Novels by Looreh

Eli's POV“I have good news for you.” Dr. Broome said as he walked into the office. I followed him, trying not to look too eager. It was going to be a ridiculous thing to be excited that there was good news about Adam. I had worked with several patients over the years, and I knew better than to get emotionally invested in every little improvement, especially with an injury as serious as Adam's. Still, I couldn't help the joy that swelled in my stomach.“Adam managed to get to his feet last night.” he said and I blinked.“He did?”“Yes, he was watching a game and I think he did it out of excitement. When asked to do it again, he couldn't without assistance. He's still experiencing pain and we need to be careful about how much weight he puts on the injured areas but his progress has been encouraging enough that he can resume physiotherapy.”I bit down on my teeth to stop myself from grinning like an idiot. “That's great.” I managed to say that flatly.“It is. I'd like you to start the g

I looked down at my hands to see that they are thinner than I remembered. My knuckles are bruised in places and there is a small scar near my thumb from an injury I once got during a game. My fingers flexed against the blanket and I tried to imagine holding a stick, but even in my imagination, my grip felt weak.I curled my fingers tighter and the television erupted. For one disorienting second, I thought I might have missed something terrible. But when I looked up, Jay had scored again. The arena was in chaos. Players collided against the boards, helmets knocked together as they celebrated.The camera followed Jay as he skated towards the bench, his teammates shouting around him and the scoreboard changed again. We were ahead.I laughed. “Yes,” I said, shooting a fist into the air. The final minutes crawled by. Our opponents pulled their goalie and the pressure built quickly. I pushed to my feet without thinking and pain shot through my body. I winced and grinded my teeth

Adam’s POV I struggled to get myself in a good position as the game started. I saw my number flash across the screen and a smile tilted my lips. It was the pre-game introductions. The camera moved across the players as they skated onto the ice, the arena lights flashing above them and the crowd already on its feet, raising placards and screaming their favorite names into the air. The screen changed and there it was, my jersey. There was a photograph of me in full gear, grinning like I had never known what it felt like to be afraid. Underneath it, in huge red letters, were the words, "We are playing for you, Adam." For a split moment, I forget where I was. I forgot the hospital bed beneath me and the dull ache in my body. I don't remember the ugly collection of wires and monitors that have now become part of my daily life or the doctor who keeps telling me their recovery will take time, as though time is something I have plenty of. I forget that I was not supposed to be here. Th

Adam's POV I couldn't tell if it was the boredom, but more and more often I caught myself thinking about Eli Brooke. What are actually the chances that I would see him again in this lifetime? And we would have such a cordial relationship. He had forgiven me. Right now, that was all that mattered. Not my father and his usual tantrums. Just Eli.The first time I noticed Eli, he seemed to be in an argument in the cafeteria. He was not particularly loud or dramatic. He was just standing in front of the cafeteria counter, his eyes planted on his plate like his entire future depended on making the right decision in that minute.“Does this have mayonnaise?”The woman behind the counter looked at him with bored eyes. Yes.“Eggs?”“Yes.” she said, obviously getting frustrated.He wrinkled his nose. “Okay, never mind.”I almost laughed. He was very soft-spoken. Everyone else in the cafeteria seemed to move like they were in a race. People shoved trays across the counters, yelled across t

Eli's POVThe drive home usually took fifteen to twenty minutes, but it's the weekend and the whole of the city is either out with friends or out with the intention to get laid later tonight. So it took me almost forty. I sat in traffic and I kept replaying the hotel room in my head: the feel of Marcus's mouth against mine, his hands, and the look on his face when he pulled away.There is someone else, isn't there? The question haunted me, and I tightened my grip around the steering wheel.There isn't. At least there shouldn't be, and even if there was, it should not be Adam Payne.Marcus always had a way of making everything complicated. He cheated on me and I forgave him. We eventually broke up for completely different reasons, and that made it easier to remember only the good parts when I thought about him.Maybe that was why seeing him again felt so natural. It was like slipping on an old shirt and realizing that it still fits perfectly.But when his lips crashed into mine and his

Eli’s POV‘Your ex is in town.’Long after Chloe had walked out of my office, the word still hung above me, just below the ceiling and close enough for me to touch.Marcus.I had not heard that name in years. I shook my head because I knew it was a lie. I had heard it. I had just gotten very good at pretending I hadn't. I stared at the ceiling, trying to understand what I was supposed to feel: shock, annoyance, nostalgia. But instead, what I felt was something dangerously close to excitement.Marcus and I never ended up because I stopped loving him. That was the part that I never told anyone. He cheated on me once, at least that was the one time I found out, and somehow, after hours of crying and one very long conversation that ended with both of us sitting across each other on his apartment floor, I forgave him He sealed it with a kiss that turned into two and suddenly our clothes were off again and by morning I had forgotten why I was mad at him. I didn't know if that made me stupi