Shame burns deep in my gut and I flex my knuckles. “I was reckless. I should have slid the shot to Morrison. Or at least made a better read. It was stupid.”
“You wish you played more cautiously.”
“Yeah.”
“What did reckless cost you last night?” She crosses her ankles and sits perfectly poised, waiting.
“The game.”
She shakes her head, her hair brushing over her shoulders. “Every man out there had a role in the loss. We can talk hockey mechanics all day long. We both know that’s not why you’re here.”
Sucker punch to the gut.
I sink down onto the couch, head in hands. My mouth’s bone-dry, tongue fuzzy. The admission stuck in my throat like burnt toast crumbs.
“She stayed in New York.”
“Tori?”
I nod, unable to meet her gaze.
“What did it mean to you that Tori stayed in Manhattan?”
I grind my molars, try to breathe.
Tori staying behind means everything.
“That I’m a liability. Like everyone always says. I fuck everything up.”
“Bennett, I want you to take a deep breath. Feet on the floor, hands relaxed.” Her voice is calm and soothing, and because I have no other options at the moment, I follow instructions.
Both feet on the floor, I inhale a deep breath throughmy nose, blow out through my mouth. Stretch out my fingers, wiggle my toes.
I feel a tiny bit better.
“Good. A few more deep breaths. Just like that. Now — name three people, specifically, who reinforce that story. That you’re a liability.”
“Prince, for one.”
“Okay. Mr. Prince, while you were on probation. Two?”
“Coach Keller.”
“Three?”
“Tori.” Her name catches in my throat and my palms slick. I wipe them dry on my shorts, the red numbers on the clock glaring at me.
“You believe Tori considers you a liability.”
“She never said it exactly like that, but yeah…”
“What did Tori do or say that made you come to that conclusion?”
I shift on the sofa, heat pricking beneath my skin.
“The donor event at The Carrington Club. Eleanor MacDonald — a Prince family friend — made a snide remark about me being on probation, and Tori didn’t step in.”
“How did you feel in that moment?”
