Page 43 of Any Second Now (Fort Collins Blizzard Hockey #2)
To what end, though? Am I really considering changing my life for real?
Atticus doesn’t step back, and we’re standing close.
“I had some ideas, in case you ever decided to revive your cross-stitch side hustle.”
From inside the Pink Palace, Megghen boc boc bocs . The gentle waves of the lake lap peacefully onto the shoreline. The warm summer breeze brushes past my bare arms.
And Atticus Knox is here.
He looks nervous, gnawing on his lower lip, adjusting the hat on his head, gripping his phone in one hand.
“I don’t think I have enough ideas, so that would be great.” I suppress a smile as we both know I’ve had so many good cross-stitch quote ideas this summer.
“I know! I wanted to make sure you accomplished that goal before you leave.”
I press my lips together. “I’m ready.”
“I’m going to read from my phone.” He taps the screen a few times. “First one: I like four things in life in the following order: chickens, zombies, hockey, and RV life .” Atticus looks up at me with wide eyes.
I crack up. “That is kind of perfect? But it might be a bit long for a hoop.”
“Alright, alright, I hear ya.” He grins and looks down at his screen again. “This one is simpler: Chickens, cross-stitch, & hockey. ”
“I love that one. Simple, short, and to the point.”
“And I bet there are a ton of people who have the same three priorities.” He’s got a super serious look plastered on his face.
“There must be so many.” I cross my arms and let myself grin.
“Hundreds, at least.”
“Yup.” I nod. “Go on.”
What is happening here? He’s not here to actually give me cross-stitch ideas, is he? Or to make a video? But the other reason he’d be here is too much to dream for. Am I still tucked into my uncomfortable RV bed dreaming?
Atticus clears his throat and looks back down at his phone.
“How about: Are you a chicken? No? Go away. Or: my house is an RV. Or just: hockey.”
“You’re really good at this, did you know that? Such a good cross-stitch student.”
“Yes, I am a wonderful student in general.”
“I guess I’m not a great coach though, since you fired me.”
“It wasn’t your coaching ability that lost you the job, I can assure of that.”
“No?”
He shakes his head and raises a suggestive eyebrow. “I have one more idea.”
“Go on.” My stomach tightens and I draw in a breath, holding it while I wait for him to speak.
“ FAFO, my boyfriend is a hockey player. ” Atticus slides his phone back in his pocket and looks at me.
I swallow and can’t squeak out a reply.
“That might work. But maybe too niche…” My voice trails of f.
I want that hoop in my house. I want to be able to say that, in stitches or in texts or out loud. More than anything.
“Raleigh.” Atticus shoves his hands in his pockets. His gaze pierces me. My heart. My soul. “I’m not just here to talk about cross-stitch. Although I have even more ideas than those, by the way.”
I swallow and nod, my chest pounding. What do I do with my hands? They feel clammy. I clench my fists at my sides and release them again. It doesn’t help.
“Then why are you here?” I whisper.
“I’m here because—” Atticus looks over his shoulder at his Wrangler, then adjusts his hat and meets my eyes again. “Since you showed up this summer. No—since New Year’s Eve. Since college .”
He pauses and I flash back to New Year’s Eve. The kiss in a dark corner. The one that was supposed to get it out of our systems. I swallow and it’s like I’m choking on a bunch of chicken feathers.
“—all I could do after that kiss was think about you. It changed me.” He takes a deep breath and I remember to let out the one I was holding. “You were always the college crush I had. A thing for my older sister’s best friend. How original, right?” He cracks a tentative smile.
“Kind of the same as having a crush on your best friend’s brother,” I say and cross my arms.
A serious look falls on his face again. His hands flex at his sides.
“All winter I thought about you. All spring. And then, like freaking magic, you showed up here, in Fort Collins, in your giant pink RV.”
“What was I thinking?” I let out a breathy laugh.
“I don’t know,” Atticus says with a wondrous look. “What were you thinking?”
“I’ve had no idea what I’m doing since the divorce.” I shrug. “Actually, since a year ago, when I found out about Jacob’s issues. ”
Atticus reaches out his hands and I immediately uncross my arms and put my hands in his. I sigh at the contact.
“You showed up and took my breath away.” He licks his lips and glances at my mouth. “And I have a confession. The dating coach thing was a sham. I never wanted to ask out the bookstore woman. I never even noticed her… it was just a convenient excuse to get you to hang out with me.”
I turn my hand until my fingers loop into his. It’s like a live wire is connecting us, and I close my eyes to bask in its energy.
“I only fell more in love with you when we watched the zombie movies together.”
My eyes fly open.
“What did you say?” I whisper.
He blinks a hundred times and looks confused, then appears to replay the last thing he said in his head. Atticus’s eyes widen as he hears it.
Atticus is in love with me? Fireworks brighter than the ones on the fourth of July explode in my heart. Am I going to get what I want more than anything in the world?
Because it’s Atticus. I’m sure of that now.
“Okay, I got there quicker than I meant to.” Atticus squeezes my hands.
“I’m in love with you, Raleigh Hayes. I’ve probably been in love with you since college.
Since that first time I saw you and puked in the bushes outside of your apartment building.
But if that didn’t do it, it was the zombie movies.
Or at the very least, our doomed kayak adventures.
Learning to do cross-stitch from you. Hanging out with Megghen. Just… being with you.”
All the breath has disappeared from my body.
Atticus loves me. He loves me .
His brow furrows and I need to say something back immediately.
I bite my lip and get lost in his green eyes.