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“I also had a few of visitors over the weekend to plead your case and a few phone calls this morning. It seems that everyone from the clinic also thinks that you should stay with Bardley. Before I get into what they said, do you have anything to say for yourself?” Sam asked.

He had a whole thing planned to say but of course he lost his words now. He was surprised that everyone had reached to support him and wondered if one of those people was Tori.

Chance took a deep breath and just said what came to mind. “I don’t know that I can defend my actions. I told you already why I did it, I can’t say I fully regret the action, only the outcome. I’m sure you both heard what he was saying about Tori in front of their son. It was wrong, but I could have handled it differently.” Still, it felt good to knock him on his ass.

“We both heard and saw the videos,” Sam confirmed.

“What I can tell you is there is very little you can do to me to make me feel much worse than I already do. I am working on things. I have been seeing a therapist to work on some coping skills on the field, and now off the field. The clinic was meant to show you both, the team, and the fans, that I could be better, but I know that this didn’t help things.”

“Anything else?” Sam asked.

Chance shook his head. There was no defending it. “Only that I want to stay and keep playing at Bardley.”

Sam nodded. “I’m glad to hear that because after we talked last I wasn’t sure. You seemed to have given up on the team and yourself.”

“I wasn’t in a good place,” Chance admitted.

“And about her?” Sam pressed.

“Tori? I don’t know. Eventually, I want to talk to her, to know if we can give it another try, but I don’t know. I can promise whatever the outcome of that, I want to be here. I won’t let it affect my playing on the pitch.”

“I’d be surprised if you managed that,” Derek said. “No woman worth going through all of this for wouldn’t affect you on the pitch. When my wife left me once, I was a complete wreck.”

Chance was shocked. He didn’t know that Derek and his wife had ever split.

“When I went through my divorce, you were here, Chance. I was a complete asshole to everyone.” Sam stood. “It was a hard time in my life.” He wandered over to the floor to ceiling windows and looked out.”

“We weren’t even dating that long,” Chance said. It didn’t really help his case, but it was true.

“When you know, you know,” Derek told him.

Sam took a deep breath. “I think the insight from your teammates speaks volumes here. None of them want you to leave. Most of the guys made a request to bring you back for the last game.”

“To be fair, I think they all want you back this weekend. The ones that didn’t say it probably didn’t think to,” Derek added.

“More telling was Ellis Ward from parks and rec. He said that he had no problems with you and added that he would have hit the man himself if he thought he could have done as good of a job,” Sam chuckled. “I don’t think he was lying about that.”

“After watching the video, I can’t say I wouldn’t have hit him either,” Derek agreed.

“And then we had parents calling all weekend and this morning. It seems you made a real impression doing that clinic. The kids all love you and I had a few parents that admitted to not being sure about you in the beginning but want you back out there now.” Sam nodded to Derek. “Go ahead.”

“I met with a few of the guys who feel guilty about not being there to help you both on and off the pitch. Your two biggest supporters right now with the most guilt are the reason that your girl doubted you. When you have a chance, you need to talk to them,” Derek told him.

Sam nodded and went back to his seat. “Maddox brought Tori here to talk to me. Emmett, too.”

Chance blinked as he struggled to process that news.

“I don’t think she was aware of how bad things really were with you and the team until he did. She pleaded your case, you know?”

“Wh—What did she say?” Chance asked.

“She said that we shouldn’t punish you over this. Basically that you had your issues, but this one wasn’t your fault. Said her ex baited you and that she was trying to get her custody changed based on what happened. She really didn’t want me to punish you for this. Emmett said you were his friend and that he missed you,” Sam told him.

His heart squeezed. He missed them both, too.

“I want you to hear this from me and not her, as a friend and not as a boss. Isaac touted on the phone on the way home about how you were going to be fired now.” He leveled a glare at Chance. “Do not do anything about it. She seems to have things well in hand.”

Chance nodded, still processing all of this.

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