Page 7 of Redeeming Heart

“Jonah, slow down.” I urged when he got too courageous and impatient with going at a slow pace. He started forgetting about the right balance required to keep the board from tipping over.

“I’m fine.” He assured me but I knew better.

He ignored my friendly warning as he continued to push harder and made the mistake of catching spend when he reached the top of the hill.

He ducked when I tried grabbing him to pull him to a stop which caused only caused him to up more pace and not before long, he was starting to freak out—unsure of what to do.

I screamed for everyone to get out of the way as I ran after him—not wanting someone to press charges if he knocks someone over. I threw Jonah’s bags to the side, threw an arm around him, and picked him up without caring that he protested.

We went down when the momentum knocked me off my feet. My back hit the hard concrete floor with Jonah in my arms—crushing me when he landed on top of me.

I laid there for a moment trying to catch my breath when Jonah scrambled to get off of me. “Shit, Sasha. Why did you do that?” Jonah asked with big, round eyes.

This kid was starting to test my patience.

I quirked an eyebrow. “Where did you learn to swear like that?” I asked, my chest wheezing when I pushed myself up into a sitting position and ignored the onlookers passing us by.

“I am thirteen.” He said it like it was no big deal.

“Yeah, so?” I started looking around for my board. I was going to kill Jonah if he lost or broke my board. I used up all my allowance to buy that board and it wasn’t one of the cheap kind either.

“This yours?” I raised my angry gaze at the amused, masculine voice and did a double-take when I was greeted by two familiar smoky-grey eyes smothered by humor.

Brandon Hills.

The town’s favorite golden boy.

He was as tall as I remembered.

His shoulders are broader and more muscular from all the time he spends on the ice.

Prominent cheekbones and full lips that were currently curled up in a smile.

“You, okay? That seemed like quite a fall.” I wasn’t sure if he was nice or secretly have a laugh about my situation, either way, I wasn’t much thrilled with Jonah.

I nodded pushing myself to my feet and taking my board from his outstretched hand and making sure it wasn’t broken.

The last time I saw him was back in high school when he was dating the girl who was responsible for why I lost my shot at the hockey championship.

“That looks painful,” I followed his stare and shrugged when I saw the fresh scrap on my elbow.

“I’ll be fine,” I wouldn’t have even noticed if he didn’t point it out.

“I remember you now,” Brandon noted.

His eyes were shielded and did not give anything away.

“You were the hockey player who punched Clarissa in the face.” He remarked.

I bit back a smirk when I remembered the incident. It was the day I finally hit rock bottom and she made the mistake of getting in my face.

“She deserved it,”

Clarissa was his girlfriend back in high school and a bully. She got up all in my face right after I found out my mother was very ill and there was a chance, she wasn’t going to make it.

“Wait!” Jonah exclaimed with big, round eyes filled with bewilderment.

His eyes shifted from me to Brandon unblinking.

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