Page 58 of Playmaker

“Whoa.”

“Yeah. And like, I knew she was miserable with him. I saw what she put up with and how he treated her. I just didn’t think Ty was doing the same things, you know?” She huffed a caustic laugh, watching her fingers trace the condensation on her glass. “At first I was like, no, he’s nothing like Dad. But she just calmly laid it all out. How he was just passive-aggressive enough to keep me in line. And how she could see him using me as a trophy wife so that everyone knew he was married to Doran McAvoy’s daughter.” Sabrina made a disgusted noise. “I went and watched a bunch of his interviews, and I realized he almost never missed an opportunity to mention my dad.”

I wrinkled my nose. “What a brown-noser.”

“Right?” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, Mom didn’t have that for my dad—a name or a family he could lord over people—but shewasa model. He insisted she never left the house without a full face of makeup, her wedding rings, a Rolex—the works. He wanted her at every home game, and he pushed her to be involved in—ideally in charge of—everything the team did for charity and whatever. Not because he cared about the causes,but because he wanted people to see his beautiful model wife doing things in his name.”

I couldn’t help making a disgusted face. “Oh my God. No shame whatsoever.”

“None.” Sabrina slumped back in her seat and rolled her shoulders a little. “So, yeah, Mom could see my marriage going the same way hers did, and she told me to get out. Especially since Ty wanted kids, and he’d been pushing me hard in that direction.”

That caught me by surprise. “He was pressuring you? And you didn’t want them?”

“I…” She chewed her lip, her eyes losing focus. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want them. I think deep down, even before my mom pointed everything out, I knew I didn’t want kidswith him. And once I realized I wanted out, I definitely didn’t want to be chained to him. My mom was chained to my dad for eleven years after the divorce, until my sister turned eighteen, and Dad made it hell for her.”

“Jesus Christ,” I breathed.

“Right?” She laughed bitterly. “I feel so stupid. Getting manipulated right into the same situation I swore I’d never get into.”

Frowning, I shook my head. “I don’t think you were stupid. Manipulated, yes, but that’s on him, not you.”

“No, but I feel like I should’ve seen it coming.” Sabrina rolled her eyes. “I guess I was just so used to Dad’s bullshit, I didn’t notice it coming from Ty. And it…” She hesitated. “It doesn’t help that I was struggling with my sexuality, too.” Her cheeks turned pink. “I’d known for a long time that I was attracted to women, but I spent years trying not to be. Or trying not to admit I was.”

“Why’s that?”

“Mostly because so many kids liked to tease me that I was a lesbian because I was into sports and I wasn’t the girliest girl growing up.” She rolled her eyes. “Of course a lot of that goes back to my dad, too. He said women’s sports were just a place for dykes to pretend they were men.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

“I know, right? And I think a part of me was afraid that if I admitted I was a lesbian—if I came out—then I’d just be proving him right.” She scoffed and shook her head. “It’s so stupid, and I hate that I—”

“No, it’s not stupid,” I said gently. “You’ve spent your whole life getting rejected and judged by your dad. If my dad acted like that, I wouldn’t want to give him another reason to be a dick to me either.”

“Still. I just wish he didn’t have so much influence over me or my life anymore.”

“Which makes it evenmoreannoying is that no one can write about you or talk about you without mentioning him.”

She scrunched up her face and nodded. “That part sucks, let me tell you.”

I exhaled. “And here I was frustrated that they can’t talk about me without rambling on about my knee and how it makes me a liability.”

Sabrina shook her head. “It doesn’t make you a liability. Half the League has had some kind of serious injury at some point in their career, and any one of us could have a career-ending injury at any time. You’re not a liability. Hockey is.”

I laughed because that was somehow the only way I could think of to express the relief that came from her comment. “Well, let’s hope it doesn’t mess up my knee again. Because I’m really enjoying this damn sport.”

“Me too.” Our eyes locked, and she finally smiled with some actual feeling.

Then, unexpectedly, she dropped her gaze and cleared her throat. “Listen, uh, one of the reasons I wanted to sit with you—” She glanced around as if to make sure none of our teammates were eavesdropping. Facing me again, she said, “It hasn’t been announced officially yet, but Coach Reilly said I’ve been selected for the All-Stars.”

I was shamefully aware of how much that would’ve irritated me before, but much like I was with her hat trick and first star, I was thrilled for her. “That’s great! I don’t think anyone will be surprised.”

She laughed softly. “I don’t know. We’ve got some pretty badass players on this team. But I was bringing it up because they said I can bring a plus one to the event.” She lifted her eyebrows, and she actually sounded a little shy as she asked, “Would you want to come with me?”

I straightened. “You’d… want me to go with you?”

“Well, yeah.” She shrugged as if it was no big deal, and maybe it wasn’t. “Euli is bringing her wife and Val is bringing her daughter. I don’t want to go alone, you know?”

My heart went into overdrive. Had Faith been right about her? That Sabrina was as into me as I was into her?

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