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“I could handle it, or at least, I did my best. But then he started comparing me to my teammates, who he deemed better than me.”

“Fuck that. Every player is different. We all have different skills and⁠—”

“Not to him. To keep his legacy alive, I had to be the best, and I had to be better than…” Kodie’s jaw pops as he waits for me to finish that sentence. “You.”

I swear, he deflates in front of my eyes.

“M-Me?” Kodie stutters.

“You got your scholarship first, you got MVP from our high school team, you achieved so much that I didn’t and…well, that wasn’t good enough. It had been going on for years, but then Mom died and…well, it fucked me up, and I started believing him.

“I allowed him to poison me against my best friend, and I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”

My attention drops to the table as I fight the emotion that’s threatening to erupt inside me.

When a sound hits my ears, I question whether I’m hearing right, but when I look up, I discover that I am.

Kodie is laughing. And not just chuckling—he’s full-belly laughing.

“What?” I ask, pain tearing through me. I’ve just laid myself bare to him, and he’s fucking laughing at me?

“You have no idea, do you?”

“Clearly fucking not. What’s so funny?”

Kodie shakes his head, scratching at his jaw.

“I used to be so fucking jealous of you.”

“What?” I blurt.

“I thought you had it all. I loved my dad more than anything, but while yours might have been a bit of an asshole, he was a hockey legend. All the boys we ever played with wanted to be you.”

I scoff.

“I’m serious. Even as a kid, you were the best D-man I’d ever played with. And I didn’t just think that because you were my best friend. You were far more talented than anyone else we took to the ice.”

“Then why didn’t I get into Dartford?”

Kodie sighs. “You know as well as I do that coaches don’t just want the best players. They need the kind of players that gel with their team and coaching style. You not getting into Dartford wasn’t because of your skill. Coach already had a solid D-line. He needed wingers that year to secure their place in the Frozen Four. If you’d come to Dalton, you wouldn’t have seen any ice time until senior year, maybe junior if you were lucky.”

“I fucking wanted it, though. I wanted our dream.”

“I did too, man. I really fucking did. But you grew as a player in ways you never would have at Dartford. You wouldn’t be the player you are today. The legend you are today.”

His words rock me straight to my core, and uncharacteristically, I don’t hide my reaction or mask my shock. Instead, I embrace the words for what they are. Or at least, I try to. Accepting that you might be good at something when the one person who is meant to love, care, and support you without question spends all his time telling you that you’re not is hard. But I’m starting to understand that I need to make some changes.

Dad might think he knows all, that he’s always right, but that isn’t the case.

“I know you’re right. It doesn’t stop me from regretting everything that happened, or wishing it could have gone differently.”

“I know it isn’t always easy to accept, but maybe things work out the way they’re always meant to. It just takes us a while to see it.”

I’m not sure I agree. Why would I have suffered so much? Why would my brothers be suffering the same fate now? They deserve so much more.

Anger shoots through my veins as I think of them at home, having to deal with Dad and his incredibly high expectations.

Kodie’s stare burns into me from across the table, but before he gets a chance to say whatever is on his mind, our server appears with food.