softly smiles at me. “I know.” She threads her arm through mine and gives me a squeeze. “You mean a lot to Ares. And me. You might be a Petrelli, but you’re a Kincaid now, too.”
I swallow down the golf ball in my throat and blink away the tears threatening my eyes.
“The game’s nearly over,” Missy says. “There’s only a minute left on the clock. Do you want to head down?”
“Sure.” I smile at her.
We leave our seats and walk down the steps, heading toward the belly of the stadium where the locker rooms are.
We pass security with a wave of my ID badge and walk toward the locker room to wait outside where we agreed to meet Ares.
He’ll probably have to do press, so he won’t be out right away, but I’m happy to hang around and wait with Missy.
There’s press milling around the hall, waiting to interview the players. My dad will be in the locker room. But he generally doesn’t come out to talk to the press, so he won’t see me leaving with Ares, which is a good thing.
But the press will see.
Yeah, but I’m with his sister, so they won’t think much of it.
I’ve just parked my ass against the wall when Missy says, “I’m just gonna go to the restroom. Back in a few. Okay?”
“Sure.” I pull my phone out of my pocket and start scrolling through Twitter, reading tweets about the game.
“You’re Arianna Petrelli, right?”
I lift my eyes from my phone to see a good-looking guy—mid-twenties, messy blond hair, a tattoo sleeve on one arm. The whole bad-boy vibe going on.
Would have totally been my type prior to Ares.
“Depends on who’s asking.”
“I’m Leo Parsons. I’m a writer for Athletic and Sports News.”
A journalist. Of course.
“Not to be rude…but how do you know who I am?”
He’s a sports journalist; of course he knows who you are.
“I recognized you from your photo…in the news…after your crash.”
I tense instantly.
“I just wanted to say, it was shitty, the way some of the press went after you. You probably didn’t see it, but I wrote a piece—not about you per se, but your case and about alcohol addiction and how society views us.” He puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out a bronze chip. “Eighteen months sober,” he tells me.
I relax a little, knowing this guy is part of the same club as me.
“That’s amazing,” I tell him.
“Still fighting every day, but you know that, right?”
I nod.
“Anyway, I just wanted to come over and say hi, and if you get a chance to read my article…”
“Of course,” I say, smiling. “I’ll totally check it out.”
“Great.” He smiles and then leans in a little closer, lowering his voice a touch. “And I was wondering if…maybe one night you might want to grab a bite to eat.”
“Oh!” Shit. “I, um…I’m not dating right now. Still trying to get my life together, you know.”
“Right. Yeah, of course.” He straightens up and steps back. “Well, we could go out, just as friends.”
“Um…” I scratch my cheek. “Okay, yeah, sure.”
“Great.” He smiles. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a business card. “Here’s my card with my number and email.” He holds it out, so I take it from him. “So, yeah…hit me up, and we can go out for a burger or something.”
“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”
My neck nearly snaps—it turns that quick—and I see Ares glowering down at Leo.