Chapter 14 Tanner #2
“Let’s head to the office and go through the details while we’ve got you dangling on the hook.
” Sam’s eyes were sparkling as he rubbed his hands together.
“And maybe I can talk you into a few optional extras—like gold-leafed ceilings or a helipad? Or you could just hand over your wallet and I’ll take care of it all. ”
“Funny, but that’s what Arlo says, too.” Tanner grabbed the back of Sam’s neck, trapping him in a headlock for old times’ sake. “And I want his and hers helipads. One for me and one for your mom.”
They grappled for a while until they realized that Kash and Jackson had left them to it and gone back outside.
In the event, Tanner was thankful he’d had the foresight to tell the guys to kick him out no later than 2 p.m. so he wouldn’t fall foul of his tendency toward time-blindness.
Nerves had him sweating beneath the collar of his shirt on the forty-five-minute drive to the rink, and his neck was tight as he pulled into a parking spot at Ludlow Heights Arena.
Harrison Fisher stood up to greet him with an approachable smile on his lips that sat at odds with his bulldog-like build.
The Rapids coach sported more hair on his chin than his head.
A thick-rimmed pair of glasses were pushed firmly onto his nose, and his neck was a wide slab on top of beefy shoulders.
His office had the faint whiff of stale sweat and coffee but Tanner, well-used to the reek of countless locker rooms, barely registered it.
“Welcome to the team and thanks for meeting me here.” Fisher held out his hand. “I’ve got back-to-back meetings today so you’ve helped me out.”
They covered general topics for a little while—his summer, the weather—and Tanner, grateful for the quiet office space, tried to stop his mind wandering. Fortunately, the coach wasn’t a guy for extended small talk.
Fisher fixed him with an eagle eye. “So, getting down to business, your skills are just what we need. You play on the edge, but you’re effective and, since the rest of your fitness is beyond question, the pluses outweigh any concerns we may have about your shoulder.
However . . .” Fiddling with the mouse to wake his computer, Fisher squinted at the screen and Tanner braced himself.
“I want to talk about the reports I’ve had through from your last two coaches. I’m not impressed.”
“I—” Shit, what could he say to that?
“Reading between the lines, it looks to me like they’ve let you down—unless you’re more of a dick behind the scenes than I’m realizing.” Leaning back in his chair, Fisher cracked his knuckles. “So can you clarify the situation for me?”
Tanner forced himself to lay his cards on the table.
“I’m hyper-focused on the ice, sir, but I’ve had problems with timekeeping and organization.
Moving teams has meant changes in my routine and I’ve struggled a bit with that.
There were some clashes with upper management, too.
When I kept running into the same issues, I started questioning myself and stopped pushing through—another failing of mine. ”
“I see.” Observing him over steepled fingers, Fisher nodded. “And what kind of help did they offer you?”
“Well . . .” Tanner flicked the catch on his watch strap open and shut.
“Let me guess.” Raising his eyes to the ceiling, the coach sighed. “You were told there are a million other guys who’d die to be in your position and, if you didn’t pull your finger out, they’d move you on and fill your space with someone else instead.”
Tanner’s voice was husky when he answered. “Pretty much.”
“And your last coach . . . Boston may have wanted to keep you, but it’s obvious from his emails that he’s not your biggest fan. Why did he have such a problem with you?”
Embarrassment heated Tanner’s neck and he had to struggle to force the words out. “There was an issue between me and his wife, sir.”
Fisher’s eyebrows rose above the frames of his glasses. “You slept with—”
“No!” He rushed to interrupt. Fuck, this was mortifying. “She . . . was up for it. I wasn’t. I had a girlfriend then, although we’ve split up since. But the coach’s wife didn’t want to take no for an answer. She was really . . . persistent, and it made things seriously awkward.”
“Well, that’s an understatement.” Fisher regarded him steadily as Tanner fidgeted and twitched.
“I didn’t want to stay after that,” he added, forcing himself to hold eye contact and praying the man opposite believed him.
“I can see why.” Leaning back in his chair, the Rapids coach rubbed at his bearded jawline, one corner of his mouth twitching into something that hinted at a smile.
“Fortunately for both of us, my wife left me some time ago. That leaves me free to work all the hours under the sun, and you free to play your part without being sexually harassed.”
Tanner let out a tight breath, but his relief was short-lived as Fisher continued in the same blunt fashion.
“You’d be a shoo-in for a top-six role, but your injury complicates things.
I’ve looked over your medical records and it’s unclear if we should be looking at surgical or non-operative treatment for your shoulder.
Once the team doc has given you a full assessment, management will be able to make a more measured decision. ”
Tanner’s heart sank and his stomach rolled.
It was nothing he didn’t know already, but hearing it out loud was like a blow to the back of his head.
There was no guarantee that he would come back as strong if he had to have surgery.
He’d been trying to convince himself that this injury was just a hiccup in his career, but what if it was the beginning of the end?
“Look, control what you can, and let the rest go for now,” said Fisher, picking up on Tanner’s spiraling anxiety. “Let’s talk more after the physical. Someone will be in touch with the arrangements.”
The coach stood up and they shook hands again. Fisher was reaching for his phone before Tanner had made it back out into the hallway.
Walking slowly to his car, he tried to rub at the burning in his chest but it made no difference. He felt like the high school screw-up all over again, watching his scholarship chances collapse in an explosion of glass.
I’ve worked so fucking hard for this and now it could be over.
Sickness churned in his gut.
So many people were counting on him. Was he going to let them all down after all?