Page 45 of Playing to Win

Like I would tell everyone that Dad was “almost” drafted.

Braydon sidestepped that land mine. “So, hockey runs in the family?”

Dad’s chest puffed out. “It certainly does. My father played in the big leagues?—”

Three whole games, if we were being accurate.

“—and a lot of people thought I should have been drafted. Came close. And Wayne, of course,wasdrafted. He’s playing in Europe now.”

“Jayna mentioned that.”

“I’ve been telling him to listen to his coaches, giving some advice—I think he could make it yet.”

Braydon nodded. “That would be great. And of course, Jayna is an incredible player.”

There was a moment of silence, since my parents hadn’t expected that. They didn’t expect my fucking boyfriend would know and admire my play. That was my family issue in a nutshell.

My mother spoke first. “Of course she’s done well. It’s not the NHL, like you’re doing now, but?—”

Braydon shrugged. “I’m just playing backup because a couple of guys got hurt. But Jayna—she won an Olympic medal. If I won something like that, my parents would have it framed on the wall right inside the door, so everyone had to see it when they came over.”

My gold medal was at my place. Along with all my other trophies and medals. I’d left some at home when I moved out, but the next visit home they’d been packed up in a box. I took the hint.

My dad was happy to shift the conversation down the direction of professional players being allowed in the Olympics. Braydon said things like, “Oh, I see,” and nodded a few times which was all my dad needed.

To make sure Braydon wasn’t forced to listen to my dad show off for the whole meal, I asked about Wayne. My dad could give a play-by-play of his last game, including commentary about what Wayne had either done wrong or should do better. Since Braydon was a goalie, the advice didn’t apply, so he just listened and nodded some more.

“Now, son,” my dad said, and I stiffened.

What?

“I hope you don’t mind me calling you that, but we consider you family.”

What the ever-loving hell?A week ago they didn’t know who this guy was and now he was family?

“I watched that game you played, carefully, and have a couple of observations, if you don’t mind.”

Oh, no.This was too much. “Dad, he has coaches.”

Dad gave me his sour lemon face. “Good players are always open to improvement.”

Really? He never gave me any of his observations. Guess I wasn’t a good enough player.

Mom interrupted. “It was too bad you weren’t allowed to finish that game. I understood why you were upset in that video. I didn’t expect an NHL team to pull a stunt like that.”

I inhaled a sharp breath. A woman playing in an NHL game, myteammateplaying in an NHL game, and my mother called it a stunt? I grew up with their attitude, but it still hurt.

Braydon raised his brows. “I’m embarrassed about what I said that night. It was never about Faith as a hockey player. Faith played a great period and didn’t let in a single shot.”

My dad scoffed. “It was obviously set up for that. You earned the team the win and everyone agreed to let her have an easy go to look good.”

Braydon shook his head. “Maybe it looked different on TV, but from my seat those were real shots. And Petey went down in warm-ups, so there wasn’t a lot of time to set anything up. I was impressed with how well Faith did.”

“You’re a team player, Braydon. That’s a good trait.”

Of course the guy couldn’t be giving his honest opinion, just the one the team made him, because my dad, despite the evidence of his own eyes, could not accept a woman playing as well as a man. I wanted this dinner over. I needed time before I faced my parents again. Maybe a few years?

The server arrived with our meals, and I had no appetite.

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