Chapter 20
TWENTY
JONAH
. . . So anyway, yes I am taking a break from all things hockey for the foreseeable future.
Oh man, I can’t wait to be out of this place.
It’s killing me not to be able to access the free world.
I can’t even imagine the mountain of books that I’m going to be behind on reading because of being stuck in here.
Can you believe they don’t let us read for fun?
Like, we have our group and individual therapy sessions, art therapy etc.
and they encourage us to journal. But I am so tired of writing about and fixating on my own issues.
What I wouldn’t give to get lost in a good book and just live carefree through the frivolous lives of my favorite MCs right now.
Anyway, just a bit of wishful thinking on my part.
Count yourself lucky that you actually can do fun things like watch shows and read a book, or hell, even focus on your hockey.
I’m going stir crazy up in here and I still have at least another month before they’ll let me leave.
I think I might just wither away from boredom if the overwhelming angst doesn’t get to me first. Needless to say, your letters have been the highlight of my stay so far, and definitely my main motivation to get back into the real world - so thanks for that, anyway.
Keep it real, my friend.
- Sutton
T he wheels in my brain start to spin as I reread her letter for the third time.
This girl.
This crazy, beautiful girl has gotten under my skin.
I don’t even know what it is about her. She’s definitely not like any of my boyfriends (obviously) or any of my other hookups that I’ve had just to kill time.
And god knows, with her being in that program she has at least as much emotional baggage as I do, which means she’s definitely not the kind of person I should be attracted to.
I definitely don’t need any more drama in my life.
Still, seeing her sitting off by herself on Family Visitation Day, I don’t know why but I felt an instant connection, a kind of spiritual kinship that drew me to her.
The more I read her letters, and get to know her better, the more that connection, that feeling of rightness grows.
Her current dislike of hockey notwithstanding, of course. That’s something we’ll have to work on.
Pulling out my cell, I do a quick google search to find what I need and place the order.
Her letter the following week is exactly what I’d hoped it would be, and I can’t help the shit-eating grin as I think of the look that must have crossed her face when she got my present.
. . . Are you for real right now? You seriously photocopied the first chapter of Shann McPherson’s newest book and mailed it to me? What in the world?
- Sutton
That’s just the start, Baby Girl. You have no fucking clue.
Well, I figured since you don’t have access to any good reading material or.
. . other stimulation, I figured the least I could do was send my Baby Girl something to help her pass the time and keep her otherwise.
. . occupied. I don’t know if the book was a good choice or not but you had mentioned in one of your previous letters that you enjoy reading RomComs and I googled to see what some new releases were. Hopefully this was a decent choice. . .
Not to mention, the fact that it happens to be a RomCom that focuses on a hockey player. . . well, one way or another I will warm hockey back into her heart. I don’t mention the lengths I had to go to in order to make this happen, either .
How I found the author on social media, DM’d them with the slightest hope and a prayer that they might respond, and purchased two copies of the book directly from the author just so that I could make this happen.
Pretty sure she thought I was some sort of scam artist or crazy person at first, but when I explained that the circumstances, how the facility refused to allow patients to have outside reading material, and how I was determined to win this girl over, but also didn’t want to steal their work in the process, the author was more than happy to play such a pivotal role in our future love story.
Hell, she even wrote a short get-well note to Sutton which I’m planning on surprising her with once we’ve finished the book.
I’ll do my best to keep you entertained, and I figured at least this way, we could have a makeshift book club, just the two of us. So you tell me what you think of the first chapter and I will tell you what I think and then next week I can send you the second chapter and we’ll go from there.
Talk to you soon and happy reading, Baby Girl
- x. o. Jonah
Carefully, I fold the pages of the next chapter in between the pages of the letter and slip all of it into the envelope.
I know she’s passionate about reading, so the least I can do is give her something small to look forward to; even if it is only one chapter at a time.
I can’t fit any more than that without the facility staff getting too suspicious about the thickness of the envelope.