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CHAPTER 29
SEAN
The team and I take our time getting into our gear and onto the ice. It’s Saturday morning, and our warmup is slow. Usually Saturdays are pretty brutal, but after the game last night and the game tomorrow, we all know that Coach will take it easy on us.
Especially after we scored three goals.
I squirt some water into my mouth and toss the water bottle over to the equipment manager.
We’re on a winning streak, so I picture today being short and sweet. I want to make it home in time to spend some of my weekend with my family. Astrid and I talked about having another movie night, and I’d really like to make that happen.
So, when the coaches huddle up together and create some drills on their board, I’m shocked. I am even more surprised when Coach Tommy yells for us to split up the moment we take the ice. So much for an easy day. I guess playing to near perfection and winning isn’t enough for him. Coach Matt is tough, but Coach Tommy is worse. It’s like he expects perfection, and anything short of that is punishable.
So, we follow his directive and split up, preparing to face off and play well until he’s pleased enough to let us go watch game film for the rest of the day.
I sigh. I’m really too tired for this today.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Coach Tommy yells. He shouts every time a play goes wrong, making us switch up positions and fight for the puck until desperation takes over and we play full force.
It’s not until Cory slams Connor into the boards that Coach Matt steps in to override the choice.
Finally.
“Hit the showers, and then we’re watching film,” he yells. I slam the clipboard before marching over to Tommy.
I’m able to watch him pull Coach Tommy aside but can’t hear what is said as I skate off the ice and head to the showers with the rest of the guys.
It’s about time someone’s called him out on his bullshit.
“Yo, Sean. You see the news?” Dan asks. Closing his locker.
“What news?” I imagine it’s something about the opposing team’s star forward. Maybe he broke his hand and has to sit out the rest of the season.
“Catch,” Dan says, tossing me his phone.
Astrid, last name unknown, is seen at the Devils game last night wearing the jersey of the same man who dedicated the goal to her. Is it a love match? Or is she out for the money of the NHL’s newest superstar. Find out more…
“What the fuck?” I look up at Dan, half expecting him to say sike. But he doesn’t.
Instead, he takes his phone back and offers me a small, sad smile. He claps me on the shoulder before he steps past me towards the shower. “Sorry man. Thought it’d be better to hear it from me.”
I wait until he disappears around the corner to take out my phone. I search my name, and the article pops up immediately. But it’s worse than that. There’s several more. I swipe through them, taking time to look through the photographs. They posted as many pictures of Astrid as they could. Candid photos of her enjoying my game which should have been something I could hold onto with joy. Instead, it’s become a moment that they’ve ruined.
Social media isn’t better. The captions and comments are worse.
I click my phone screen off and shove it into my pocket as my hands shake with anger. They are calling her a gold-digger.
I shouldn’t have dedicated that goal to her. What was I thinking?
This isn’t fair to her. She deserves better than this. Coach’s words live in the back of my head. Maybe starting a relationship during the season was a bad idea. If I had waited until after the playoffs, that would have at least bought her time to adjust to living a bit in the spotlight.
I was wrong. So wrong. And I no longer know how to make things right.
I’ve let the whirlwind of fame engulf me. The tendrils of celebrity tightening around every aspect of my life, suffocating me, suffocating the relationship I was afraid to ruin.
The guilt intensifies, a new challenge emerges—one that threatens the delicate balance I've tried to maintain. An article, venomous and unfounded, tarnishes Astrid's reputation, labeling her a gold-digger, and I have let it happen.
The mere thought ignites a fiery rage within me.
