Page 44 of Playoff

“Yeah, I’m tired and I want to ice my arm before bed.”

“Still bothering you?”

“It’s better, but it starts to throb a little after a long day like today. Besides, I have to be back at the arena at nine for a staff meeting.”

“Oh, okay. Then I guess I’ll see you at practice.”

“You will.” I get up, but Mr. Rourke doesn’t seem anxious to let me slip out.

“Leaving already?” he calls. “We haven’t had a chance to catch up. I want to hear all about what it’s like working for the Phantoms. Since we can’t count on Blakey here becoming a regular.”

I pull in a slow, steady breath as I think of how to respond because the last thing I want is to spendanytime talking to him. He’s such a jerk, and I can only put up with his veiled insults and passive-aggressive attitude toward his son for so long.

“Dad, her day starts before ours,” Blake says. “And she has an early morning meeting.”

“Yeah, I’m tired,” I admit. And it’s the truth. “Good night, everyone.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Blake says, nudging me toward the exit. “Be right back,” he calls over his shoulder.

He guides me out before his dad can protest.

“Thank you,” I say. “I’d forgotten how your dad is. I figured he would have mellowed by now.”

“Not hardly,” he says with a scowl.

“I’m sorry he treats you that way.”

He shrugs. “I’m used to it. And some of it I deserve. You know they took out a second mortgage to give me the bestchance possible to play in the pros, and as a thank you, I slacked off in college, ruining my chances to make the big leagues, but no one can beat me up about it more than I beat myself up.”

“We all make mistakes,” I say gently. “I mean, look at me. I was so determined to follow you that I didn’t apply anywhere else. By the time you made it clear you didn’t want me there, I had no other options.”

“Oh, shit.” He looks contrite. “You never told me that. I’m so sorry. I was completely self-absorbed and thought… well, they didn’t have a kinesiology program, and even though I won’t claim I behaved the way I did for solely altruistic reasons it wasn’t completely selfish either. I wanted you to go somewhere that would get you into a good program, one that would help you find a job when you graduated. You didn’t need to be in Minnesota.”

“Well, I couldn’t get in anywhere at the last minute either. I took some classes the second semester at the local community college, but I basically lost the whole first year. I didn’t graduate until I was twenty-three.”

“I’m genuinely sorry about that. I feel terrible because I know it was my fault. I should have been more honest with you before the end of senior year. I didn’t want to hurt you, so I didn’t know how to bring up breaking things off, or even taking a break.”

“Look, I was naïve too. The signs were all there, but I chose to ignore them because I was a girl in love. In retrospect, you probably did me a favor, because I lost my mom that year, so I guess it’s a good thing I was local, which allowed me to be with her.”

“I’m so sorry about your mom. I didn’t know.”

“How could you?” I lean against my SUV and sigh. “We weren’t in touch. We weren’t friends. We weren’t…anything.”

“No. And even though I apologized, I want to explain too. I wish I’d treated you better. I felt I needed my freedom afterwe graduated, but I still should have been kinder, gentler. You deserved the truth about what I was thinking. I should have insisted you apply to other colleges early on, before it was too late for you to get in anywhere. That was shitty of me. I was too busy enjoying our amazing sex life.” He looks embarrassed, which is rare for him.

But it feels good.

I’ve waited nearly ten years to hear an explanation.

It doesn’t change anything, but it gives me some of what I need to maybe get closure.

“Thank you,” I say finally. “I appreciate you taking the time to explain what was going on in your head back then.”

“I really am sorry, Ro.” He leans over and gently takes me by the shoulders, briefly gazing into my eyes before pressing a soft kiss on my cheek.

Then he turns and walks back into the restaurant.

Leaving me more confused than ever.

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