Page 155 of Slapshot Baby

Years spent building walls strong enough to hold everything in, and he brings the whole damn structure down in seconds.

Hargrove finishes, nods once, leaves. The door clicks shut behind him.

Nobody speaks for three full seconds.

Then Wyatt breaks the silence. "Well, that was a pile of horseshit."

"Wyatt." Theo's voice is low despite the warning.

"What? We're all thinking it. Everyone in here saw what he just did on that ice. Everyone."

"Enough." My voice comes out level, controlled.

Wyatt looks at me with raw, frustrated loyalty.

"It's fine," I say.

It is not fine.

Jordan hasn't moved from his stall. His skates sit unlaced on the rubber mat, and he's staring down at his hands.

No smart-ass comment. No cocky grin. None of the usual Jordan.

I have nothing to say to him. Hargrove made the call.

I finish changing, each movement precise, each item placed rather than thrown. If I throw something, the mask cracks. If the mask cracks here, in front of men who used to look to me for composure, then Hargrove was right to take the letter.

So nothing gets thrown.

Theo passes my stall on his way out. His huge hand lands on my shoulder, squeezes once, hard enough that I feel it through the muscle, and lifts.

Easton stops beside me. “You’ll get through this. You’ll find a way like you always do.”

I nod, swallowing hard. Then he walks out.

The room empties around me. I sit in my stall staring at the polished brass nameplate: DONOVAN. The letters haven't changed. Everything around them has.

I drive home with the windows down and the stereo off, my hands gripping the wheel. The air is warm.

Inside the penthouse, I sit on the couch and pick up my phone. The screen is bright in the dim room. Ava's name is right there.

I sit on the couch with my phone in my hand for several minutes before I call her.

She picks up on the second call.

"Hey." Her voice is flat.

"Hey. How was your day?"

"Long. I'm wiped."

"They announced the captaincy today."

"Oh?" A rustle on her end. "What happened?"

"Jordan's wearing the C for the opener and the foreseeable future. Hargrove's words."

Silence. After a while, she speaks, "I'm sorry, Kai."