“Think about it,” Vane said.“We need confirmation by Monday.”
I stood up, shaking his hand.His grip was dry and hard.
“Thank you,” I said.
Dad stood up too.He hugged me—a quick, hard embrace that smelled of expensive cologne and expectations.
“Proud of you, kid,” he murmured in my ear.“Don’t blow it.”
He walked out with Vane, laughing about old times.
I walked out of the office.I walked down the tunnel, past the locker room, past the weight room.I didn’t stop until I hit the exit doors and burst out into the cold morning air.
I sucked in a breath, but it felt like breathing through a straw.
My phone buzzed again.
Austen:Update: I bought the good pretzels.The ones with the peanut butter.
I stared at the screen.
The vetting starts now.
Ryan bought the lie.But luck is a variable you can’t control.
If I took this spot, I was gone in July.If I took this spot, I had to live up to my monk nickname.I had to be exactly what everyone wanted, but Austen.
In hockey culture, “distraction” was code for anything that didn’t help you win.And being queer in a development camp full of guys fighting for two contracts?That was a target on my back the size of a barn door.
I looked at the text.The ones with the peanut butter.
So small.So kind.Exactly the kind of “entanglement” Vane warned me against.
I realized I couldn’t protect Austen.The closer we got, the more likely I was to drag him down with me when the hammer dropped.
I typed three dots.Then I deleted them.
I turned my phone off.
I started walking.Not toward the dorm.Toward the gym.
I needed to lift until I couldn’t feel anything else.
Chapter 27
Defensive Zone Coverage
Luke
The laptop screen flickered in the dark room, casting a blue pallor over my unmade bed.
I hit the left arrow key.Rewind.Space bar.Play.
On screen, the Cornell forward dragged the puck.My on-screen self dropped into the butterfly, sliding right.The forward stopped, pulled it back left, and roofed it.
I looked like I was having a seizure.My arms flailed.My head snapped back and forth.
“Swimming,” Harper had called it.You’re drowning in open air, Carter.
