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“Exactly,” Coach said. “You think it was hard for you and McCarthy joining the league? Honestly, the lesbian angle was the best way to go, but what about straight women? What would happen for the future of inclusion in sports if there was a history of female players having sex with their teammates?”
He didn’t answer his own questions, and he didn’t have to. It wouldn’t be pretty. “What if that didn’t happen, though? What if no one cared?” My voice was weak, heavy with all the doubt running through my head.
“I can’t take that chance.”
“What?”
“I have a granddaughter, Warren. She’s fifteen, and the best damn pitcher on her high school team.”
“Baseball?”
He waved a hand through the air. “I know, I know. I tried to slap some skates on her, but she hatesthe ice.”
“And you think she can make it tothe MLB?”
Coach’s chest puffed up. “I knowshe can.”
Despite the circumstance, my heart warmed. My parents got the same looks on their faces when they bragged about me to their friends. Since I was a little kid, swimming in my goalie pads, they knew that I would go to the NHL and did everything in they could to support me.God, Imiss them.
And like Coach, if my parents had the power to ease my struggles in the major leagues, they would have done it in aheartbeat.
Was I ready to risk the career that was drowning in my blood, sweat, and tears for SebastianKingston?
I collapsed against the wall and looked around the room with contempt. So much for the calm room I meditated in. It was probably filled with bad juju now. I wanted to drive my fist through the wall and tear down the memories theynow held.
Coach looked at me with pity. “Look, I’m your coach, but this is one thing I can’t order you to do. It’s your career and your decision. So take some time and think on things, Warren. Consider your options and figure out what’s important to you.”
As if he hadn’t just blown up my world, Hansson left me to make the biggest decision of my life.
Chapter 16
With a grunt, I slammed the rope to the ground, ignored the pain shooting through my whole body, and did it again. I switched between the two ropes, one in each hand, whipping them up and down until I couldn’t breathe. The ropes fell from my shaking grips.
I stumbled and caught myself before I could fall to my knees. My lungs heaved, desperate for oxygen.Oh, that hurts.
I flopped down on a weight bench in the empty gym. I felt around on the floor beneath me.Where…?I grabbed my water bottle and brought it to my face. The first squirt went into my mouth, the second over my sweat-drenched face. Sweet relief.
It didn’t last.
I stood, loosened up my arms, then grabbed the ropes again.
Slam. Slam. Slam. Slam.
“What did rope do to you?” a Russian accent asked.
I dropped the ropes and watched as Lukin entered the Blizzards gym, hands in his pockets. He looked the same, in his team workout gear and a hat, but something seemed off. I studied his face for a second before I realized. He wasn’t snarling at me. In fact, his usual cocky attitude and his “Why is this peasant talking to me” evil eye were completely absent. In their place, slumped shoulders and a downcast gaze made Lukin almost unrecognizable.
Add in the fact that Lukin was voluntarily in the arena outside of mandatory practice, and I was wondering if he had a sadder, harder-working twin.
“What’s up?” I asked cautiously.
He responded in Russian. “Did you hear aboutStanton?”
I switched to Russian also. “That he’s not coming back?”
“Yeah. I heard from the team physical therapist. He was talking to a doctor about forwarding his medical information since he wasn’t coming back.Do you know if Hall is returning?”
“He is, as far as I know.”
