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“Yes, Coach.”
“Well, that makes a nice change.” The new coach of the Hade Harbor Hellions, an award-winning college hockey team, smiled at me. He’d also been my coach all through high school.
He came in and put a bag on the table. “Grapes and sports drinks,” he said, pointing to the bag.
I watched him unpack the bag.
“Thanks for coming to visit me.”
“Of course. After all the years we’ve trained together, I couldn’tnotworry about my best defenseman.” Coach Eric pulled up a stool and sat beside me.
There was something in his look that sent anxiety shooting through me.
“Though, I can’t say this is a purely social visit,” he said.
Shit.
“I spoke to your father, Beckett. Now, I want to hear it from you. Is it true?”
It was my worst nightmare, made real. He knew. He was going to kick me off the team before I’d even got on it. I’d never be an HHU Hellion.
I swallowed, the words sticking in my throat.
Eric took in my expression. He could always read his players. He knew me better than my father did.
“You’re not in trouble, son. I’m worried about you.”
“I haven’t taken anything in weeks,” I told him honestly.
Eric’s shoulders slumped a little, disappointed at the confirmation of my drug use. It was a look I was used to. I’d been a disappointment to everyone who had ever bothered to care about me.
“You know you can’t be on the Hellions with even a hint of drug use. Your father’s told me that he’s going to have you tested on a weekly basis. He’s willing to share those results with me. It’s the only way I can go ahead and put you on the team. I need to know you’re sticking to being clean.”
“Yes, sir.” What else could I say?
Eric stared at me for a long moment, taking a measure of the boy he’d known since he was young. I wondered what he saw there. If there was anything good, only he saw it. He reached out and squeezed my shoulder gently.
“Hang in there, Beckett. This will all get better with time.”
He stood and gave me a sad sort of smile. “I’ll see you at HHU. Be ready to get your ass kicked into gear. We aren’t losing this year.”
“Yes, Coach.”
He left me alone with the knowledge that my dreams were hanging by a thread.
This was all her fault.
Eve.
Not only had she spilled my secrets to my fucking dad, but it was her fault I was at the pharmacy and protecting her had gotten my face cut up. Her fucking fault, and she couldn’t even be bothered to come and visit. Even after what had passed between us. She’d left me here to rot. It was surprisingly heartless of her.
So, she really did hate me, just like she’d always told me. It was honest, at least. She wasn’t pretending to care about me, unlike others in my life. She could join the list of people who clearly didn’t care if I lived or died, along with the rest of my family.
My heart hardened in my aching chest.
Every interaction I’d ever had with Eve Martino had left a scar. Since the moment we’d met, she’d seen parts of me I’d never agreed to share. I was done with her. She wanted to ignore me? That was fine. Better than fine.
Eve Martino no longer existed to me.
