My father.
Marshall.
Carter.
I grab my phone and turn it off.
The silence is deafening.
Twenty-four hours ago, I had a job. A career. A relationship with someone I loved.
Now I have nothing.
I ended things with Danny to protect everyone. I released a statement to control the narrative. Dammit, I did everything I thought was right.
It all fell apart anyway.
This must be what rock bottom feels like.
And I’m completely alone.
I press my hands against my forehead, thinking about the last time Danny was here. He was standing in my living room, telling me I picked what was safe over fighting for us.
He was right.
I was so afraid of the consequences that I didn’t even try to fight the battle. I just cut and ran, ending things before they could get worse.
Except they got worse anyway.
I have nobody to blame but myself.
Danny told Alex everything. The compliance check. My father finding out. The kiss.
He didn’t lie. That’s the worst part.
He just told the truth to the wrong person.
Maybe he wanted me to hurt as much as he was hurting.
It definitely worked.
Marshall wanted the dust to settle.
Instead, everything burned and I’m stuck in the middle of the inferno.
CHAPTER 26
DANNY
It’sgame seven without me on the ice, and we lose five to two to the Arizona Scorpions.
I watch from my couch with a beer in my hand. My phone blows up with notifications I can’t bear to read. Marshall banned me from the arena during my suspension. He said it’d be better optics for the organization and keep the media circus away from the team.
So I’m stuck here watching on television while my teammates lose their fifth straight game since my suspension began.
The commentary is brutal.
“The Raptors are struggling without Masterson. That’s their fifth straight loss since his suspension began.”
