Page 94 of In My Hockey Era
Lucy doesn’t react.Just quiet, heavy understanding.
“When I proposed, we were young, but I thought we’d be together forever.It destroyed me when she left.”
A muscle tics in Lucy’s jaw.
I shake my head, glancing away before forcing my eyes back to hers.“The end of that relationship was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through.”
Lucy swallows, her grip on her glass tightening.“And you didn’t think I deserved to know?”
“Of course you do.I just…didn’t know how to tell you,” I admit, voice rough.“Things with you had been so good, so effortless, I didn’t want to mess that up.”
She lets out a slow breath, looking past me like she’s sorting through her thoughts.When she finally speaks, her voice is quieter.“I found out from a stranger, Bennett.”
I flinch again, because yeah—that part stings.
She shakes her head, her laugh brittle.“Do you know how humiliating that was?”
“I know,” I say quickly, desperate now.“I know, Lucy.I messed up.”
“What else did you lie about?”
My brows push together.I never actuallylied.I wouldn’t do that.“Nothing.I swear to you.”
She stares at me for a long moment, like she’s weighing everything in her head, and I swear, the waiting is the worst part.
“So what happened?Between you and Holly.”
I hate the way she says her name—with so much pain and angst in her voice.
I lean forward, placing my hands on my knees.“First, we were probably too young to make that kind of commitment.But, we did it anyway.I’d just been drafted to the league and the first thing we did was move to Canada together.She didn’t know a soul.And I wasn’t around much.It was hard on her, and she started to resent me for it.Still, I thought we’d be okay.We weren’t though, not at all.And a year later, when I got traded, we moved to California, and were sorta hanging on by a thread.”
Lucy knows the teams I played for before Dallas.She just never knew the personal history that went along with it.
“And then?”she asks softly.
“And then she met someone…her personal trainer.Istillthought maybe we could work things out, go to counseling…”
“I’m sorry you went through all that,” she says.
“Thanks.It sucked.”
She nods.“I still wish you had told me.”Then she exhales.And I already know what she’s going to say before she even says it.“I think I need some time.”
My stomach clenches.
She shifts, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.“I just… I need some space to process all of this.”
I nod, even though every instinct in me wants to tell her no, to tell her we can figure this outnow, together.But I won’t push.I don’t have the right to push.
She sets her untouched water glass on the table, and rises, heading for the door.
And just like that—she’s leaving.
I don’t stop her.I don’t say anything at all.
I just watch as she slips out of my apartment, her shoulders tense, her head down.
The door clicks shut behind her.
