Page 103 of Fighting Chance

I’ve been asking him where he’s taking me since we left the house and every attempt has ended in failure.

“You’re hellbent on keeping this a secret.”

He flicks on his blinker. “I’m hellbent on making this a night you’ll remember.”

I whistle low. “Trying to ingrain yourself in my brain, Ashford?”

“Seems only fair considering you take up all the space in mine.”

My breath hitches, the air thickening as the car rolls to a stop at a red light. Kieran’s head turns my way, his tongue darting out to wet his lips.

A million thoughts fill his eyes, all of them moving at such lightning speed I can’t reach out and grasp one. I wish I could—I’d love nothing more than to crawl inside that mind of his and find out if he’s telling the truth.

I all but jump out of my skin when the car behind us honks. The light must have switched without us noticing.

Rushing to change the subject, I ask, “How did Emmy’s speech therapy go?”

I am interested. I just haven’t had a chance to ask him. If I’m being honest, when I’ve been around him over the past three days, all I could think about was how Kieran Ashford , the hockey god on ice and in the bedroom said he wanted to help me with mylifelist. Then my thoughts would instantly go to how I will haveto tell him about all the things I want to experience and my chest would get that tight tingly sensation.

Because a majority of thoseideaswere inspired by scenes I’ve read in books, and considering I have nothing to compare them to, I have no idea if my ideas should remain fictional.

It’s safe to say I’ve been selfish and completely in my head, although Emmy perhaps wasn’t the topic to move on to. Kieran’s entire frame tenses, his muscles coiling tight around his body like a snake protecting themselves. His grip on the wheel turns his knuckles white.

“Besides saying Daddy when she sees my hockey uniform, the therapist hasn’t gotten another peep out of her.”

“What does her therapist say?”

His sigh seems to come from the depths of his soul with how long and deep it is. “To not give up, to continue trying all the exercises.”

“Well to be fair, she was right about the music. Sometimes I catch her lips moving as if she’s miming the words.”

Kieran’s eyes light up at that. “She does?”

Reaching over, I lay my hand gently on his arm, surprised to feel him relax at the small gesture. “Yeah, just give her time, Kieran. I know how frustrating and worrisome it is, but everyone has their own timeline for these things.”

“You’re very good at that.”

“At what?”

Kieran moves his hand to the gear shift, his muscles bunching in his arms as he does so. Changing a car gear shouldn’t be as attractive as it is, but something about his tan skin and rippling veins has me swallowing thickly and squeezing my thighs together.

I’m so distracted I almost miss when he says, “Soothing people.”

“You think I soothe people?”

He gives me a look as we come to a stop at another red light. “I don’t think, Iknow. You soothe me every day.”

I can’t stop my eye roll. “That’s because you’re easy to please.”

Kieran scoffs as if that offends him. “Am not.”

“Kieran, I could give you a box of cereal and it would soothe you.”

His gravelly laugh fills the truck and I wish I could bottle the sound.

Knowing that we’re going to talk about being intimate has every one of my nerve endings activated. It’s like I’m a live wire and Kieran is the electricity running through my veins, powering me.

“Easy or not, it’s still your superpower. You even do it with Emmy. I’ve seen you stop a toddler tantrum in its tracks andthatis no easy feat.”