AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Five
HENRY
There was no chance of me missing Leon’s funeral.
Especially after Sage called to tell me about her grandfather’s passing.
Things between Leon and I had not ended well.
My dream of becoming a hockey player came true, but what I wanted to do for him… that kind of just fell to the side.
I sat in the locker room, a towel around my neck, and I stared at the floor.
Guilt felt like a cheap punch from someone.
“Hey, don’t you have a flight to catch?”
I looked up at Jago, who stood in front of me in a towel.
“I do,” I said as I stood up. “I definitely do.”
“Not doing you any good hanging around here.”
“Man, you look sad as fuck,” Rome said. “Like your father died.”
“Rome,” Joe said. “What the hell?”
“That’s exactly what it feels like to me,” I said. “That’s what Leon was to me. The only one I ever had.”
“Leon was your father?” Seb asked.
“No,” I said. “Close enough though. He took care of me. I never lived with him or anything like that. He had a granddaughter and she was off limits.”
I smiled.
“Oh, shit, look at that face,” Atlas said. “Granddaughter, huh?”
“We were always just friends,” I said. “She called me to tell me about Leon’s passing. I wish I’d had a chance to reconnect.”
“You and he stopped talking?” Jago asked.
I looked at my teammates and realized then they didn’t know all that much about me. Other than their perceived views that I was a good guy. Kind of like the father figure to the rest of the team. Good at giving advice and lectures.
They knew nothing of my past.
Who I was. Where I came from.
A kid who basically lived on the streets with nothing and nobody in his life.
The obligatory attempt at a house to sleep in just to keep the authorities away.
“Leon taught me everything I know,” I said. “He was a mean man. A hard-ass.”
“They make the best coaches,” Atlas said.
“And the best hot granddaughters, huh?” Rome asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
“It was never like that,” I said.
