Page 131 of Scoring Lessons

“The Strikers are not extending your contract, Hayes. Not after what happened yesterday.”

“What?”

“They sent me an email about it last night.” His voice was chipper, like he wasn’t handing me the worst news I’d ever gotten. “Maybe you shouldn’t have gotten into that fight. But, hey, Vancouver comes with a big signing bonus and some great perks. I think you’re going to like it there, bud.”

My world stopped moving, and my vision tunneled—blurry around the edges, focusing on the oil stains running down the surface of the road. My body wasn’t all there, like I was experiencing the drop of a steep rollercoaster on a loop—leaving me dizzy and without any footing.

My agent was speaking, but I couldn’t listen. Not really. His voice was muted, somewhere in the background, like it was under water. My chest pulled too tight, and breathing had become a harder task as the seconds continued to slowly tick by.

My instinct was to hang up the phone and turn it off.

I leaned back, the back of my head meeting the head restraint as I stared at a NO PARKING ZONE sign in front of me.

This was it.

The moment where everything I’d worked for came down in shambles.

My life in Chicago was over.

I tried, and I tried…and my best wasn’t enough.

This had solidified the truth I’d been avoiding. The reality I kept running away from, hoping one day it was going to let me be free—I was never going to be enough for anything or anyone.

I took a deep breath before opening the door of my apartment.

It was early, and I didn’t know if Olivia was already at work or not, but I was hoping—like the coward I was—that I could continue avoiding her.

Especially after the news I’d gotten.

When I stepped deeper into the apartment, I noticed she was on the couch with a small blanket draped over her as Daisy rested her head on Olivia’s lap. Daisy’s ears perked, and when her eyes landed on me, she jumped off the couch with her tail wagging. Her little paws clicked against the sleek floors as she approached me to welcome me.

Olivia startled at Daisy’s sudden movements. And when her beautiful blue eyes settled on me, she rose from the couch and ran up to me in record time then wrapped her arms around my shoulders in a tight hug.

“You’re here,” she said, a little breathless, her voice raspy.

I was a weak man when it came to her. I relaxed into her hold and embraced her as I inhaled her scent, trying to keep it locked in my memory as a reminder of how she smelled like…home. Like the safe space I knew I wasn’t worthy of.

You’re clearly not worthy of anything, much less of her, my brain reminded me.

“Where were you? I was worried sick.”

I squeezed her hip and took a step back against my will. The last thing I wanted was to keep my distance, but there I was, putting up the walls like they were the only thing left I could hold on to. “I stayed at Parker’s.”

“Parker’s, of course,” she muttered to herself. “I honestly didn’t even think to call him.” She brushed one of my strands of hair away from my face. My hair was a mess, and I was sure my eye bags were pronounced due to the lack of sleep. “I’m just relieved that you’re okay.”

I took another step back, getting out of her hold, even though all I wanted to do was bring her in for a hug and tell her how miserable my night had been without her.

But I didn’t have that right anymore. The right to hold her. The luck to say she was mine.

I deserved none of it. Maybe I never did.

“About last night⁠—”

I interrupted her. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

She shook her head adamantly. “What he did was out of line, and I’ll talk to him about it⁠—”

“Don’t,” I said, trying to sound convincing. Trying to sound like what had happened last night didn’t affect me in the least. “It isn’t worth it.”