Page 29 of Power Move
“I have a much happier, fuller life where I landed.” These people gave me so much more than I had before.
His pink shirt as bright as Jonas’s orange sunglasses, Maxim links his arm with Quinn’s. “Yes, we do add color.”
“And fun.” Though we have a green light, Jonas jogs to the middle to hold up traffic that isn’t moving, and waves us on. “I, myself, am highly entertaining.”
Safely back on the sidewalk, Quinn extricates himself from Maxim’s arm and turns, walking backward, to address Sage and his friends. “Do you see what I had to put up with alone before Rhys arrived?”
Laughing, Remy claps Quinn on the back. “Yeah, looks like it was a real hardship.”
We arrive at the theater. The guys get in line to buy snacks, but Sage holds back, tugging our linked hands to keep me with him. He cups my cheek. “I have you. Anytime. Anywhere.”
“Thanks for standing with me in there. Meeting you is another reason I’m happy I ended up in Minneapolis.” I bend to kiss him. When our lips meet, the warmth blooming in me feels as bright as the sun.
He’s special, full of quirks, shyness, and sweetness. Taking care of him, making sure he’s happy, is quickly becoming my most important thing.
The little things he does, like asking how I’m doing and genuinely wanting to know the answer, bringing me a coffee before games or saving me a seat somewhere, forwarding me memes and articles that made him think of me, and sending me texts with sweet thoughts and kind words, make me feel happy and like I’m special to him too.
I’m falling a little harder for him each day.
CHAPTER 9
SAGE
A light blanketof snow covers the trees and forest floor. Morgan turns the car down the path and the cabin we’ve rented for the night comes into view. The large rancher sleeps ten, and we’ll fill it to capacity.
I lean forward, staring out the window. Snow and pine, all around us. The forecast calls for more snow tonight and tomorrow. “Looks peaceful.”
“Or creepy,” Remy chimes in from the back seat. “Come on, a lonely cabin in the woods?”
“There’s, like, a bunch more. It’s a campsite. Not an isolated mountaintop.” And we’re within an hour’s drive of Minneapolis. I note the walkway and steps have been cleared of snow.
“But we’re the only ones here. No other cabins are rented.” He juts out his chin. “I heard that part of your conversation when you booked this today.”
Grinning at him and his need to be right, I grab my phone to check Rhys’s ETA. “Okay, taking that into account, this is a lonely cabin in an uninhabited, vast forest. Total spooky vibes.”
He bites the head off a gummy worm. “Thank you.”
Morgan turns the car off. “Okay, children. Let’s go. Gio’s pulling in right now.”
We climb out of the car. I grab our overnight bags from the trunk and get the cabin’s front door unlocked. The leasing office made sure the heat was on for us. We have a full kitchen and two baths, a TV, Wi-Fi, beds, and comfortable looking furniture. Not exactly the camping Rhys does, but we’re still in winter, and this was the best I could come up with on short notice.
Originally, Jonas suggested dinner at a steakhouse to celebrate Rhys’s birthday, but since Coach gave us tomorrow off, we opted to surprise Rhys with something bigger.
Returning outside, I pull Phil into a hug. “Quality time with the fam. Thanks for coming. And for baking Rhys’s cake.”
Gio’s next, squeezing me. “Thanks for inviting us. Feels like we’ve been two ships… no wait.” He points to Phil, himself, Remy, Morgan, Soren, and me. “Six ships passing in the night. No, I was right the first time. Three of you on the Metros. Three of us on the Slash. Therefore, two ships.”
“Missed you, whatever the number of ships.” Laughing, I release him and gently hug Soren, careful of his crutches. “How’s the hamstring?”
The rubber ends of the crutches thunk with his hobble up the cleared steps. He got the tear during a game a week ago. Eight weeks estimated recovery means he’s done for the season. “I’m allowed to put some weight on it now. I’ve been walking around the house. Got tired of my apartment, so I’m annoying Phil and Gio in theirs.”
“You can hang out in mine for a change of pace.” I hold the door open for him and the others.
Morgan follows him inside, carrying two bags of groceries. “Or mine.”
“Or mine.” Remy has the bag with snacks. The open bag of gummy worms sticks out of the top.
Soren eases himself onto a plush chair by the picture window. “I shudder at the thought of all of those stairs.”
