Page 291 of On His Team

“I’m not going.”

The room goes quiet.

Stanley stares at him. “I’m sorry?”

“I’m not going.”

“Why the fuck not?”

Rowan leans back against the couch. “Because I already made my decision.”

Percy gets it first. “Camden.”

“Yeah.”

Blue looks at him. “Another year.”

Rowan nods. “Another year. The degree. Hockey here.”

Stanley looks offended. “You are turning down professional hockey.”

“A tryout,” Rowan corrects.

“Stop saying that like it makes this less insane.”

Benson is looking at Rowan differently now, like he’s trying to figure out whether there’s something he’s missing. “You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Completely?”

Rowan nods. “Yeah.”

Percy leans back and looks almost satisfied. “Good.”

Blue points at Rowan. “We’re keeping our top pair.”

“Mackey’s your top pair.”

“You’re my top pair.”

Melly makes a face. “That was romantic.”

Everybody starts laughing.

I’m still staring at Rowan. I already knew he got into the master’s program. I already knew he planned to stay. I cried about it. I celebrated it. I have spent the last two weeks imagining him at Camden next year.

But this is different. Because another door actually opened. A real one. AHL called, and Rowan still knows what he wants.

Stanley follows my eyes and immediately points between us. “Oh, fuck off.”

“What?” I ask.

He says to Rowan, “You’re staying because of her.”

My smile disappears.

Rowan’s doesn’t. “No.”