“The membership would be huge.”
“Meetings every Friday night. Wine provided.”
“And tissues. Lots of tissues.”
I lean my head back against the couch cushions, the room spinning slightly. “I love him, Ariel. Despite everything, I still love him.”
“I know, honey. That's what makes this so hard.”
“What am I going to do?”
“Tonight? Nothing. You're going to sleep in my guest room and let yourself feel heartbroken.” She reaches over and squeezes my hand. “Tomorrow? You're going to decide if Cole Maddox is worth fighting for.”
We drink in silence for a while, the press conference playing on a loop in my head. By the time I stumble into Ariel's guest room, my head is spinning and my heart feels like it's been put through a blender.
The next morning, I wake up with a pounding headache and a resolve that cuts through the pain. I'm done hiding. I'm done letting other people control my narrative. I’m not going to suck up to Cole when he already showed me who he is.
I call the moving company while Ariel makes coffee, scheduling them to meet me at Cole's apartment. I time it perfectly. He should be at practice by then.
Yeah, I’m still a bit of a coward.
But when I walk into his apartment, keys shaking in my hand, he's there. Pacing the living room like a caged animal, still in his workout clothes.
We stare at each other across the space, and I can see the sleepless night written all over his face.
“What's going on, Harper?” His voice is rough, desperate.
My head throbs from too much wine, but the pain sharpens my anger. “You stayed silent,” I accuse. “You protected your image and threw me to the wolves.”
“That's not what I was doing,” Cole says in a resigned tone as if he’s already tired of fighting for us, when he hasn’t even started.
I cross my arms, needing the barrier between us. “Work-related matters, Cole? Really? That's how you describe our relationship?”
“I was trying to protect you. If I confirmed our relationship, it would have made things worse.”
“For who? For you?” My voice rises. “Because it sure as hell didn't protect me. I lost three more clients yesterday, by the way. But I guess that doesn't matter as long as the precious Renegades' image stays intact.”
Cole steps toward me, his hands outstretched. “Harper, please. Let me explain my strategy.”
“Strategy?” I laugh, the sound harsh in the quiet apartment. “This isn't a hockey game, Cole. This is my life.”
“It's my life too.”
“No, it's not.” The words tear out of me. “Your life is exactly the same as it was three days ago. You're still the captain, still the star player, still untouchable. Meanwhile, I'm watching everything I've worked for crumble because I had the audacity to fall in love with you.”
“That's not fair.”
“Fair?” I'm shouting now, all the hurt and frustration of the past few days pouring out. “You want to talk about fair? You get to stand behind a podium and control the narrative. You get to decide how much of our relationship to acknowledge. You get to protect your precious hockey career while mine burns to the ground.”
“I was trying to help.”
“I need to fix this on my own,” I say firmly. “I don't need your help.”
“Why won't you let me help you?” Frustration bleeds into his voice. “We're supposed to be a team.”
“Because you don't understand!” The words explode out of me. “You've never had to prove yourself the way I have. You've never had your success questioned, never had to wonder if people think you slept your way to the top. You have privilege I'll never have, and you used it yesterday to save yourself.”
Cole's face goes pale. “That's not what happened. I thought not confirming it would be better. It was a mistake, Harper. Just let me fix this. Please.”
