Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 130275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
“You’re back on the ice?” Stephan asked, voice laced with hope.
“Yeah,” I allowed myself to say and felt that response down to my bones. I was back. “I’m back,” I said, and Stephen jumped on me, wrapping his arms around my neck.
He held on just a little too long. “Glad to have you here again, brother,” he said, and this time the term of endearment didn’t hurt. Stephan had been my best friend for years. He had been my brother—still was.
“I’m sorry,” I said, when he moved back. We stood alone on center ice. It was silent but for our breaths. “I’m so sorry—”
“You’ve got nothing to apologize for, yeah?” Stephan said, and I saw in his face that he meant it. I went to argue. That I had treated him like shit for too long. But he stopped me with his hand on my arm. “You got nothing to be sorry for, Cael. Nothing.”
I nodded, throat thick with emotion. I couldn’t speak. Stephan could clearly see that and skated backward. “So, Woods,” he said tauntingly, “how about a little one-on-one? I can probably take you now that you’re a little rusty.”
My chest lifted with lightness and filled with warmth. I smiled wide. “It wouldn’t matter if I hadn’t played for ten years, Steph. I could still beat your ass anytime, anywhere.”
Stephan laughed and brought us back a puck. I stretched out my arms and neck and then I played against my best friend like we’d had no break. For hours we played. We laughed. I smiled. I breathed long, painless breaths.
I won every game.
And more importantly, I had a future to get back hold of. I promised my girl we would meet again.
I wasn’t going to let her down.
Surprise Guests and Connected Hearts
Savannah
Harvard University
Fall
“MAKE SURE TO DO THE READING FOR NEXT WEEK!” THE PROFESSOR shouted over the mass of people packing away their notes and scurrying out of the door.
“I think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew,” Cara, my new roommate, said.
“You can do this,” I said, putting my bag over my shoulder and heading out of the building. College had just begun. We’d had a week of orientation, and today was the first day of classes. But better yet, I was going to see Cael again soon. Just as I had arrived, the hockey team left for an off-campus training camp. He had told me he was back today, and I was counting down the seconds until I saw him again.
We had talked every day since he left the retreat, and I could hardly breathe with how badly I wanted to see him again. To have him wrap his strong arms around me and pull me to his chest.
I was nervous too. It had been months since he had left Japan. Since we had kissed or held one another close. I’d missed him so much at times I felt like boarding a plane to see him. But I knew he needed to focus and that I’d see him again at college.
I could barely believe I would see him again in a matter of hours.
We walked to the hallway and left the building, entering the beauty that was Boston in the fall. It was so beautiful it didn’t seem real. I checked my cell phone to see if he had called. There was nothing yet. I put my phone in my pocket, then looked up and stopped dead in my tracks. My heart fired off into a sprint, when, down the stairs, standing against a tree in the courtyard, was Cael. He was searching all around him, looking for someone … looking for me, I realized. Students muttered as they had to squeeze past my statue-like state, but I couldn’t move, too shocked at seeing Cael again right before me.
“Savannah? What—” Cara said, but then her words died off into silence. Then she said, “That’s Cael Woods.” But my eyes were locked on the boy who had stolen my heart from the moment I had laid eyes on him. The boy who had held that heart in his hands for months, keeping it safe until I was back in his arms.
Cael was dressed in sportswear. Sweatpants and a jacket. My breathing stuttered in happiness when I saw it was a jacket that read Crimson Hockey. His tattoos snuck up his neck and out of the collar, his dark hair short at the sides and messy on top … then he found me and I met his eyes.
Cael’s stare melted when our gazes finally collided. And like I had been a boat adrift at sea, I found an anchor in his eyes, his very presence. On shaking legs, I never broke eye contact as I began running down the steps and across the courtyard to where he stood.
Tears built in my eyes as I drank him in with my every step. He was here. Cael was really here. He didn’t hesitate and set off to run for me too, and unable to be parted for one more second, we landed in each other’s arms, chests meeting and arms wrapping around the other like we would never let go. I held on tight, my soul soaring now that I was back in his embrace.