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“One of the rookies needed someone to demo the butterfly,” I said. “I explained a billion times, but he wasn’t getting the hip rotation right. I decided to show him.”
“And you didn’t tell him you were injured.”
“It was just a demo. I thought—”
“Let me guess. You thought it would be fine.” Her voice dropped to a growl. “How many times did you show him the butterfly?”
I looked at the ceiling. “Three. Maybe four.”
“Maybe four.” She pulled her hands away. “On a grade one strain. After I gave you a timeline that would’ve had you ready for playoffs.”
“The rookie needed—”
“I don’t care what he needed. You’re not a demo dummy, Brashe. The back-up goalie could’ve done it instead of you. You’re the starting goalie with an injury that needed more days of rest.”
“I had to do it.”
“You did not!”
The words stuck, but I shoved them out. “If I didn’t show him, I’m not the guy who does whatever it takes. I’m the guy who’s too injured to help.”
“You are too injured to help. That’s the point.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it to me, because from what I can see, you made this worse two days before playoffs. I made everything clear. I handed you instructions a child could follow. And you decided your feelings about letting others down were more important than the medical degree on my wall. Do you have any idea what you did? I’ll tell you. I think it’s a grade two now. Maybe worse. I can’t tell without another MRI.”
I sat up. “I’ll play through it.”
“No, you won’t. You’re going to ruin your entire season because you were too stubborn to rest for a few more days.”
I faked a smile. “Come on, Ellie, don’t be like that.”
“Don’t you dare try to charm your way out of this.”
Her face was bright red with fury.
“I told you what to do,” she said, her voice shaking. “I gave you a plan. And you thought you knew better.”
“I didn’t think anything would happen.”
“No, you didn’t think. You never do. You do whatever you want and expect everyone else to deal with the fallout.”
She stomped across the room, then turned back and rushed back over to stand in front of me.
“Now let’s talk about the other thing you just said.” Her voice shook. “You wanted me. Past tense. But I wasn’t worth the risk.”
I sat up straighter. “That’s not—”
“That’s exactly what you said. You said you couldn’t risk it.” A sheen of tears appeared in her eyes. “Do you have any idea how that sounds? I spent ten months thinking I’d misread everything. That I was stupid for thinking you might actually be interested. And now you’re telling me I was right, you were interested, but I just wasn’t important enough to take a chance on.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“Crim’s my best friend.”
She blinked a moment before her face cleared. “You actually chose your friendship with my brother over me? I mean, that’s fine. It’s your choice to make, but that means you don’t get to act jealous when other guys ask me out. You can’t have it both ways.”
