Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 121734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
“She won’t beat the other outlets. Everyone’s printing in the morning, so as soon as possible, I’d imagine.”
I needed to skate. I needed to clear my head. Then I’d go into damage control and figure out how to break the news to Skylar. Shit. Her world was going to fall apart for the second time in a week. “I need an hour or two. I—I just need that time.”
“I’ll make the call. She’ll be on standby. She’s local. She can meet you somewhere too.”
That all sounded good. A private room where I could dictate which words were going to be used to set my family’s life on fire. Wonderful. “I’ll get back to you.”
Next, I called the night nurse on duty and asked if she could keep an eye on my sister.
“Will do. She was sleeping the last time I checked in there.”
“Good. If you can, don’t let her check her phone until I get there.”
After that, I turned my phone off. I needed to or I wouldn’t be able to think. This wasn’t my first rodeo. I needed to process my own shit, and then I’d figure out how to destroy everyone trying to hurt my family.
Heading inside, I expected the rink lights to be on, considering I’d seen the psych doctor with skates over her shoulder. But I hadn’t expected to find her in the middle of the ice, hands on her hips, her head tipped forward.
I slowed to a stop and watched.
Music started, and my ears perked. She used to be a figure skater? No... Those were hockey skates on her feet. She stood on them like they were another pair of shoes to her. She wasn’t some novice skater.
The music kicked up, and she pushed off, gliding forward.
She went straight to the end of the rink and flew around, completing a lap.
She wasn’t a figure skater.
I kept watching, and she kept going, and going, and going. She picked up speed in the first lap, and by the time she was doing her fourth, she was whipping around the rink as fast as any pro NHL player. Fuck. She was good. She was really good.
I stepped closer to the ice.
That pull was there, like a hook inside of me. I knew her. I didn’t know how or when our paths crossed, but they had at some point. Or was this something else? Like that shit some psychics talk about? Did I know her from a past life or something? Even as I considered that, I didn’t believe it. No. No way. I knew her in this life, somehow.
On her next pass, she lifted her head and saw me. Her eyes widened, and I realized that’s what was messing with me. She was in serious pain. She hadn’t had time to mask it when she looked up.
That’s what had connected me to her. I didn’t actually know her, but somehow, I’d realized she was experiencing the same agony as my twin sister.
Rain careened to a stop, turning shortly so she didn’t fall—her chest heaving, her hair wild and free, and tears rolling down her face.
I pressed a hand to the partition separating us.
I let her see the storm inside of me, and after hesitating a second, she skated to stand on the other side. There was no reason to hide my pain. I couldn’t. She’d know what was going on in my life the next time she checked her phone, so what was the point?
Besides, I wanted her. This was more than just a crazy connection. A need to claim her pulsed in me, and I wasn’t second guessing it. I’d felt this way with a few other women, and I’d learned that the sooner I fucked them, the sooner we could all continue with our lives.
Those other women had also been in male-dominated professions, so maybe it was about that type. Strong. Independent. I didn’t know. I just knew that when I got these feelings, the sex was fucking amazing, and with the shitstorm hitting my world right now, I could use an escape. Even if it was momentary and fleeting.
I showed her all of that.
I could see her warring with herself. It was too late to hide her sadness, and she knew it, but she considered it. Her shoulders rose and she pondered, her eyes darting to my hand. But then she looked back to my eyes, and it was like she decided to give in too. Her eyes flashed, lust-filled and yearning.
I leaned in, resting my forehead on the partition beside my hand, and she bit her lip before she fitted her hand against mine. It was a perfect match. Or it would be.
I started for the rink door, and she skated to beat me there.
She was just stepping off the ice when I got to her side. “You okay with this?” I asked.