31. leo
THIRTY-ONE
leo
A nother day passes before I finally take matters into my own hands, climbing the stairs to Coach Jenkins’s office, determined to face this head-on. I hate leaving things unresolved, and this conversation has been eating at me ever since I talked to Victoria’s mom. I need answers—about my probation, about Victoria, about whether her dad has decided to make me the team’s scapegoat. This feels all too familiar, like sitting down for brunch with Victoria’s mom.
I knock once and hear Coach’s voice. “Come in.”
When I step inside, Coach is sitting behind his desk, flanked by Zach, the operations manager.
“Good timing, Leo,” Coach says without looking up from his screen.
“Coach. Zach.” I nod at them, keeping my voice calm. “I was hoping to speak with you for a moment. Privately.”
Zach rises, gathering his things. “I’ll leave you to it.” He gives me a brief nod before stepping out, closing the door behind him.
Coach leans back and gestures to the chair across from him. “We were just talking about you, actually. Have a seat.”
“Should I be worried?” I ask, my tone light as I sit opposite of him.
“Not at all. We were just discussing your probation. We decided to cut your community service hours,” he says. “Which means you’ll be back on the ice for the next game.”
“What’s the catch?” I ask. Because he can’t be doing this out of the goodness of his heart.
“I’m trying to figure out if you’re ready to be the player I need for this team.”
I sit up straighter. “You’re questioning whether I belong here?”
He leans forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “I’m questioning whether you understand what it means to play for something bigger than yourself. To sacrifice your own desires for the team.”
“For the record, I’ve done everything you’ve asked during my probation,” I say. “I took up figure skating and gave up hockey. If that isn’t a sacrifice, I don’t know what is.” Even if it was hardly a “sacrifice,” since it meant more time with Victoria.
“You’ve made progress,” he admits. “But this isn’t just about what happens on the ice. I’ve seen glimpses of the leader you can be, but you’ve still got a ways to go. There have been moments in practice. Signs of the same temper that got you in trouble to begin with.”
“One issue,” I correct him. “And I handled it.”
“This isn’t just about one incident,” he says. “It’s about whether you’re willing to change to be a better player. To give up what you want to have the career you’ve always desired.”
I frown. “Is this about me and Victoria?”
Coach exhales slowly, leaning back in his chair. “It’s about both of you. She’s my daughter, Leo. And no matter what happens between the two of you, her well-being is my first priority.”
I blink, surprised by his tone. He’s not angry. He’s... concerned ? Just like a father should be.
He shuffles some papers on his desk. “I’ve seen what happens when emotions get tangled up with ambition. I don’t want either of you to lose sight of what you really want.” His face is unreadable, like he’s trying to tell me something without really saying it.
“You think I’d hold her back?” I ask.
“No, because you understand the sacrifices athletes need to make,” he says. “But she needs to make choices for herself, and let’s face it, Peter is what’s best for her career. He can get her to Nationals, maybe even the Olympics. But he’s only willing to train with her if she moves to Seattle. The only reason he came here is to see if they’re a good fit.”
“Seattle?” I say, raising my eyebrows. The distance feels like a gut punch. With my travel games and her practice schedule, we’ll hardly ever see each other. “I didn’t know moving was part of the request.”
Coach rubs a hand over his face. “It’s not what I want either—even though I’ve spent her whole life trying to make sure she had every opportunity to succeed. Watching her struggle—it’s not easy for me, Leo.” Coach shakes his head and looks away, and for once, I see a father who cares about his daughter.
“You think I’m the reason she’ll give up this opportunity,” I say, filling in the blanks of what he’s probably thinking.
He hesitates for a second. “I think you might make it hard for her to leave. She’s always wanted this, Leo. Just like you’ve always wanted a hockey career. Ambitious people never lose sight of their first goal. But I also don’t want her to regret her choices.”
“You mean, dating me?” I ask, pointedly.
His gaze drops to his desk. “Unlike my wife, I’m not against her dating a hockey player. When I heard what happened at the restaurant, I told my wife she was out of line. Our daughter is a grown adult. She has no right to speak to her like that.”
My eyes cut to his. “I bet that was a fun conversation.”
Coach’s mouth curves into a faint smile. “It wasn’t pleasant, but it’ll stop her from putting more pressure on Victoria. Right now, I’m making sure no one—including myself—pushes Victoria into anything less than what she deserves.”
Does he think I’m making her settle for something less? He’s a father protecting his daughter, and I get that, because if I were in his shoes, I’d probably do the same.
“Anything else, Anderson?” he asks, leaning back in his chair.
I’m not just sitting across from my coach right now—I’m talking with my girlfriend’s father. Pretty sure there’s no playbook for this.
“No, Coach,” I finally say, rising from my seat.
“Good,” he says, turning to me one last time. “You’re a good player, Leo. And deep down, I think you’re a good man. Prove me right.”
Another week passes, and Victoria and I only get to see each other in the margins of our lives since she’s now training with Peter instead of me. I should be thrilled I no longer have to practice press lifts and dance holds, but if I’m being honest, I miss the excuse to spend that time with her. By the time she finishes with Peter, she’s too tired to do much more than collapse onto the couch, wearing my hoodie as she snuggles against me.
But today when I arrive home, there’s a heaviness I can’t shake when I see she’s not there. Hockey practice was brutal, and my head just wasn’t in it. Rourke seemed to notice and took full advantage, and Coach pushed me harder than usual. By the end, I was drained, both mentally and physically. I head to my bedroom, pulling out my phone to check if there’s a message from her.
Victoria
Wish me luck! I’m meeting Peter tonight to talk about what’s next since things have been going so well. Also, I might have found a new apartment to move into. Want to check it out with me later?
I don’t have the heart to tell her she might not need a new apartment, at least not if she’s moving to Seattle. All I know is that I don’t want her to stay because of me. She already sacrificed her own happiness to let me go once before, and it’s my turn to do the same for her.
I collapse onto the bed, pulling out the box I swore I wouldn’t open. Inside are two mismatched skates—one from my first pair of hockey skates, the other from her first pair of figure skates. They’re tied together with a ring I saved up for years ago, a simple diamond set in a gold band, back when I still believed that two stubbornly ambitious people could make this work.
I run my thumb over the ring as the memories come crashing back. She had tossed those skates one weekend when we were visiting her parents, back when she was at a low point in her career. I fished the skates out of the trash when she wasn’t looking, thinking that she shouldn’t give them up just because she was struggling.
I’d planned to give her the skates after her first big win, to remind her that some dreams are worth holding on to, no matter the cost, and then I’d propose. But that moment never came. Two weeks later, she broke up with me without an explanation, and I shoved the box to the back of my closet, vowing to forget all about the plans I’d had for us.
But even though I couldn’t look at it, the box moved with me to every team, every new place. I couldn’t bring myself to let it go even though I vowed never to let myself get hurt this way again. And I learned a lesson that still haunts me now: People love you, then they leave you.
The front door slams, jarring me out of my thoughts.
“Leo!” Tate’s voice calls.
I barely have time to shut the box before his head pops into the room. “What are you doing?” he asks, his eyes landing on the box in my lap.
“Nothing,” I say, a little too quickly.
“Are those skates?” He steps inside my bedroom, studying the box.
“They’re Victoria’s,” I mutter.
“What’s Victoria’s?” Brax joins us, sinking onto the bed beside me.
“Nothing,” I snap, clutching the box against my chest. “Just old skates.”
Brax reaches for the lid. “What else is in there?”
I smack his hand away. “Leave it alone.”
Footsteps pound up the steps, and I already know what’s coming before Brendan, our conditioning coach for the Crushers, appears in my doorway with Lucian right behind him.
I didn’t stay for Brendan’s weight training session today, which means I’m about to get a lecture. Fantastic. Just what I need—a motivational speech when all I really want is to be left alone.
Brendan crosses his arms, studying me. “You missed weight training today, and you look miserable. What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I say. “This is just my normal face.”
Tate smirks. “You mean your resting grump face?”
“For the last time, I’m not grumpy.”
“Liar,” Brax shoots back. “You’ve actually looked happy ever since you and Victoria announced you were dating... until now. And I think it has something to do with that box.”
“Guys, seriously? ” I roll my eyes. “Can’t a man ponder the meaning of life without sharing it with the world?”
“Only Tate does that because he’s Tate ,” Lucian says, smacking his teammate on the back.
“Hey, I resent that!” Tate shoots back, crossing his arms.
Brendan sits on the other side of me. “Spill it. Whatever’s eating you will come out eventually, so you might as well tell us now.”
“Like you don’t have secrets?” I ask Brendan. “You’re pretty tight-lipped about things, especially your friend Scarlett, who we all know is not just a friend.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he says with a smirk.
“Something’s going on with you and Victoria,” Lucian says, taking the corner of the bed. “And we’re staging a sit-in until you tell us.”
“You can’t stay here all night,” I grumble. “I snore like a Mack truck. And I have terrible morning breath and smelly feet.”
“That’s supposed to scare us away?” Tate says, taking a seat next to Brendan. “Please, Leo, you play hockey. Half the locker room has those same problems.”
I let out an aggravated sigh. “Fine.” Then I fiddle with the edge of the box, stalling for time.
“Well?” Brendan says. “Should I make us some popcorn, or are you going to tell us?”
“Victoria might move to Seattle to train with Peter, and Coach doesn’t want me influencing her decision.”
“Okay, and the problem is?” Brax asks, frowning.
“Seattle is across the country. Between my travel schedule and her training, we’ll never see each other. She deserves someone who can move to Seattle to support her career. Someone who’s not me.”
Brendan leans toward me. “That’s where you’re wrong. She deserves someone who makes her happy. And it’s pretty obvious that’s you.”
“And let’s be real,” Tate adds. “Peter might be great on the ice, but off the ice, he’s got the personality of a beige wall. She won’t choose Seattle permanently if it means giving up what you two have.”
Brax smacks the back of my shoulder. “You’re Leo the Ego Anderson. If anyone can make this work, it’s you. And you can thank me later when it all works out and you have little Leos skating around.”
We all turn to Brax. “I think you’re kind of jumping the gun,” Brendan points out.
“What?” Brax shrugs. “My wife is pregnant. I have babies on the brain.”
Tate nods at the box in my lap. “Does that box have something to do with Victoria and you?”
My grip tightens on it. “Maybe.”
Brax reaches over and snatches it out of my hands.
“Hey!” I lunge for it, but Brax dodges, and the lid falls off.
Everyone freezes as the skates fall out of the box.
“Skates?” Tate says, obviously unimpressed.
“Old skates of mine and Victoria’s,” I say through gritted teeth, picking them up off the floor. I’m just hoping they don’t see the ring tied to the laces.
“Wait, what’s this?” Brendan says, grabbing them out of my hands and holding them up.
The small diamond catches the light.
Lucian’s eyebrows slowly rise. “A ring?”
Brendan stares at me. “You were going to propose?”
I swipe the skates back. “That was a long time ago. All in the past.”
Tate’s eyes widen. “You’ve kept them since college? Seriously?!”
“So?” I say, shrugging nonchalantly. “People keep lots of stuff. Doesn’t mean anything.”
“Yes it does!” Tate says. “You don’t keep a ring unless you’ve been carrying a torch for her this whole time.”
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” I grumble, shoving the skates back in the box and slamming the lid shut.
Brax looks at me. “This is serious, isn’t it? You were thinking it could happen again, but not if you’re being pulled away from each other.”
I sink onto the bed. “I don’t know. I always thought if her parents weren’t in the way, things could work out—maybe even get a second chance. But now? No matter how much Victoria wants to make her own life, we’re still tied to our families and our careers just like we were before. She has this opportunity in Seattle. I’ve got the Crushers, at least for now, but no guarantee of the future. Plus, I still haven’t figured out Tina’s mess. Maybe it’s just never going to work out.”
Lucian leans forward and grabs the box from me. “Then do something about it. If all those obstacles—her parents, Peter, your career—didn’t exist, would you want to be with her?”
“Yes,” I say without hesitation. “Of course I would. No question.”
“Then figure out a way to make it happen,” Lucian says simply.
“But how?” I run a hand through my hair. “Our schedules are insane. How do you make a relationship work when you’re always going in different directions?”
“Whoa, slow down,” Brax cuts in, holding up his hands. “You’re putting the cart before the horse. You don’t know what’ll happen down the road. All you need to figure out is if you want to be together. Does she want to be with you? If the answer is yes, then you’ll figure the rest out later.”
“Got any advice for handling a mother-in-law who hates me?” I ask.
“Besides sucking up to her?” Brax shakes his head. “Even if Victoria’s mom doesn’t come around, a marriage isn’t about her parents, or Peter, or anyone else. It’s about the two of you deciding to fight for each other. Everyone else? They don’t get a vote.”
“I know that, but Peter’s the one taking her thousands of miles away from me. We’ve gone from spending every day together to almost no time at all. I’m afraid I’m losing her.”
Brendan lifts his hands. “I’ve got the perfect solution. You know how we’ve got the team retreat heading to Uncle Rafael’s cabin in the mountains?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“What if you stay back, have the whole house to yourselves, and figure out the future? Maybe even bring some special skates into the conversation?” He waggles his eyebrows at the box in my hands.
I glare at him. “She’s not ready for this,” I say firmly. “We need to figure out what our future looks like before any talk of marriage happens.”
Brax leans forward, his voice steady. “Is she worth it to you?”
“Yes,” I say automatically. “She’s everything to me.”
“Then don’t overthink it,” Brax says. “Get her away from Peter, the rink, and all the voices, and find a way to convince her.”