“You also need to tell me everything. No more hiding your injuries or trying to play through them. When something is wrong, I want to hear about itimmediately. The minute you try hiding something from me again, I’m going straight to Jay.”
“Yes,” I said. “Is that all?”
She pursed her lips and hesitated before her final demand. “I want an apology.”
I felt my teeth clenching.
“You were an asshole to me in the parking lot, and it really upset me,” she explained. “I was just trying to do my job, and you threatened to try to get me fired. That was fucked up. If I’m going to help you, I need to hear you apologize.”
No. I did not apologize. Where I came from, men did not admit they were wrong. It was a sign of weakness, just as severe as admitting you were injured.
But I needed June’s help. My season, and my career, was now in her hands. And it was becoming clear that I could not push her around. The look in her big eyes told me that she wouldnotbe intimidated.
That look penetrated all of my armor.
I walked toward June until I was standing right in front of her. She leaned away from me slightly but did not step back. She gazed up at me defiantly.
“I am sorry,” I whispered. The words would not come out at a higher volume. “For hiding my injury, and for threatening your job.”
She nodded once, then slipped by me and went to the cabinets. She put on another pair of latex gloves, then fished around in a drawer full of glass vials.
“Thank you,” she said. “Now let’s get to work.”
I glanced at the clock. “Now?”
“If you want to stay on the ice, yeah. I have a routine that will help strengthen the rest of your core to take some pressure off your strained oblique. And I’m going to send you home with a yoga routine. You have to do it every single night. I recommend doing it while watching TV. It will make the time go by faster.”
Yoga? I let out a small growl. Where I came from, men didnotdo yoga.
“But first, your cortisone shot.” June turned around and smiled brightly while holding up a needle. “I bet you’ve been sleeping horribly. This will help. You’ll thank me in the morning.”
I didnotlike needles. But that was a weakness I could never confess.
I sat on the table and looked away while she wiped my ribs with an alcohol swab. I very much hated having my career, and my life, in someone else’s hands.
But if they had to be in anyone’s hands? I was glad they were June’s.
16
June
I was absolutely terrified of Elias.
The bearded Swede was huge. Tallandbroad-shouldered, with a wingspan made to stop a puck. He had also been mostly silent since I started working for the team, communicating mostly with glares, grunts, and growls. He reminded me of a polar bear that might suddenly snap and maul me to death.
A polar bear with sticks of dynamite in his hands.
I’d known a lot of guys like him. Half the University of Georgia football team were the strong silent type who refused to accept any help and reacted with anger when you tried.
So when Elias actuallydidcome to me and admit he needed help? I understood that it was a massive step forward. The kind of opening I would never get a second chance at.
Thank goodness he apologized. I wasn’t going to budge on that. I didn’t care how intimidating Elias was; I still had self-respect.
Oblique injuries were extremely common, especially in sports that required the body to violently twist. Baseball, tennis, hockey. I already had a program in mind for him, and I was ready to start immediately. Fortunately, he didn’t resist. Afterthe shitshow of a game tonight, he probably just wanted to go home.
He tried to appear relaxed, but it was obvious that he was afraid of needles while I gave him the shot of cortisone. I resisted the urge to tease him about it, then told him to change into some workout clothes and meet me in the exercise room.
To his credit, Elias followed my instructions without complaint. He did every single exercise without saying a single word to me. He just nodded. When I tried giving him some encouragement, he gave me a look that said:you don’t need to do that.
