Page 44 of Puck It!

"We have practice in the morning."

"I'll be fine, I'm digging these tall ceilings, I might hang my silks." I look up at them again, haven't taken my mind from them since we arrived.

"Macie, don't you dare" Jax growls and I laugh "Why?"

"For one, I don't think a sixteen foot ladder would even get your short ass close enough to the ceiling. And for two, just fucking don't, if you want them hung, I'll do it."

I lift my brow, knowing he's right, these ceilings are tall, but I would've definitely given it a go, "Fine, I'll wait."

"Am I just going to walk in one day and find you hanging from the ceiling?" Sully asks.

"Yeah. Probably every day. I have to practice."

"How the fuck did you get into that?" I shrug at Sully's question, I don't really know how I did. I just did.

"I took dance class, which mom knew about, helps skaters, but she didn't know the extra classes I was doing. And then Stacie showed me aerial hoops."

"Stacie does this shit too?" Jax asks.

"For fun yeah. That's why she would come to the club every night, and find a friend when she was thirsty."

They both laugh, but really, they don't know how naughty Stacie's bad side can be.

"Once I started feeling comfortable with hoops, I moved to silks and well, there's nothing like it."

"And the club?" Sully chuckles

"I already told you, to make money. Do you realize how much money I made a night there." I did get paid good money, because of what I could do with silks. I know what I'm capable of doing, I can do more, I just have to find the right place. And that job that caught my eye, is it, and could be everything I've been asking for.

Jax pulls his phone from his pocket and answers a call before he puts it on speaker laying it on the counter. Their new coach is on the other end of the phone and they carry on their conversation. About practice in the morning, to the dinner they are having tomorrow night to welcome the guys to the team. Seems exciting, but then he runs down the list of the plans, the future, the things I find my mind wandering away from the conversation. They're going to be busy.

Earlier I had admired the back patio, and imagined what it would look like at night with lights on. It just seemed so pretty in my mind, so I slide from the counter, leaving them to their talk. I don't need to be involved in everything, this is their show, and I will soon find mine.

I find the light switch that turns the lights on outside, snagging the blanket off the couch on my way past, I walk outside. The cool evening air fills my lungs, the smell unfamiliar, but it still brings a smile to my face, it's a smell of freedom.

I sit on the cushioned patio chair, pulling my knees to my chest, before I cover myself with the blanket. For the longest time I stare out, absorbing my new surroundings, that unfamiliar smell, the image in my head of what it would look like out here has come to life.

It's beautiful.

I hear the guys laughing, still talking with their coach, and it pulls a smile to my face, excited for them. Who knew I'd find myself leaving home with these two.

With it sounding like their conversation is going to be a bit longer, I pull my phone out and open my book I've been slowly reading, never finding the time. But right now, what a perfect time.

I indulge in my book, getting lost in the world of what love should be, or can be with the right person. I can't stop reading, the swipe of my thumb across the screen, flipping page, after page, zoning my surroundings out and zoning deeper into the book. Hoping one day I will find someone I can trust, and love, and I think I already have, but I'm scared to open my heart.

"What’cha reading?" I jump, not realizing Jax had walked up on me.

"Reading a book I've only been trying to read for a month."

"Oh, yeah, what's it about?" He asks with that playfully cocky smile before he leans down, sliding his arm around my back and under my legs, before he lifts me, sits where I was and sets me on his lap.

I nuzzle into him, adjusting my blanket so it covers us both before I tell him, "A hockey player who falls in love with the coach’s daughter."

He snorts, because in a way, he did, well, that is if he is in love with me, I don't know what it is. My dad was their coach too.

"That sounds familiar."

I lift a brow then ask, "Does it?"

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