Page 83 of Bound

How am I going to play without him?

I close my eyes, grab tight to that steady, and keep holding Claire when I’m on more even ground.

Except…

My eyes keep moving over the stack of papers, my brain absorbing the words below—thenamebelow.

And this blow is harder.

Because I realize it’s not a one-man trade, a simple roster swap for swap.

It’s bigger. It’s taking two players from our team and bringing four new guys to the Breakers.

Aiden is a tough loss, the worst kind of trade from a player’s perspective. He’s solid—a great teammate with skills that are still evolving.

But the second subtraction from our roster might just be a death knell our teams.

Because that other Breakers’ name on the paperwork?

It’s Connor Smith.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Claire

“…and folks we’ll certainly miss our big D-man, Connor Smith,” Eva Moreno, the team’s broadcaster, says and the sadness in her voice makes it all the harder.

This is the reality of professional sports.

People get traded, rosters are shifted around.

But…Smitty.

And Aiden.

And—

I sniff and turn down the volume of the TV mounted in the corner of my office. I can’t watch this any longer, can’t hear it. I?—

“Claire.”

I jerk, gaze going to my open doorway.

“Follow me,” Luc mutters.

I look up, stare into my boss’s unfathomable expression for a heartbeat, then turn and hurry after him, trying to ignore the somber mood filling the hallways, the far too quiet locker room and training areas.

Smitty.

Christ, even his name trailing through my mind is like a jab to my senses.

“Everything okay?” I ask, trying to remain professional, trying to not think about the fact that a chunk of my heart, myfamilyis now traveling two thousand miles to play for the Grizzlies in California. Trying to ignore the fact that I was as blindsided as the rest of the team. I know Luc kept me out of the trade negotiations until they were finalized because he was trying to protect me.

I’m in the depths.

I’m close to the guys—Ihaveto be because we work so closely together.

Unfortunately, that means I was just as shocked as the rest of the team.

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