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Unbidden images flash in my head.

Wyatt leaving Jordan and Cole and the rest of the guys.

Wyatt waiting for a call from another team that doesn't come.

Wyatt laughing it off and telling me it doesn't matter while everything he's worked for his entire life gets ripped out from under him.

I push the images away.

"Why are you telling me all this?"

Dad looks at me for a long time. "Because sometimes loving somebody means asking what they'll sacrifice for you." His voice is quieter now. "And sometimes it means asking whether you can live with letting them."

I don't have anything to say back to that. I stand there staring at him, furious at him and furious with myself.

What Wyatt and I have is special.

I love him.

He loves me.

None of that has changed.

I grab my keys and head to the front door.

Twenty minutes ago, loving Wyatt felt like the reason to fight for us.

Now I can't stop wondering if loving him might be the reason I have to let him go.

28

WYATT

Come What May

The talk with Brennan wasn’t the most comfortable conversation I’ve ever had, but I came out of his office feeling strangely relieved.

I basically told him I was sorry for how we handled things, but I wasn’t apologizing for being with her.

"I'm sorry you had to find out like this. I'm sorry I didn't come to you before somebody put a video online. I was actually trying to do that all fucking week, if that counts for anything."

"But you're not sorry you're sleeping with my daughter?"

My jaw tightened. "I'm not discussing that with you."

"You're standing in my office because half the fucking hockey world is discussing it."

"Then they're welcome to wonder."

"Larkin."

"I'm serious. Quinn's not locker-room talk, and I'm sure as hell not making her that because you're pissed at me."

Coach also gave me the whole rundown on how this could fuck up my career. My minutes. My reputation. My contract. Maybe even my place in LA.

I couldn’t care less about any of that compared to losing Quinn, but when I told him that, he didn’t exactly look reassured.

If anything, he got even angrier.