Page 95 of Collide
“I don’t need it to be.” I sigh. “Come on, you know I would never judge you. You can tell me if it’s an ex or—”
“My dad.”
“Your…dad?”
“My dad was a hockey player.” She gauges my reaction. “I know, a psychology major with daddy issues. Big surprise, huh?”
“That’s not at all what I was thinking. I had no idea he played.”
“He’s played my entire life.”
“So, he’s the reason you hate the sport?”
“I don’thateit.” My blank stare makes her release a breath. “Okay, maybe a little.” She glances at me. “Fine, I don’t like it because it reminds me of everything my dad chose over me.”
I sit beside her on the bed, speechless. Finding out her dad is a hockey player is more shocking than finding out Kian slept with Tabitha even after she stalked him and all of us.
“My parents had me when they were young. My mom was in college, and my dad had just gotten drafted. Getting pregnant flipped everything they knew. My mom really stepped up, and my dad got to play like he didn’t have a daughter waiting for him to come home. So, I knew early on that to him, this sport was way more important than the kid who ruined the life he had planned.”
“Summer, that’s terrible.”
She shrugs. “Anyway, that’s who called that time at the pool. My dad is the interim coach for Boston.”
“Boston’s coach is Luk—” I pause. “Lukas Prestonis your dad?”
She nods.
“Number one draft pick, two-time Stanley Cup, and Art Ross winner, Lukas Preston?”
“Yes.” She watches me as I try to contain my shock. From the looks of it, she’s been through this before.
“How did I not know this?”
“I don’t particularly advertise it. I’d rather not think about him.” She falls back on the bed, hands resting on her stomach. “That’s why it’s so hard for me to do this. Us.”
I lie down beside her. “Because I remind you of him?”
She sighs. “Because you remind me of everything he loved more than me. He’s dedicated his life to hockey.”
I feel like complete shit. “I’m sorry, Summer. I had no idea.”
“Don’t be. It’s not like I told you.”
I intertwine our hands. “You can, you know. Tell me, I mean.”
“Thanks, but sharing my daddy issues with the guy I’m sleeping with isn’t exactly my idea of unwinding.”
Reducing me to the guy she’s sleeping with feels like she’s tossing my heart into a blender. I do my best to chuckle, but it’s hoarse. “Well, the guy you’re sleeping with is also your friend. So, you don’t need to keep everything bottled up.”
“I don’t. Sampson obviously knows, the girls too, and I’ve had pretty intense therapy sessions.”
Everyone knows that Tyler Sampson’s dad was in the NHL. Not because he advertises it but because he’s never bothered to hide it. Summer grew up with him, it’s only reasonable that it’s because she’s from a hockey family, too.
“And now I know,” I add.
“Right, now you know.”
“You’re not going to tell me not to tell anyone else?”
