Page 125 of Redeeming Heart

Falling in love wasn’t my strategy or plan for the next ten to twenty years of my life.

There was still a lot I had got planned besides going to college. I know it was one of the things that made my father disappointed in me.

My original plan was to get out of the US and find a hockey scout who was willing to give me a chance because of the unpopularity of the sport in the US.

My team is a big reason why I stopped reaching for that dream because we are the only ones left who were ambitious to change our chances.

Hockey is nowhere as popular as baseball, basketball, soccer, and American football, but we weren’t going to let it stop us from getting to our final destination.

Not every person has the dream of becoming a football or soccer player.

We were part of the 1% whose dreams were different compared to the average sports person.

I thought at a time in my life that I was immune to love or any kind of form of romance, but Brandon cut through that feeling and showed me how I undermined life.

Closing my eyes—I dropped my head back and let out an uncontrollable sigh before reopening my eyes and getting to my feet.

What if I am not ready to get in a serious relationship with Brandon? And what if I make the mistake of not taking this chance and letting it slip through my fingers without getting a chance to get it back?

Why was I even thinking about love when he mentioned nothing about being in love with me?

Was I the one who was jumping the gun and maybe overthinking this scenario?

He said we were going to talk this through when he gets back, but I was already creating unnecessary thoughts in my head.

I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

His smile.

His banter.

His compassionate and understanding heart and his way of making me feel capable of taking life by its horns.

Brandon opened my eyes and helped me to get rid of my demons.

I regained my passion because he reminded me how good it feels to follow something that makes me happy.

Why was I even thinking about it now? Could Jaylin and Camille have triggered my emotions because we shared most of our younger years together and it was overwhelming for me to be surrounded by their happiness?

“Do you want to talk about it?” Camille’s voice came out of nowhere—making me jump in surprise.

“Dammit, Cam! Don’t do that.” I grumbled.

She just gave me a blunt stare followed by arching an eyebrow to cover up her amusement.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I muttered, turning away from her to get a mug from the cupboard.

“I wasn’t born yesterday,” She noted—not falling for my weak answer.

“There’s nothing wrong. I am just overwhelmed with having you and Jaylin here.” I am overwhelmed. The last time I saw them was a few days after my mother’s funeral and we haven’t talked or seen each other since.

They weren’t even aware of how many times I got arrested or that I quit hockey and joined a hockey club that was doing an amazing job at kicking ass.

“I know that tone and have seen that face before,” She acknowledged, resting her back against the counter next to the one I was working on.

“I am fine,” I grunted.

“You know that would have worked years ago when I didn’t know you were lying to my face,” Camille noted with a questioning look.

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