Page 59 of Man Advantage

“Does he want you to fight him for Bryan or something?” I asked. “Like does he need you to be jealous?”

“I don’t even know. Sometimes I think he’s just trying to make me fuck up on the ice.”

“Why would he do that? Doesn’t it screw over his own team?”

“It does. But if I fall apart, they’ll drop me to the bottom six and bump him to the second line.”

I scowled. “That’s a bit mercenary.”

“No shit.” Trev suddenly looked even more exhausted, his eyes losing focus as he quietly added, “Sometimes I think he’s succeeding, too.”

I schooled my expression so he didn’t see my wince as the commentators’ remarks echoed in my mind. “Was he getting to you tonight?”

Trev laughed bitterly. “Was it that obvious?”

“I mean…” I half-shrugged. “I’ve watched you play enough to know when you’re having a rough night.”

“That’s an understatement,” he muttered. Then he shook himself and met my gaze. “I’ll get it together. Tonight was a bad night, but I’ll be okay.”

“Okay. Well. If you’re not, you know how to reach me.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it. And thanks for talking to me tonight.” He smiled weakly but genuinely. “I still feel like shit, but I feel better.”

“So it’s an upgrade from the shit you felt like earlier?”

That made him laugh. “Yes. Yes, a very nice upgrade. Thank you.” Humor fading, he said, “I should let you go.”

“Are you going to be able to sleep?”

He seemed to think about that. “Probably better than I would have if we hadn’t talked.”

“That’s a start, right?”

The smile came back to life. “Yeah. It’s a start. I’ll take it.”

“Works for me.”

We ended the call a moment later. I lay back on my bed and stared up at the ceiling, my dark and silent phone resting in themiddle of my chest. I hated seeing Trev this unhappy. And I hated that there was no escape from it. Even if Bryan and Tim split up, Trev would still be stuck with both of them in his life for the foreseeable future. Plus he’d still be dealing with the custody shitshow.

There’d been a time in my life when I’d have scoffed at the thought of sympathizing with a millionaire athlete. Especially recently when I’d had to move back in with my mom because I’d suddenly been without a job or a place to live.

Oh, you’ve got problems, Mr. Moneybags? Cry me a river, pal.

But tonight, the sweetest, most loving father I’d ever met was hurting because someone he’d tried to love was using their kids to make him miserable. He was stuck in an impossible situation with his ex, with his teammate, and with his boys. No amount of money could chase away that kind of pain.

Is it really too much to ask for Trev to catch a break?

CHAPTER 19

TREV

After the lastgame of that three-game road trip, our plane touched down in Pittsburgh at around four in the morning. I’d had just enough caffeine to keep me awake so I could drive home, and then I faceplanted in bed until my alarm went off. At least Coach had moved practice to noon instead of ten.

When I finally awoke, the house was painfully silent. For a moment, I thought maybe the kids were outside or otherwise playing quietly, but then I remembered they’d gone back to Bryan’s yesterday. The day before? Hell, the days were all blurring together.

Damn. I hated these road trips that were during my custody week, and then got me home right before the boys went back to his place. I missed when we just went with the flow, and Bryan would let me take them if I was gone during my usual custody period. His hardass approach might’ve made things easier for him, but it meant I had to go long stretches without seeing the twins, and that was killing me.

Worse, I was worried the boys were resenting me. That they thought I didn’twantthem here, or that I didn’t care, or… something.

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