Page 55 of Any Second Now
“This has been fun.” I take my hat off and wipe my hand down my face, clearing some of the water.
“At least I’m not puking.”
“At least.” I grin at her and she smiles back, her hair dripping onto her shoulders, looking like an adorable drowned rat.
“Let’s go back to check on Megghen and have those croissants you brought.”
“Sure, but we’re doing this again sometime.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. You’re in Colorado. We can go hiking too. But this is the best part of being here—the weather and all the outdoor stuff.”
“Alright, Atticus Knox. Whatever you say. But can we also doindoor activities?”
“Sure. Bowling? Brewery?” I rub my chin and an idea comes to me.
“Those sound a lot safer.”
“Hey, want to come to the arena tomorrow? I’m meeting Lachlan for practice.” I pause. “Not that you want to sit around and watch me practice—that would be boring—but the arena is legit when it’s empty of people.”
“That sounds great.” Raleigh presses her lips together and tilts her head. She’s wet and raw and so completely herself right now, and it’s the best thing ever. Our kayaks knock together.
I can be myself with Raleigh. I don’t have to be someone better than I am. I don’t have to impress her. I don’t have to pretend to be a pretentious hockey star. I can be just me, the kid she used to make fun of back in college.
“Ready to go back?”
She hesitates for a beat and then nods. We make our way back to the shoreline, the warm sun drying our clothes along the way.
Back to what, is the question.
There’s a double meaning there, and maybe her hesitation tells me she understands.
CHAPTER 11
Zombies Prefer Brains
RALEIGH
Sunday, July 6
Ihad a high view video on social media yesterday—only like fifteen thousand views, so not even considered semi-viral, but great for me—after I posted explaining a plan for my zombie cross-stitch line. My video must have found the right people, because I got four new orders overnight. That’s a record for me in one day. Luckily, I have plenty of hoops complete with flowers so I just have to stitch the quotes.
Before now, I’d posted a few images of my work, and after that one successful post early on, got a meh response. But this was my first video. And people liked it? Should I become a cross-stitch influencer?
Wow, that sounds terrible.
I calculated the profit from selling four items and then cackled. It might buy me a half a tank of gas. I’m not living some high-end lifestyle right now, but I do have to send money to my ex-husband.
Now I’m trying to figure out some quotes related to kayaking and flipping over into the lake. I bite my lip to contain the grin from the memory as I watch Lachlan and Atticus do one-on-onedrills under the supervision of their skating coach. Another man—who I’m assuming is Coach Jackson as Atticus told me he’d sometimes stop by these summer sessions—walks over and stands next to the skating coach.
Atticus is right. The arena is pretty cool empty of the crowd of fans. Not that I’ve been to a game, so I guess I don’t have much of a comparison, but the stands look packed when I catch a game streaming.
Too bad it’s summer so I won’t get to watch him play.
Themplay, I mean.
I don’t need to watch Atticus play hockey. Although… he looks sexy as hell on the ice right now. Yeah, okay, I can’t see much of him underneath the padding and helmet, but he is like a giant graceful monster on skates.
