Page 7 of Offside Angel

She’s still there. Right now.

“Don’t leave,” I growl. “I’m on my way.”

I pocket my phone and turn around to find half the team staring back at me.

Before I can start to explain myself—why I have to go, why I won’t make it to the game—they start talking.

“Aiden is already at our house with Rachelle, so we can keep him overnight.” Jace points to Reeves. “But we’re leaving town tomorrow morning to see Rachelle’s parents. Can you and Jemma?—”

“We’ll pick him up first thing in the morning,” Reeves agrees before Jace can even finish. “We can keep him all day and for the night if we need to.”

Daniel throws up a hand. “Taylor and I are free, too. If Aiden would rather be at home, we can bunk with him at Chateau Whitaker.”

I stare at them all blankly. “What about the game?”

Jace raises an amused eyebrow. “I thought ‘none of this fucking matters’?” When I can’t find the words to answer, he nods and juts a chin toward the door. “Finding Mira is important. I know you think the sun shines out of your ass, but believe it or not, we can win without you on the ice. So get the fuck outta here. We’ll hold down the fort.”

Say less.

I shuck off my warm-up jersey and toss my pads and skates in the locker.

“Leave it all,” Daniel orders. “We’ll clean it up. You gotta go.”

“Go where?” I whirl around as Coach Popov comes to a stop behind me. He takes in the scene slowly. “We have a game to play, men.”

My teammates were emotionally behind me one hundred percent five seconds ago. Now, they're literally behind me. Not one of them pipes up to explain things to Coach.

I don't even blame them. This is my fight; not theirs.

I pull on my T-shirt and sit down to lace up my sneakers. “I have to go.”

“Whitaker, this game is big for you,” Coach says. “It's your first game back after the shit you pulled last week.”

“It's only big because every reporter wants to know why I was benched,” I spit. “But I don't care what they think. Carson was an asshole. He ran his mouth about my family. I handled it.”

I'm aware that Carson is probably back in the showers, listening to all of this like everyone else.

I’m also aware that I should probably look like I learned some valuable lesson about teamwork or some shit after my punishment, at least in front of Coach. But I don’t have the energy to pretend for anyone anymore.

Coach narrows his eyes. “Carson may have some room to mature, but he’s focused. He’s been here at every practice. He wants to be here.”

“Then make him captain!” I slam my locker closed and whirl around. “If Carson’s the better choice, then have at it. Make him captain. But I’m not going to put this job before my family. Not anymore.”

I look around at my teammates—my friends. My brothers. “I love this team, but I have to have a life outside of this arena. I have a family who has to come first.” I run a hand through my hair. “They should have always come first.”

Maybe I just threw captain away.

Maybe I just handed the title to Carson.

But it doesn’t matter. Whether it was right now or six months from now, I was always going to come to this conclusion.

I turn back to Coach Popov. “This team has given me so much. It was all I had to live for there for a while. But now… my priorities are straightened out. I know what matters most. And I’m not going to let it slip away.”

4

MIRA

I shouldn’t be here.

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