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Chapter 1
Avery
This man just might be my forever.
“Are you sure you don’t want to join the party?” Nate asked me again for the umpteenth time tonight as he pointed to the sliding door behind us. Right behind those doors, there was a full-blown party happening and if I looked closely enough, I could see the glass shaking from how loud the music was.
They seemed to be having fun, but I wanted to be right here...with him.
“Yeah, I’m sure. I think I attended way too many already this year,” I joked and he smiled as he sat down next to me on the outdoor couch; the view from up here was amazing.
There was something captivating about the captain’s house. At just 26 years old, he had built for himself an amazing house that probably had one of the best views of Maple Creek. The lush green trees went on for miles, and sitting on the balcony of his house, I could just tell that this house must have cost him millions!
“I still can’t believe today was the last day of your internship,” he breathed out as he raised a can of beer to his lips, and I unconsciously licked mine.
“I’m gonna miss you,”is what I wanted to say. But instead, I giggled and nodded as I rubbed my sweaty palms on my knees, trying to calm myself down because I was sitting next to the guy I’d had anunhealthycrush on for the past year.
“Yeah, the year went by pretty quickly, didn’t it?”How unfair.
Even though I spent a lot of time around the team... and Nate, I just could never get over my feelings for him. If anything, it felt like they had grown stronger in this year alone and it was because of how nice Nate was to me.
He was such a gentleman, even though I had seen him and my brother change out girls almost everyotherday, but he never failed to be nice to me and that was my undoing. I spent a lot of time imagining just how great of a couple we would be if he just gave me a chance.
But how do you give someone a chance if you don’t know they’re crazy about you?
When I got the internship with the Maple Creek Lumberjacks—thanks to my brother, who told me to stay the fuck away from him and his friends during my time here—I never thought I’d get to spend so much time with the team members and eventually finally get to have a conversation with my crush in real life.
I was just a senior in high school when I saw him for the first time. He was my brother’s roommate in college and his teammate on the school’s ice hockey team. I was blown away when I saw him play on the ice, he was literally the only personI had my eyes on throughout the game, and when wemet, I hid behind my parents because I couldn’t handle how beautiful he was.
He had short dark brown hair, and his olive-green eyes were bright with passion just like they still are now. His jawline was sharp and his high cheekbones weren’t as defined as they are now, but I just couldn’t handle his attractiveness back then.
I was only eighteen.
I finally got into my brother’s college in his final year, and just when I thought I had built up the courage to face Nate and talk to him, the opportunity had passed. He didn’t remember me from two years ago, but I couldn’t blame him. Plenty had changed in his life for him, and plenty had changedonme as well.
My breasts suddenly jutted out, right after I was convinced I would be flat-chested for the rest of my life, and my hips had broadened; I had miraculously transformed into a stunning young lady, and my brother told me to stay away from Nate.
Not like I cared, but that meant I wouldn’t get as close to Nate as possible.
Or so I thought until I begged Brian to help me get an internship with the Lumberjacks for a school assignment and he agreed after having bribed him and slaved away during the summer holidays. I was finally in! And it was uncomfortably hot to do all that work.
However, Nate still didn’t notice me the way I would have liked him to. He was nice to me the first few months, and then it eventually grew into us talking more and more, having conversations outside of hockey, which I was grateful for because it was all Brian ever talked about during family dinners.
We would talk about everything, like how I was finding college, and how apparently it seemed so different when he had attended. He would help me clean up the team’s mess from time to time, because I was still an intern, after all...all for Nate.
“Yeah, I’m gonna miss having you around.” He clicked our cans together, offering me that charming smile that always had me ready to part waters for him, mow the lawn, take care of our children while he just sat down. I would do absolutely anything for him.ANYTHING.
“You’re gonna miss talking about the Mrs. Fayerweather?” I joked about our mutual lecturer and he barked out a laughter as he threw his head back.
“Actually, on second thought,” he chuckled and I pretended to be hurt as I put my hand on my chest, widening my mouth.Say you’re going to miss me, not just having me around.“Yeah, I’m gonna miss talking about her.”
“You can’t be serious,” I murmured as I shook my head. “And here I was thinking you enjoyed my company,but no. You just wanted to talk about Fayer.” I kissed my teeth as I shook my head and Nate laughed raising his hands.
“I’m just kidding. Of course, I enjoyed your company, you’re so much better than those brawny idiots in there,” he whispered as he leaned in closer and I slowly nodded.
“Because I’mscrawnyain’t it?” I teased and he shook his head, pursing his lips.
“Quite the opposite.”
