He glared as I clenched my jaw. “I fucked up.”
Gauthier leaned forward. “No kidding. That’s why I’m considering the request that came in for you. You might be a dominant player, but you may well have cost those guys out there a championship. All because of one mouthy rookie.”
I swallowed again.
“It’s to the expansion team,” Gauthier continued, his face reddening. “Before tonight, I never would have put your name on the list. Now you’re a liability.”
I dropped my gaze. Yeah, I was. And Dukovsky could end up with the Cup because I’d loved the wrong woman.
“All year you’ve been hot-tempered, unable to keep your head in the game.” Gauthier shook his head. “That’s not the player I signed on this team. And that’s not a man I want here.”
I nodded once, not lifting my gaze from my skates. This was worse than signing the damn papers. This was my career.
“Don’t bother suiting up anymore. Soon as those boys finish the season, you’re gone.”
At least Icould still play hockey. Sure, it was an expansion team in Houston, a city I knew nothing about, in a state I found miserably hot…
I settled on the bench back out in the locker room, still not bothering to remove my sweater or pads. I stared at my skates and waited for the rest of the guys to clean up. Once the locker room was empty, I removed my gear, my hand lingering on my sweater before I balled it into the laundry bin. I took a long shower, hoping the heat would release the ache of the lactic acid built up in my legs. No such luck. I dressed with methodical precision and exited the building with my head down.
My car was an older-model SUV I’d had for the last seven years. I’d never gotten myself something new; instead, I’d bought Shannon a car. As I approached, Pete leaned against the side of it, looking relaxed.
“Guess it didn’t go well with Gauthier,” he said.
“He’s sending me to the expansion team.”
Pete cursed. “Houston? What do they know about hockey?”
“Does it matter? I cost you guys the game, maybe the title.”
Pete rested both hands on my shoulders. “You’re good, Bouchard, but you’re only one defenseman. We’re a team. You don’t have to shoulder this alone.”
I glanced away, jaw tight. “Yeah. I do. I should have known better—”
“Than to love your wife? Hell, I still don’t get it. Shan loves you, too. Everyone can see it. What happened?”
I met his gaze, and everything cracked open. “She doesn’t love me enough to have a child with me. Her career, the one I paid for her to get, is more important to her. And she fucked Dukovsky to make sure I understood where I live on her list of priorities.”
Pete’s mouth dropped open. Then his gaze narrowed. “That’s what Dukovsky said? He talked about yourwife?”
I nodded once, unable to say more.
“That little sack of shit,” he growled. “Did you tell Gauthier what he said?”
I shook my head.
“Not to Houston! We’ll talk to him tomorrow, explain—”
I shook my head again, harder. “No. This is what I need. I let her own my head. I put her before everything. And look where that got me.”
“Sent to freaking Texas! They don’t understand what a puck is—”
“And that’s my fault. I shouldn’t have allowed Dukovsky to get to me.”
Pete scoffed. “Shannonshouldn’t have done you like that.”
“But she did. And I have to live with letting you all down instead of stepping up like the veteran I’m supposed to be.”
“So Houston’s your punishment?”
