"An off day?" He crosses his arms. "Son, you're playing as if you've never seen a hockey stick before. That's not an off day. That's something else."
I stare at my skates. "I'm fine."
"You're not fine. And I need to know if this is going to be a problem going forward."
“It won’t be.”
“You’re playing like someone who's trying to sabotage himself."
The observation hits too close to home.
"I'm not trying to sabotage anything."
“We've got a season to play, and I can't have my center forward falling apart. It’s not just your ass on the line. All those guys out there are counting on you to help them in their own careers."
No pressure or anything.
"I'll handle it."
“Get your head straight.”
“Yes, sir.”
After what had to be the worst practice ever, I’m in the locker room doing my best to ignore the looks.
Ashton is beside me, putting on his shoes. "Is it official? Are you going to dev camp?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know? He made an offer, didn't he?"
I shrug. “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to my dad.”
"Your dad must be losing his mind."
"He called sixteen times. I turned off my phone." I lean back against the lockers. "I can't think about Seattle right now. I can't think about any of it."
"Because of Sutton."
Just hearing her name hurts.
"I screwed up. I should have told her from the beginning. But I was scared and stupid, and now she hates me. You told me to do it, and I didn’t."
"She doesn't hate you. She's hurt."
"Same thing." I close my eyes. "I tried to talk to her yesterday. Brought her coffee. Found her in the quad with some guy."
"What guy?"
"I don't know. Some asshole with his hand on her knee, sitting way too close. They looked pretty cozy." The memory feels like I’m being cut from my naval to my sternum. "So I guess that's that. We're done. She's already moving on."
"Did you ask her about it?"
"Why would I? I saw what I saw." I stand up, grabbing my bag. "If she wants to be with someone else, fine.”
"You're both my friends, and you're both being idiots." He follows me toward the exit. "What did this guy look like?"
"I don't know. Tall. Dark hair. Smug face. Why?"
