The smallest glimmer of hope blooms in my chest.
“Make him. You’re not one to back down in the face of adversity. What, you give up in the third period when we’re down by two?”
“No.”
“That’s right. Pull your head out of your ass, shower,and then come up with a game plan.” He stands, stretching his arms over his head as he always does after practice. “And then buy me dinner to make it up to me.”
“I’m not buying your sorry ass dinner.”
“You owe me.” He points to his jaw. Again.
I laugh. Of course my best friend is going to be like this. He wouldn’t be Marcus otherwise. “How long are you going to milk this?”
“Until you get Angie back.”
“That’s motivation if I ever needed some.”
Except his words settle inside me as I hit the showers. Something about the steam helps clear my jumble of thoughts today.
I’ve been nothing but an ass to Marcus today. My dad still knows enough people that he could get me the information I need.
Just the thought of talking to Angie’s dads scares the shit out of me. To say I didn’t make a great first impression would be an understatement. But maybe if I tell them how much I love their daughter, they might hear me out.
It’s my only shot. An overtime goal to win the Stanley Cup.
The only other option is to give up Angie once and for all.
And that’s not a future I’m prepared for.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
TROY
“Are you sure about this?” Marcus asks. “What if it makes things worse than it is?”
“Worse? This was your idea, wasn’t it?” I straighten my shirt.
I haven’t talked to Angie in a week. Every call and text goes ignored. I have no idea what is going on with her and her dads.
Nothing good from what I can imagine. Walking out of her apartment that day was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. But staying there with her mad family wasn’t going to help matters.
“I don’t know. They could tell you they hate you—and your dad—and never want you to see their daughter again.”
“Like I haven’t thought about that a hundred times. But what’s the alternative? Fucking my way through practice because I don’t have her anymore?”
A pain tugs in my chest.
I’ve never been more miserable in my entire life.Hockey always used to be the distraction I needed when things in life got too hard.
Now it’s not. And I don’t know what to do. Especially if things don’t go the way I want them to today.
“If you do that, then you don’t have to worry about being drafted,” Marcus jokes. It’s the perfect tension breaker I need.
“Worried about the competition?”
“Yes. Because we’re up for the exact same position in the draft.” He rolls his eyes at me.
“Maybe that means we’ll end up on the same team.”
