Page 10 of Blindside Me
Heat rushes to my face, a mix of anger and shame. I remember the headlines: “Klaas Crashes Out—Another Family Flameout?” It was almost like a premonition. Dad’s calls after, drilling me: Don’t be like him. Be better. The pressure hits like a body check, and I shove back against the locker, the metal cold against my skin.
“I’m not Jake,” I grind out, but my voice cracks. “One fight doesn’t make me him.”
Blake nods, but his eyes say otherwise. “Maybe not. But you’re pushing it. Coach sees it too. That’s why the bench. And if the scouts hear about the bar brawl? They’ll see the name Klaas and think history is repeating.” He claps my shoulder, firm but not pitying. “You’re better than that legacy, dude. Lock it down before it locks you out.”
He walks off, leaving me staring at the floor. My chest tightens like it did when Dad called after Jake’s accident, his voice flat: “Don’t make the same mistakes.” I slam my fist into the locker, quiet, controlled, but the sting doesn’t help. Blake’s right. One more slip, and I’m not just benched. I’m buried.
I head to the showers that are thinning out.
“Hey, Klaas, does your insurance cover it?” The question starts another wave of teasing.
“Do youneedinsurance to get laid?”
“He’s not laid. He’s laidout.”
That’s it.
“Okay,” I snap. “Enough about my dick.”
They keep laughing anyway, and I fake a chuckle, playing it cool. But the second I turn away, the grin drops.
Fuck.
Itdidhurt. Still does.
I should regret it considering the outcome, but her enthusiasm was hot. She took my cock like a champ. No intimidation. Just deep-throated commitment that turned savage until the door exploded open, and everything went to hell. Blue-balled and marked like a caution sign. Worth it in the moment. Stupid in the light.
I stalk toward the showers, shoulders tight, jaw tighter. It’s not just the pain. It’s the way this whole thing feels like déjà vu.
This is exactly the kind of shit that got me benched back in high school. The drinking. The girls.
The kind of shit that wrecked Jake and why they passed on me during the draft.
I won’t forget the look on Dad’s face, disgust turning to disappointment, and then the heavy silence he never broke. The day he realized Jake wouldn’t make it. And that I might not either.
He looked at Jake like he was already gone.
Later that night, he was.
I twist the shower knob hard enough to crack bone. Water blasts down, drowning the locker room noise. Steam and heat wrap around me.
I lean my head against the tile and let the sting hit me because the truth is, I’m skating a thin line, and everyone knows it. This isn’t just about getting benched. It’s about who I’m becoming.
Jake had the talent, the drive, the legacy.
And he still lost everything.
I won’t be next. Ican’tbe.
If I have to bruise every inch of my body to prove I’m not him, I will. If I have to swallow every dumb joke, every whisper, every dig, I will.
Because when I’m back on that ice, I’ll be the one leaving bruises. The one lighting up the scoreboard.
The only hickey that’s gonna matter?
Is the one I leave on our rival’s net.
CHAPTER FOUR
