Collide: A Hockey Romance by Bal Khabra

Author:Bal Khabra [Khabra, Bal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bal Khabra
Published: 2023-09-24T16:00:00+00:00

26 | SUMMER

I’M SECONDS FROM tossing my five-year plan in the trash and dropping out. How important is it to pursue dreams anyway? Living a life that rivals a crash on the I-95 can’t be that bad.

“You’ve totally disregarded the basis of your original proposal,” Donny continues berating my work.

“My research can differ from my proposal. That’s the whole point,” I argue. This conversation is making my eye twitch. After storming out of Aiden’s truck two nights ago, I haven’t slept. I couldn’t stop thinking about the way he kissed me. Or the moan that left his lips when he rolled his hips against mine. Until his damn conscience became a cockblock.

“The final paper should still be based on it,” Donny states.

“I changed a few things in my methodology and literature. That’s bound to happen.” Arguing with Donny is impossible.

He tightens his jaw and turns to our professor. “Don’t you think what I’m saying is correct, Lau—Dr. Langston?”

Donny averts his eyes, and a weird tension looms in the air of her office as if I’m missing a large piece of a puzzle. The slip-up isn’t significant, but no one calls Langston by her first name unless you’re a colleague. She made it very clear the first time I met her to call her Dr. Langston. I guess that’s one way of getting your money's worth for a Ph.D.

“Donny has a point. We want to keep the methodology close to your original plan.” She reads over the paper. “You're almost done, Summer. I’d hate to see you lose sight of your goal now.”

Those words sounded a lot like Donny’s. When I pack up to leave, he doesn’t move. I’m not sure why he still needs her guidance if he got early acceptance to the program.

“I’ll send you the edited version,” I mutter. Donny doesn’t make a move to leave, so I head out alone. I’m halfway down the hall when the door clicks shut.

The odd thoughts in my head burst when I see Shannon Lee parked outside the Annex.

“Shannon,” I call, waving as she carries a large box into her car. “What are you doing?”

She slams the car trunk shut. “Packing my things.” She fidgets with her keys. “Turns out the program’s more competitive than I thought.”

“Shit. I’m sorry.” I pull her in for a hug and she squeezes tight. “They have no idea what a mistake it is letting you leave.”

“It’s fine, I got into my backup. Go Tigers!” She smiles weakly. “What about you?”

“Just finalizing my application. My backup is waiting for my answer.” Stanford University sent me an offer weeks ago, and I’m hoping I’ll get to deny it once my Dalton application goes through.

“If I’ve learned anything, it’s to make your own decisions before someone else makes them for you,” says Shannon.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.