Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 80102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
“You love it,” I say to Campbell because he does. We both do.
“It’s why we keep telling Leighton to take that Healy guy up on his Pittsburgh offer,” Dad continues.
I freeze, and I sense Rainn doing the same thing next to me. I try to give my dad the clear message to stop talking by glaring at him, but he doesn’t take the hint.
“It’s not every day agentless hockey players who didn’t enter the draft have teams interested in them.”
I make a slashing motion at my throat, but Rainn sees it.
“Whit?” Rainn’s tone is confused and, if I’m not mistaken, hurt.
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing,” Mom says. “We keep telling him the farm will always be here, and he can come back anytime. He should go and explore the world while he’s still young.”
The world. Sure. Because the AHL is known for being international. Canada doesn’t count. I can get in the car and be in Canada in two hours. I don’t need to be a pro hockey player to accomplish that.
“Like I told you guys already, I’m not interested.” I shovel food in my mouth, hoping they’ll drop it.
“Pittsburgh wants you?” Rainn asks.
“Wilkes-Barre/Scranton does, but I’m not going.”
“AHL?” The excitement in Rainn’s tone is hard to miss.
“At least go meet with the man,” Dad says.
“I don’t need to.”
Rainn’s hand lands on my arm. “You should. Do you understand how big an opportunity this is? If you get on a development team, that’s a straight shot to the NHL.”
“Thank you, Rainn,” Mom says. “That’s what we’ve been trying to tell him.”
“It’s not though. It’s an ATO one-way contract. They wouldn’t be able to call me up to the NHL.”
“But you’d have their eyes on you. You could still get an NHL contract out of it.”
“I also know how many other people would kill for the opportunity to even be considered, but I’m not one of them. I love hockey, you all know I do, but it’s not my everything. It’s not even in my world anymore, and I’m okay with that because my future has been mapped out from when Campbell and I were kids, and I want that future.”
“But …” Rainn’s brow furrows. “Futures change. I’m the prime example of that.”
“Yeah, but you had no choice.”
“Which makes this even worse. You do have the choice, and you’re giving it up willingly?”
I turn to him. “We’ll talk about this later. This brunch is supposed to be about my brother and his wife.”
“Aww, that’s the first time anyone’s called you my wife.” Campbell turns to Christie, and they give each other a sickeningly sweet smile.
Rainn grits his teeth but relents. He stares at his food while his fork moves around the scrambled eggs on his plate.
He won’t understand this. It’s why I never brought it up with him. It’s why the night Healy approached me, I played it off in front of Rainn.
To him, an offer like this would give him everything back that he lost. I don’t feel like hockey was mine to begin with.
I keep stealing glances at him throughout the meal, but he keeps his head down and he has that scowl that is so inherently Rainn on his face.
We have a serious talk coming, but the thing that gets me the most is that he didn’t even blink at telling me to leave.
It makes me wonder what would happen if he had an offer just like mine. Would he even hesitate to take it? Would I be a factor at all? Sure, Rainn is part of the reason I’m not interested in whatever Healy wants to offer me, but he’s not the only factor.
When Rainn lifts his head, his eyes are cold and distant, and I have my answer.
If he had some kind of offer on the table, he’d leave me in a heartbeat. I don’t know how to take that. I thought we meant more to each other, especially after last night, but maybe I’m wrong.
And if I’m wrong about that, what else am I wrong about when it comes to Rainn?
25
Rainn
How do I smack some sense into Whit? I knew from watching him play—in practice and in a game—that he has natural, raw talent that would be an asset to any professional hockey team.
Yet, it’s like he doesn’t believe it or … something’s holding him back.
It can’t be the farm. Like his mom said, the farm will always be there. Pro hockey careers aren’t known to be long unless you’re one of the greats. Five years average. Whit could go do his thing and still be back on the farm at twenty-eight.
What’s stopping him if it’s not—
Oh, shit, am I the thing holding him back? Surely, I wouldn’t even be a consideration at this point. I’m the dude he lost his virginity to, but that kind of thing doesn’t mean shit nowadays.