He turned toward the stairs and saw me.
He stopped.His hand tightened on the strap of his bag.
“Austen,” I said.My voice sounded wrecked.
He looked at me—really looked at me—with an expression that wasn’t anger.It was exhaustion.
“You’re supposed to be at practice,” he said.
“Coach kicked me off the ice.”
He didn’t blink.“That’s statistically unlikely.”
“I let in four soft goals.I can’t focus.”I took a step toward him.“Austen, please.The room is… I can’t be in there without you.”
“Then move,” he said flatly.“Oh wait, you’ll be moving soon, so it really doesn’t matter.”
“I’m trying to fix this.”
“There’s nothing to fix, Luke.You made a choice.”He adjusted his bag.“And your choice had consequences for… both of us.Now, if you don’t mind, I have a shift at the tutoring center.Excuse me.”
He walked past me.He didn’t speed up, and he didn’t slow down.
“I haven’t signed it!”I yelled after him.
He paused at the top of the stairs.He didn’t turn around.
“That’s between you and your investors,” he said, before walking down the stairs and out of sight.
I drove to the Marriott on Route 9.
My dad was staying in a suite on the top floor—of course he was.Rick Carter didn’t do standard rooms.
I banged on the door.
He opened it, wearing a hotel robe and holding a tumbler.
“Lucas!Early.Good.Gulliver emailed the conditioning schedule.”
He waved me in.The room smelled of room service steak and scotch.
Papers were spread out on the coffee table—contracts, schedules, flight itineraries to St.Paul.
“Sit down,” Dad said, gesturing to the sofa.“We need to go over the signing bonus structure.I got them to bump the housing stipend.”
I didn’t sit.I stood in the middle of the room, still wearing my practice sweats, my hair still a bird’s nest on top of my head from sweat I hadn’t washed off.
“I’m not going,” I said.
Dad paused, glass halfway to his mouth.He laughed.“Cold feet?That’s normal.Big league jitters.”
“No,” I said.“I mean I’m not going to St.Paul in June.And I’m not signing with Minnesota if you’re the one holding the pen.”
Dad set the glass down.The smile vanished.“Excuse me?”
“You came here,” I said, my voice shaking but getting louder.“You came here and you embarrassed me.You humiliated the person who matters most to me.”
“The roommate?”Dad scoffed.“Luke, grow up.That boy was a distraction.I did you a favor.You need focus.There will be plenty of guys for you mess around with in Minnesota.You need to get your singular focus back.”
