Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

COREY

M y chest cracked in two.

Four hours earlier…

"Really, Corey. Who are you?"

I stared at the man who had been my coach, my boyfriend and my coach. The man who guided my career, and who had been someone I depended on. And realized I never really let him see me. Because I was terrified of letting him down.

He wasn't a bad person, but he wasn't capable of looking past the fake smiles and times I hid in the shower crying to see the signs that I was unhappy. The red eyes. The fingernails bitten to the quick. The desperation to be perfect so he'd be happy.

He was so blind that he couldn't see that this was who I had been all along. I opened my mouth to speak, but he said, "As if leaving me, then making your dad get you this job, wasn't bad enough, you sleep with one of your players?"

"What?"

He stepped in close, and I backed away. "Last night one of the trainers let Shaw in the arena to get his bag from morning practice. He sent me this." Jackson thrust his phone in my face, disappointment written all over his features.

The image was fuzzy, but I knew what it was.

Ollie had just finished making me come, tied up to the damn goal. His number was on the back of the long sleeve shirt he wore. My hair up in a high ponytail. I swallowed.

"He's a kid, Cor. And no one will take him seriously once they find out he slept with you to get his job."

I drew back like he slapped me. "Is this because I wouldn't suggest the trade for Sutton?"

"No. This is because someone has to look out for you. Like I've always done. You'll ruin the kid's career. And yours. You're barely squeaking by on your dad's name. You need to stop this. Now."

The old feeling of shame crept back in, the disappointment in his voice drawing me back into the shell of the person I had been.

Fuck. But he was right. I couldn't destroy Ollie's career over sex. Or me.

"I'm keeping this to myself, because Shaw didn't realize it was you, and I deleted it from his phone before he could do anything with it. But, Corey, please. Don't mess your life up for some fling."

He walked away, and I stood.

I couldn't mess up Oliver's game. But I also couldn't mess up his career. I wrote one more note, and my heart broke when I passed him in the hall before the game. His fingers a gut-wrenching reminder of what I'd lost as our skin made contact.

"You are the best I've ever had, on or off the ice.

C."

Now…

I watched the scene before me, hiding in the hall leading onto the ice like a coward, as the team celebrated. Fans tossed stuffed mascots onto the ice, along with hats and the souvenir towels.

The Revenge were moving on.

Ollie searched the crowd, and just as he turned, Shaw hit him from behind. He went down and didn't move.

Someone screamed, a heart-wrenching, guttural sound.

It was me.