Page 178 of Over the Line

I took one of the empty chairs in front of his desk. Chris wasn’t in here; I couldn’t decide if that was a good thing, a bad thing, or if it meant anything at all.

Folding his hands on the desk, Gil peered at me like a principal getting ready to discipline a misbehaving kindergartener. “We need to talk about what happened last night.”

“Yeah, I, uh…” I scratched the back of my neck. “I figured.”

He took a deep breath. “Kanes is furious. The media is going nuts. Social media is full of fans spreading rumors. So… I guess the place I need to start is, are you romantically involved with his father?”

My chest hurt as the truth—I was romantically involved with him—came to the tip of my tongue. I hoped I still was, and so far, Garrett hadn’t given me any reason to believe this was the end of us. But I was kind of beyond rational at this point, and I was sure everything, including my relationship with him, was slipping through my fingers.

I didn’t want to get into that, though, and my GM was definitely not interested, so I just said, “Yes.”

That earned me a frustrated groan. “Saints. Oh my God.” He gave me a why do you guys do this to me? look. “Why? Why in the world would you get involved with a teammate’s parent?” He flailed a hand, nearly toppling a cup of pens. “Really?”

I stared down at my wringing hands. After a moment, I met his gaze, and my voice sounded about as exhausted as I felt. “The why won’t change anything. It is what it is, and someone outed us without our consent.” That was something else I wasn’t done dealing with—Jack Arlen wasn’t slithering out of this one—but I had a few fires to put out first. I shrugged heavily. “The question is where do we go from here?”

Gil scowled at me, and I wondered for a moment if he was going to tell me he would decide what the real questions were. Instead, he sat back in his chair with a heavy sigh. “The most immediate concern I have is you and Kanes. The bottom line is that I need a cohesive team. I can’t just have two players at each other’s throats.”

I winced, recalling the hurt and fury in Chris’s eyes. Even when he’d dropped gloves with the asshole who’d slashed Barns, he hadn’t been that pissed off, and that said something.

Gil must’ve seen through me, because he sighed again and asked, “How bad is it between you two?”

“It’s…” I chewed my lip. “He and I need to talk. One on one.”

“How willing do you think he’ll be to talk to you?”

Shaking my head, I admitted, “I don’t know. But… listen, he’s still coping with the shock. It’s—don’t blame him, okay? His dad and I got outed in the most stupidly public way possible, and now the entire hockey world is going to be asking him how he feels about his captain sleeping with his dad. It’s not fair to expect Kanes to process all that overnight.”

“Of course it’s not fair.” Gil waved a hand. “But I’ve got a professional hockey team to manage, and they’re making a run at the playoffs.” He shrugged dismissively. “Even if I was willing to let players’ personal shit dictate how I handle this team—and I’m not—I don’t have that luxury. Not now. This has to be resolved. Today.”

Panic roiled behind my ribs as I grasped for a solution. “Look, don’t punish Kanes. If you have to trade or waive someone, then⁠—”

Gil barked a laugh. “Are you insane? You’re the captain of this team. You’re the face of this franchise. I’m not going to⁠—”

“Kanes is the future of this team,” I countered. “You’ve got at most three years left with me.” I waved a hand toward the door. “He’s a generational talent with an entire career ahead of him.”

“And the fans would crucify me if I cut you loose. Especially over something like this.”

“They’ll also crucify you when Kanes is leading another team to a title.” I showed my palms. “Look. We don’t play again for a couple of nights. Give me today and tonight to do damage control.” I swallowed. “I’ll find a way for me and Kanes to coexist without it hurting the team.”

Gil studied me for a long moment. Finally, he blew out a harsh breath. “Here’s the deal, Saints. You and Kanes are in my office by noon tomorrow, both of you convincing me you can function together at the level we expect from you. If I’m not convinced, he goes on waivers at two o’clock. Am I clear?”

I gulped. I wanted to believe he was smart enough not to waive our best and brightest young player over something like this. I wanted to believe that.

But I also knew that when a GM made up his mind, shit could get real.

“Okay.” I nodded. “Noon tomorrow.”

He dismissed me, and I left his office. Out in the hallway, I paused to collect my thoughts. The truth was, I had no idea how I was going to smooth things over with Chris. I had no idea if it was even possible.

What I did know, though, was that I wasn’t going to allow Gil to waive him. Chris was the future of the Pittsburgh Phantoms, and I wasn’t about to derail that.

If we couldn’t come to a solution…

Then before waivers went active at two o’clock tomorrow afternoon, I’d be announcing my retirement from professional hockey.

In the name of not stirring up gossip in the locker room, I didn’t go in to get Chris myself. Instead, I had one of the strength trainers ask him to step out, ostensibly to square away some scheduling for his off-ice workouts.

As soon as Chris saw me, his already bummed out mood darkened. To the trainer, he said, “Really?”