“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here,” Brent said. “One period at a time, remember?”
The room chorused their assent, and they spent the next two hours in much the same manner, with Coach breaking down plays and the guys offering up minor commentary here and there.
For a moment, Mitch felt like one of them again. If he didn’t think too far ahead, didn’t look past this moment in time, he could pretend that in a few days, he too would be lacing up and skating out onto the ice down the hall, the arena erupting in cheers around him as he went to battle with his brothers.
But unfortunately, the daydream was short-lived.
He would never leave the bench, would never suit up again.
All he could do now was move forward, and with Brent and Berkley’s wedding coming up in a few short months, there was a lot to look forward to.
Being back in Detroit was strange, though. His tenure with the Warriors had been recent enough that even now, he still got recognized on the streets, and fans regularly asked for autographs and pictures despite the fact that it had been over a year since he last played for the Warriors. They told him how upset they were when he went to LA, that it was bullshit he was traded, and that they’re glad to see him back in the Motor City.
It was jarring how much had changed in the span of a year. Last April, one phone call upended his entire world. Earlier that same week, the love of his life told him she couldn’t be with him anymore.
And then, in November, when he’d injured his back and his career had ended, he thought he’d never catch a break. The hits kept coming, and for months he braced himself, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
After his last surgery in early December, he couldn’t help waking up every morning for weeks and asking himself,what will go wrong today?
Thankfully, it had been relatively smooth sailing since then, even if he experienced a pang in his chest every time he entered the arena and reminded himself he couldn’t suit up with the guys. One day, he might be able to skate for fun, but it would never be his career, hislife, ever again.
His mom talking him into moving back to Michigan for rehab had been a game-changer for him, though. While he was a born and bred Georgia boy, he had really grown up in Michigan, becoming the man he was always meant to be—once he was finally out from under his father’s thumb and had legitimate, solid male role models to look up to. At this point, he had called Ann Arbor and Detroit home for nearly half his life, nearly as long as he’d been in Georgia.
Luckily, his old friends and former teammates had welcomed him back into the fold with open arms, and being a short car ride away from his mother instead of a several-hour long flight was honestly the best thing to come from breaking his back. He still kept in touch with Gabe and Cally, plus a few other guys from Los Angeles, but after deciding to cut ties with the Knights in order to join the Warriors’ coaching staff, many of them avoided him. And he was okay with that. At the end of the day, he had to do what was best for him, and ultimately that was coming home.
When he wasn’t working with the Warriors, which was only when they went on the road since flying still made his back pain flare up, he was building his real estate portfolio. He’d received his license the month before and had been working closely with Sherry, the Warriors’ in-house realtor, to develop his client list.
Mitch was surprised when Berkley called him at the end of March asking for help finding Amelia a space to lease or buy for her gym.
Mitch had an idea for the perfect space, but he didn’t want to present the option until he was one hundred percent certain it was possible. He didn’t want to let anyone else down.
Unsurprisingly, Berkley had been hesitant to let him back into her life when he’d returned to the Mitten. Where her fiancé accepted him without question, shocking them all by asking him to be his best man, Berkley had taken her sweet time warming back up to him. He couldn’t be entirely sure if it was because he had hurt her, or because he had hurt Lexie. Honestly, it was probably a bit of both.
And speaking of Lexie…
He’d been kicking himself every day for not letting her see him at the hospital after his last surgery. Who knows where they’d be now if he had. Would they be back together? Friends? Tentative acquaintances?
Anything would’ve been better than Mitch walking around this city with a hole in his life the exact size and shape of her. When he’d come back to Michigan, the first thing he should’ve done was shown up at her door, got down on his hands and knees, and begged her to take him back.
Looking back, Mitch wished he had fought harder for her. He wished he hadn’t given up so easily when she told him it was over and kicked him out. When he got traded, the second after his agent called him, he should’ve gone to her, told her he loved her, that he knew she was scared and things were changing so fast, but she waseverythingto him, and that he would do whatever it took to make long-distance work.
Things might be different if he had simplystayedafter that dinner with her parents. If he had only held his ground as he had every time before when she’d tried to push him away.
But it was too late now to go back and change anything.
All he could do now was beg for forgiveness and hope some piece of her still loved him.
“I’m pulling a page from the Brent Jean playbook,” he said to the man himself. After Warriors practice was over that afternoon, Mitch, Brent, and Cole settled in a booth at a diner near the arena. Cole was next to him, Brent across the table, and both looked at him as though he’d spontaneously sprouted a second head.
“I’ll bite,” Cole said, turning his back to the wall to give Mitch his full attention. “What page would that be exactly? Hooking up with random waitresses in Nashville? Crashing a graduation ceremony? Or my personal favorite, throwing a surprise birthday party for a girl you don’t even know?”
Mitch snorted and Brent tossed his straw wrapper at Cole’s face. It bounced off the tip of his nose, and Cole yelled, “Hey!” indignantly.
“I’m talking about making a grand gesture,” Mitch said. “But there will be no surprise parties involved.”
“Who’s the lucky lady?” Brent asked, unfazed by the content of this conversation.
“Are you finally going to pull your head out of your ass and fight for Lexie?” Cole asked excitedly.
