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I stared at Dad and tried not to let this hurt my feelings. It wasn’t like this was the first time he’d chosen hockey—the dream he’d lost and never replaced—over me. “You know, when Elissa found out, she was nice. Would it really have been too fucking much for you to come home and tell me this is fine?”
Dad tossed up his hands. “It isn’t fine! This is one more example of how missing a game fucking curses people,” he mumbled.
I couldn’t help it, I laughed.
Dad glared.
“Don’t you give a shit about me?” I asked, and I hated that my voice was ragged.
“Of course I do!” Dad ran his hands through his short gray hair. “That’s why I want you to promise you’re done with him. He’s finished this season. Game over before it began. You need to step up and take over, not be distracted by anything or anyone.”
An awful part of me reared up in my chest, a snake ready to strike. “If I do this and make you proud, will you ask them to leave?” I had no idea what I wanted to hear from him. I guess this was just my way of testing him back. I didn’t want Wy gone anymore, and I liked Elissa, but I needed him to pickme.
We glared at each other.
“Do you really want that?” he asked.
I snorted. “You’re an awful fucking person.”
He blinked at me, mouth falling open. Yeah, I’d never said that in the past, but I didn’t care what he thought about it. “Fuck, Atlas. When did you...?”
“Start liking guys?” I finished for him because that was the only thing I could think he was still curious about. “I don’t know. Always.” I shrugged.
“Anyone but him. It will cause trouble for the team.”
I glared at Dad. No lectures about how it could cause issues between him and Elissa. Nope, even after I’d told Dad what I thought of him, he was still stuck on the only note he ever played—hockey.
I shook my head.
“I’m not making a request,” Dad said.Ah, there.He was getting pissed off now.
Stuffing my hands into my jeans pockets, I continued to glare at him. “Then I guess you better kick us all out on our asses. Then what? Are you going to pick up a hockey stick and go win it all yourself? You don’t love me or Elissa.”
“Fucking son of a bitch. You know love isn’t about being nice, right?” Dad shook his head. “You’re such a fucking kid. It’s about making people do the right thing and providing for them.”
“Right. That’s why Mom stuck around. Because that’s what love is.” I stared at Dad and had never felt less related to the man. I didn’t say another word to him, just left him standing there mumbling as he started cleaning up his coffee mess.
By the time I got in touch with Boss and caught a ride to the hospital, I was walking into Wy’s room only to spot an empty bed. Elissa sat on a chair beside the bed reading a book, but she didn’t look like she’d slept much because her head nodded before she jerked upright again, clearly fighting fatigue.
“Hey,” I said.
She glanced at me with a horrible, embarrassed smile.
“I’m so sorry. Wy was off his rocker on pain meds and wanted you here and told your dad.” She visibly cringed. “I’m so sorry, honey. I know that isn’t how you would’ve wanted him to find out.”
I didn’t need to ask her what was discussed after the train wreck I’d just been through. “That’s my Wy. Disaster puppy extraordinaire.”
She snorted and grinned. “He doesn’t seem to handle change well. Your father, I mean. He said he was going home to talk to you. How did it go?”
Part of me wanted to tell her in excruciating detail. I could probably make her leave him. She really was kind—and hereallywas a fucking asshole and deserved it—but all I could think about was Wy and how much I would hate it if he was gone. I shrugged. No one needed to know I’d gotten the opposite of a warm, fuzzy Hallmark moment.
Elissa’s phone rang and she frowned at it as she answered. “Hello?” She listened for a minute and her eyes widened. “I understand. But he just got injured. He might be able to come back at the end of the season.” There was more talking on the other end, and she chewed on her thumbnail. “I understand.” She bit her lip as she ended the call.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. I took a few steps closer and rested my hand on her shoulder.
“Oh.” She glanced up at me and her eyes were glossed with tears. “That was Coach Hill. He was letting me know that since Wy will be out for the whole season and it just started, NGU is retracting his sports scholarship so they can give it to someone else on the team who needs it and will be playing.” She frowned. “He thanked me for being a team player.”
“Can they do that?” I asked, all at once furious.
