Page 386 of Power Play

The thought hurt, but that didn’t make it wrong.

After Milwaukee’s representatives left, the room remained silent. Chris closed the door and returned to the table.

“Well?” he asked.

I looked at the three folders. Washington had been the dream when hockey was the only future I allowed myself to want. Pittsburgh appealed to the part of me that survived by controlling every variable.

Milwaukee offered the strongest deal and the life I needed now.

Gloria rested one hand near their folder. “You don’t have to decide tonight.”

“Yes, I do.”

Waters studied me. “You sure?”

I opened Milwaukee’s offer again. The numbers remained real, and so did the distance.

“Milwaukee.”

Chris leaned back. “That was fast.”

“The deal is too good.”

“It is.”

“The development plan is clear.”

“Yes.”

“And it keeps you closer to Flint,” Gloria said.

“To the guys,” I corrected.

She caught it, and no one mentioned Charm.

I looked toward the dark lake beyond the windows. Somewhere below us, my friends were probably waiting near the players’ corridor. If Charm were still mine, she would be with them. She would take the folder from Chris and read every number even though contracts made her eyes glaze over. She would ask which city felt right before telling me she could design anywhere if I chose one that required her to follow.

I would’ve built the decision around us, but there was no us anymore.

“I’ll relocate as soon as the Frost season ends,” I said.

Chris looked at me. “You don’t have to move the day your contract expires.”

“I want to.”

“Ryan.”

“I’m not running.”

No one argued, which told me they heard the lie.

I kept my gaze on the contract. “I’m starting the next part of my life when the season ends. All of it.”

Waters folded his arms. “Milwaukee isn’t magic. Whatever you’re leaving will still exist.”

“I know.”

The memories wouldn’t follow me into grocery stores, bedrooms, bathrooms, and roads Charm once occupied. That would have to be enough.