Just One of the Boys (Chicago Falcons Book 1)

by Leah Rooper

“My dinner stomach is full, but my dessert stomach has room.”

This is just how I am: hard and cold as the ice I skate on every day.

I want to tell him it’s beautiful, and when I look up into the sky, it’s like I’m lost in all the millions of possibilities of the world. But when I look at him, I’m not lost anymore.

this isn’t winter. This is icy hell!

There has to be mugs and hot chocolate somewhere. Isn’t that part of the Canadian Starter Kit, along with a jug of maple syrup and a plaid saddle for your polar bear?

But now, I’m even more lost. I don’t even know who Al is. But the scary part is…in becoming Al, I think I’ve lost Alice too. I don’t know who I used to be. And I most certainly don’t know who I am.

“Y’know, you’re my best friend.” You’re my best friend. A sad smile crosses my face. That’ll do. I sniff, and a tear whispers down my cheek. And that thing—that elusive thing that was hanging in front of me—suddenly becomes clear. And all the possibilities, well, they all point to it. You’ve done it now, Bell. I’ve fallen in love.

“One bad period doesn’t equal a bad game.”

Maybe I’m a sweatpants-wearing, whole-pizza-eating hockey player. And maybe I’m also a lipstick-wearing, sparkly dress-twirling figure skater. Maybe I’m both of these things mashed together; a work-in-progress, a half-played game. And maybe Alice and Al aren’t so different after all.

“And you know what else, Alice? You’re my conscience, my sounding board, my competitor.” He tilts his head back and crinkles his eyes. “And I am desperately in love with you.”