Page 92 of The Chemistry Coach
Connor nodded, resigned to this fate.The fans would love it.He dropped his gloves first and raised his fists, the rest of the team not daring to interfere.Patrick shook his head and dropped his gloves.
Connor threw a weak punch.Patrick dodged and wailed on him.
“All!She!Ever!Wanted!Was!You!”Patrick yelled at him through gritted teeth, accentuating each word with a blow.He landed hit after hit, Connor getting a few in for show, until Connor fell onto the ice.Then Patrick pulled him to his feet, and they skated to the penalty boxes together.
A trainer stuffed cotton into Connor’s bleeding nose.
When they met again in the face-off circle, Connor asked, “Is she okay?”
Patrick shook his head.
Nashville kicked San Jose’s ass.Connor refused to do media availability, sending Casey instead.He couldn’t face the public in his current state.
Connor hung back in the locker room.If he waited long enough, maybe Patrick wouldn’t be around when he left.Because Patrick would never let this go without fighting for Daisy, and Connor was a coward.He knew it.Patrick knew it.Daisy knew it.
So Connor lingered in the showers, letting silent tears track down his face until the room went quiet.His faucet stayed on long after everyone else’s, his bag the last still hanging in a locker.Eventually, the lights went out.When Connor did finally leave, he still found Patrick waiting for him, leaned up against his car in the garage.
Casey and Evan were there as well, being protective as hell.He loved them.It wasn’t their fault they didn’t understand.Connor hadn’t explained it to them.
He’d tried so hard to act normal, but he was doing a shit job.When they asked him to go out, he went.When they invited him to dinner with their partners and kids, whom he adored, he went.He got to be fun Uncle Bean to Casey’s kids again.He fit into their lives both on and off the ice like he’d never left, and was grateful to have friends so close they had become family.Connor could show up as his worst self and they’d still love and care for him, but he didn’t let them.He let his mood and his failures fester.
Patrick might be the only person who understood, because on some level, Connor and Patrick were the same.He thought he’d exhausted his emotions and become numb again in the shower, but at the sight of Patrick standing there, arms folded over his chest, leaned casually against Connor’s car and knowing exactly what Connor needed, Connor’s control over himself crumpled.Tears escaped him.He was broken and could see no possible fix.
Never before had he let himself be this vulnerable with anyone.He could claim Casey and Evan’s support pushed him over the edge.But it didn’t.Patrick’s did.
Daisy’s best friend took the time to check on him.Broke his face, but then pulled him up off the ground.Patrick wasn’t doing this for him.He was doing it for Daisy.Connor was so relieved there was someone to do this for Daisy.If Patrick was here, taking care of Connor, then on some level, Daisy wanted to make sure he was okay.
Patrick opened his arms, and Connor walked right into them.It wasn’t a man hug.It wasn’t one of those quick slaps on the back.Patrick wrapped Connor in a true, long, tight hug that healed a cracked piece of Connor’s heart.
The sobs wracking Connor’s body were impossible to hide.He would have to explain himself before the night ended.But for a few precious seconds, Connor let himself pull comfort from his rival.When Connor loosened his grip on Patrick and stepped back, Patrick said, “I’m not here for you, you know that, right?”
Connor nodded.Patrick waved a hand at Connor’s tear-stained face and said, “Good.Give me your fucking keys; you can’t drive like this.”Connor didn’t argue or explain to his friends.He tossed his keys to Patrick, who clicked the button to unlock the doors, and addressed Casey and Evan.“You two idiots coming?”
Connor nodded his approval when they gave him questioning looks.They were welcome to join him and Patrick.He owed them an explanation.
Patrick drove them to a small dive bar downtown, and they sat quietly at a circular booth.Patrick put food on his tab before he demanded, “Talk.”
Connor stuffed a bite into his mouth, buying himself an extra moment to gather his thoughts.All eyes remained on him as he chewed.When he swallowed, he said, “What do you want me to say?”
“How about start with why the fuck you blocked her.”
Connor groaned and ran a hand over his face.“If I hadn’t, I would have asked her to come down here.And that would have been stupid.Everything important in her life is there.Roxie is there, and her brother.Her career is getting started.She has steady work with the Freeze.She has friends and family and prospects.In Nashville there’s only me, and I’m gone most of the time.”
Casey raised his hand.“Um, quick question.”
“Yeah,” Evan chimed in, “I actually have a few questions.”
Patrick looked at Connor’s best friends like they were complete idiots.Which, to be fair, they kind of were.But they were Connor’s idiots.He couldn’t help but remember that five years ago, they were like Lover and Hazy.But they had figured their lives out and moved on, whereas Connor was stuck in the same place he’d always been.
Connor sighed, bracing himself, and asked, “What are your questions?”
“First off, what the fuck?”Casey asked.
Evan touched his nose and pointed at Casey.“Yeah, that.What the fuck?”
Shame flooded Connor’s senses, and he looked at Patrick, hoping for help.Finding none, he had to man up and admit to his friends that he’d lied.He’d told them Daisy didn’t want to come to Nashville.His voice was little more than a whisper when he said, “I told you guys, Daisy and I broke up.”
Both his friends shook their heads, and Casey called him out.“No, you saidshebroke up withyou.”
