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“Unfortunate side effect,” I agreed as I slipped my bag over my shoulder. I glanced around the locker room. As a club, we didn’t have a dedicated locker room, but this had been the meeting spot for our team since I joined this league.
And there wasn’t anyone I respected more than Coach. I could have turned out very different if he hadn’t been the real role model in my life.
The last of the guys, two underclassmen I didn’t know well, left, leaving me and coach and alone. I sucked in a deep breath.
This would be the last time we were in here. Like this. The coach and the player. Hopefully, I wouldn’t lose him in my life after tonight. He was someone I would work to keep in touch with. Maybe our professional relationship would change into a real friendship over time.
“I know you probably don’t care about this, but I wanted to tell you, everything going on with your dad…Well, I know the whispers around town can be harsh and it may seem like the tide turned fast on your dad. But he was never a kind man, even if he played at one. No one respected him because they truly like him. Stan was a good businessman, fierce in a boardroom I hear, but not someone people thought highly of. It wasn’t a leap for them to fall into thinking the worst of him when the news broke.”
He winced. Did he regret phrasing his words that way? He shouldn’t. They were the truth. I just didn’t know where he was going with it.
“The point I’m getting to, Rhys, is that no one thinks those things about you. You are not your father, and you don’t live in his shadow. You’re your own man, and a good one. I’m excited to see what you’ll do in life, whether it’s with hockey or something else.” He gripped my arm, shaking enough to get his point across. “I’m proud to have been your coach.”
Ah hell. I hadn’t been expecting a speech when I walked in here after practice. I also hadn’t expected to be hit with the emotions that had been strangely missing with my mother.
A lump lodged in my throat, making it hard to swallow. I dropped my gaze for a few seconds, gathering my thoughts. When I looked back at him, the sincerity shown from his eyes.
He meant every single word.
Now this was important to me.
“You’re right. I don’t care what other people think or say. That’s a recent revelation for me that I’m still getting used to. At least where it concerns those close to me. But I care what you think. And it means everything to me that you know I’m not like him. I’m glad you were my coach too. Whether you knew it or not, while my father was the example of what not to be, I often looked at you as the role model he should have been. Thank you.” I held out a hand.
Coach glanced down, then grabbed it and pulled me to him in a half hug.
“You have my email and my phone number. Those aren’t going to change. And you’re only going to be in Denver. Keep in touch.”
After a strong pat on the back, he stepped back and left me alone in the locker room.
Looking around one more time, I smiled.
This had been the saving grace for me growing up. It had been an outlet, a release, a way to build myself up. I’d never forget it.
This was it.
The moment I’d waited for my entire life.
The wild jitters taking over my body said the hype of graduating was worth every second. Although, that could also be my irrational stage fright of being the center of attention.
I closed my eyes, took in a deep, filling breath, and listened to the loud music played by the school band, the rustling of robes as rows of students all took the cue to go up on stage. The smell of fresh cut grass and the overwhelming perfume of the girl in front of me.
Committing this moment to memory, I glanced around and caught sight of Trinity between Thatcher and Beck, Graves and Angel on the other side.
They’d become my surrogate uncle and cousin, a package deal with Beck and Jonah.
Trinity waved when she caught me watching. I grinned, the heat from my rowdy embarrassment compounded by the sun’s insistent glare.
Rhys had already walked across the stage. They were currently calling up the Ns. My palms were so slick with sweat that they’d started dripping. I didn’t know hands could even sweat this much.
Jonah hadn’t gotten either of the top two spots in our class. I thought he would have been upset, even if he hadn’t said so. Over the last week once it was formally announced, I watched and waited for some slight sign that he was bothered, but nothing.
He’d told me goals change, life changes, and what he wanted was no longer the same. I just hadn’t taken him at his word.
The Valedictorian and Salutatorian both gave heartwarming, if stuttering, speeches. Jonah would have killed it. But he said he was happy to have one less speech in high school. He still finished in third, and that was nothing to sneeze at.
Now they were on the Os. The Ps were lining up.
I took another hopefully calming breath. I would be on stage for thirty seconds. If that.
