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#Chapter 24 Moving On
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Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 25 Guess Who
HockeyDude12 and I talked straight through the night and into the early hours of the morning. I didn’t even get to bed until four o’clock. Lily made certain to berate me for waking her up so early.For the next week, HockeyDude12 and I conversed every day. We talked about everything—our hopes, our dreams, our fears. I had never had such deep conversations with a man before, not even Bob.I told him about my divorce and my pledge to donate forty million dollars of my divorce settlement to an orphanage. He didn’t ask me why. He just said that it was the most noble thing he had ever heard.He told me about coaching children in hockey, many years ago. I asked him if he played hockey or coached anymore, but he said that chapter of his life was behind him. He coached someone at a gym, he said, but left it at that.I told him about the sexual harassment at work. He took a long time to reply, long enough that I thought he would be mad at me for it happening. When his reply finally came throug
Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 26 Run
I hadn’t been so mortified in years. Not since Barnett had started waking up while I was kissing him in high school. I thought about all the messages I had sent to HockeyDude12—all the personal confessions, the NSFW jokes, the suggestive emojis. Oh God, I thought, did I really tell him that I wanted to have an “unforgettable night” with him? With three winky faces?Inwardly, I was screaming. Outwardly, I was frozen to the spot, my seatbelt still in my hand. I wasn’t sure how long I had been sitting like that.What was I supposed to do? Go in there and hope that Barnett didn’t laugh me into the next century? No, no, I couldn’t risk that level of humiliation in front of him.Then I thought I saw Barnett look my way, and there was no question left as to what I was going to do.I fumbled with my seatbelt and backed the car out of its space as quickly as possible. Praying that Barnett didn’t get a good look at me, I ripped out of the parking lot and back toward my apartment.•* *After I
Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 27 Alone at Last
It’s not a date, I texted Lily as I put on the finishing touches of my makeup. We’re just going to dinner.It’s so a date.I rolled my eyes and let the comment slide as I applied some pale pink lip gloss. Barnett had agreed to meet me at my apartment at seven o’clock, and it was already five minutes ‘til. He could arrive any second.But something still bugged me.Oh God, I thought. Is he going to recognize me from Soul M8s? Did he see me in the Aston Martin at the bar last night?My stomach started to tear at itself. He didn’t seem to recognize me this morning when he came to my door, but he had all these hours to start putting everything together.What if he had discovered the truth since then? Would he still want to have dinner with me? Would he be furious that I had stood him up?I had no time to worry about that. It was almost seven o’clock.I slipped my lip gloss into my purse and checked off everything that I needed in my head. Keys, credit and debit cards, phone, pepper spray (
Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 28 Surprise
Desperate for a change of subjects, I switched gears to talking about hockey. It was a reflex around Barnett, really, but it was a comfortable subject with him. After all these years, we both still seemed to love the sport, even if it was only from the sidelines.“You were such a great coach,” I gushed, “probably the best I ever had.”I might have had one too many glasses of wine by that point.“You were a great student,” Barnett countered, “and an excellent player. I really could have seen you going to the Olympics, if you had just returned to the ice after your injury.”I tucked a strand of stray hair behind my ear. There was no way I was going to mention the kiss I had stolen from him in the lounge that had led up to that injury. Not when it had happened so long ago.“Things happen. Speaking of which, why did you quit coaching in the first place? I heard that everyone was devastated to see you go.”Barnett cringed. His stoney, unreadable expression melted into one of hidden pain. M
Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 29 Celebrate
That dream haunted me for days. When I was alone, alternating visions of the sex and the childbirth would flash through my mind. I wasn’t sure which affected me more.Fortunately, I was able to distract myself with other aspects of my life. The money from my divorce settlement soon came in, and as promised, two-thirds of it went to an orphanage. They were so excited to receive such a huge donation that they begged me to come and visit the children. With it being so soon after dreaming about birthing all these children for Barnett, though, I was torn. I told them that I would have to take a raincheck.I was busier than ever at work. Arthur had convinced me to take on other clients and helped me hook up with some top vloggers. They all loved my aesthetic and the close attention that I paid to them.Then Arthur got me an interview with one of the most influential celebrity vloggers out there: Celeste Shoemaker, better known as StarRise. She was an over-the-top fashion vlogger known for
Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 30 What Does He Want
I met Arthur at a fancy Italian restaurant downtown at eight o’clock. He ordered clam linguine, and I had pasta Bolognese. We both opted for water since we had to drive home.When we received our main courses, Arthur insisted on a toast.“To you, Anna,” he began, “and to your budding career. May it know no limits. Cheers.”“Cheers.”We clinked out glasses and sipped our water. Then we dug into our meal.I found that I had to force myself to eat. The food had suddenly lost all its flavor. Arthur must have noticed, too, because he put down his utensils and looked straight at me.“Is something wrong?” he asked.“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just…the last time that I was included in a toast, it ended in my husband’s mistress announcing that she was pregnant.”Arthur cringed.“And everyone at the party congratulated them, as though they were the celebrating married couple.”My stomach twisted in knots. It was as though I were living the event all over again.“I’m sorry. That’s horrible. At least
Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 31 Here We Go Again
Bob didn’t know when to give up. I always hated that about him. That didn’t change with the divorce.Even after I refused to see him, he kept calling me and trying to change my mind. The texts were more annoying than the phone calls. Somehow, he got even more desperate in writing.I thought about blocking his number. In hindsight, I should have. After all, what use did I have for staying in contact with him after the divorce settlement, other than to ensure that the house got sold?Something inside me couldn’t do it, though. Something too polite or too sentimental couldn’t burn that bridge, despite everything Bob and his family had done to me. And I wanted so badly to beat that side of me into line with the rest of me.Instead, I finally took another of his calls.“What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?” I all but yelled at him.“Please, Anna, just hear me out,” he said in the most pathetic tone I had ever heard from him. “My mom thinks it would be a goo
Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 32 Cold Shoulder
I was too busy the rest of the day with clients to think about Bob and the reporter. By the time I got back to my apartment, I was just too worn out to remember seeing them. All I wanted was to get to bed and forget that lunch with Bob had even happened.The next day, it felt as though a reset button had been hit. All the anger from my encounter with Bob had dissipated, and I was ready to embrace whatever challenges came my way.Then I got to the office.It was rare for me to see Barnett there. It wasn’t as though he were never there, but it was so big that I didn’t even know where in the building his office actually was. Whenever I did see him, though, I made sure to go out of my way to greet him, and he would greet me back.This morning, we happened to be the only two in the lobby except for the receptionist herself. As soon as I saw Barnett, I raised my hand and started waving to him.“Hi, Barnett!” I said cheerfully.Barnett’s eyes narrowed at me for
Latest chapter
- Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 80: The Hat Trick
- Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 79: Journey's End
- Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 78: The Father
- Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 77: Lovers Meeting
- Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 76: Setting Things Straight
- Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 75: The Nursery
- Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 74: Unhealthy Obsessions
- Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 73: Miscommunications
- Hockey Billionaire's Hat Trick #Chapter 72: Anna’s Letter
