Page 5 of College Hockey Bully

The plate smashes as I slam it down on the counter. Melinda gasps, then immediately reaches for my hand, examining it like she’d done when I was eight and took a tumble on the stairs. “It’s fine,” I assure her, gently pulling my hand from her hold. “I’m not hurt.”

“You need to handle that anger, Aiden,” she says a tad firmly. “Get some help. Talk to someone—”

I squeeze her shoulder with a forced smile. “For the last time, Melinda, I don’t need a therapist.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you have hockey to channel all that energy. I’ve been hearing that for years and you’re still angry. Maybe you should try something else. At least, another sport.”

I probably would, if that was my reason for playing Division 1 hockey. My folks think I’m simply involved with an extra-curricular activity but it’s my career goal. At the right time—when the Wolves finally win the title this season—I will drop that bomb.

Oh, my dad will be pissed, but considering all the shit he’s been up to, blindsiding him is the least he deserves.

“I’ll think about it,” I reply, jerking my head toward the arched kitchen entrance. “Let me go see about Mom.”

“Get those clothes off first!” she calls after me. I wave in reply.

Taking the grand staircase, I walk down the long hallway to the right wing that my parents occupy. At my sharp knock on the master bedroom door, I hear her faint command for me to enter. Mom is curled up in bed, reclined against huge pillows that make her petite figure even smaller. She’s still wearing the flowy dress that she left the house in this morning. Mom never gets in bed while still dressed in what she calls her outdoor clothes, so whatever happened to make her cry like this, it’s major.

Then again, it’s always major.

It’s always that one thing.

It’s alwayshim.

Mentally subduing my anger, I kiss her forehead, then sit on the edge of the bed.

“Are you wet?” she asks, frowning through her tears.

Ignoring her question, I fire back one of my own. “What did you find this time?”

My question triggers a round of sobbing that I patiently wait to subside while massaging my temples. My dad is quite aware of the damage he’s caused, but he doesn’t care, so long as his needs are being satisfied.

He’s the main reason I’m not looking to settle down anytime soon. Maybe never. The second reason has been calling my phone all day.

“She’s a brunette. A little older than you. He leased a penthouse downtown and she’s living there,” Mom finally says, sniffling and reaching for a towel by her side, then dabbing her wet cheeks.

Jesus Christ. They’re getting younger and younger. This is what; the fifth mistress this year? It’s barely October, for fuck’s sake. Incensed, I rise from the bed. “You can’t keep letting him get away with this. Divorce him. You’re entitled to half of everything.”

Mom shakes her head sadly. “I love him, Aiden. I want my marriage to work.”

“Well, he clearly doesn’t share the same sentiments, Mom,” I snap, and she flinches. Regretfully, I sit back down. “I’m sorry.”

“Your father loves me. He has lost his way, that’s all,” she says tearfully. “Can you believe he said I have nothing to offer him anymore?”

“He said what?”

“Aiden please. I don’t want you to confront him like the last time, okay? I have a plan. I’m going to prove that I’m the only woman good enough for him.”

I stare at her, feeling pity for the woman who was once a fascinating attorney on the rise before Dad swept her off her feet twenty-five years ago. She quit her career and helped him build Hunter Energy from the ground up. Now, she’s content with being the housewife, the woman on Dad’s arm when he wants to put up a united front to impress his peers. I love my mother to bits, but if I should ever be crazy enough to settle, I could never be with a woman like her.

I’d want a woman with a backbone.

IfI wanted to settle down.

“How are you going to prove something he should already know?” I ask. “You’ve been married for twenty-four years.”

Those words trigger another flood of tears. Moving to the top of the bed, I throw her towel over my wet shirt, then pull her into my arms. “Mom, I hate to tell you this, but there’s nothing you can do. He’s set in his ways.”

Mom shakes her head wildly, pulling back. “I don’t believe that. Adrian has gotten bored with me because he thinks I have no more worth. If I prove that I do, he’ll come running back with open arms.”

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