Page 129 of Slap Shot Scandal
The one person I want to protect the most is taking the brunt of the fall—and there’s nothing I can do to shield her.
I raise my hand to knock and that’s when the first blow lands solid on my chest.
Her nameplate’s off the door.
Harbor’s leaving.
Air whooshes from my lungs and I suck in a deep breath, trying to get a hold of myself.
This isn’t happening.
I push through, ready for a fight.
She’s sitting at her desk, perfectly still, fingers poised over her keyboard. The cursor blinks on the blank screen and the clock ticks on the wall. Marking the seconds until my universe shatters.
“Harbor—” My voice is guttural, the sound loud in the near-silent office.
She spins around so slowly I wonder if I’m in a time warp.
“I’m resigning.”
The words I never wanted to hear float across the room in slow motion and my chest cracks all the way open.
“No. We can fix this. I’d rather lose hockey than you. I’ll take a trade, get benched, give up the captaincy—I don’t care. Not anymore. Don’t ask me to pretend you don’t matter more than all of it combined.”
Her eyes fill with tears and for a quick second, the mask slips away completely.
“Don’t you think I want that, Weston?” Her voice breaks on the words and she bites her lip, cutting her eyes to the floor. “But I can’t let you destroy everything you’ve worked for since you were a kid. Not for me. I won’t be the reason you lose your team, your captaincy, your dreams.”
She swipes at a tear, the stack of gold bracelets tinkling on her wrist. “You say I matter more than hockey. But hockey is who you are, Weston. And I love you too much to let you forget that.”
“No.” I stride across the room, making it to her desk in three huge steps. She’s so small and fragile in her office chair, a shell of her usual self. Dark circles rim her bloodshot eyes, and her hands shake slightly as she grips the edge of her desk. This is what defeat looks like on the strongest woman I know.
“I’ll leave. I can make a trade.”
“What? No. That’s crazy. This is your team. You’re the captain, the leader. They need you, Weston. Now more than ever. The season’s about to start.”
I huff out a breath, raking my hand through my damp hair.
“Doubt I still have that C on my jersey.”
“What?”
“Prince is pretty pissed.”
“Once I go, things will get back to how they were before.”
Another sucker punch to the gut, and I feel sick to my stomach.
“I don’t want to go back to how things were.”
She blinks up at me, her expression neutral.
And that hurts the most, cutting me to the core.
“It’s already sorted out, Weston. This is the only way to keep your career safe. Prove you’re not distracted by me being here.”
I want to fight. To yell and scream, get angry.
