Page 79 of The Triple Play

“I don’t know. I’ll do some research. Maybe if we give her options, she’ll want to come back,” he said, his voice a little gruff.

I looked up at him over my shoulder. “And if she doesn’t want to come back?”

He hesitated, his mouth turning to a flat line. “Then we figure out how to truly let her go without falling apart.”

Silence fell again, heavy and still.

I hated the quiet.

I hated all of this.

Chapter29

Cole

The Boston loss still stung. One goal in the third, no assists, and three penalties — two of them Xavi’s. I hadn’t played like myself, none of us had. Xavi spent more time in the box than on the ice, and Colton kept trying to rally us with fake smiles that didn’t touch his eyes until that broke and he started barking out orders instead. We were all unraveling.

So instead of going home after the flight back, I went somewhere else.

Her address was easy enough to get. Colton had given it to me without even bothering to ask why. He already knew. I had a handful of ideas I could run by her, and maybe Colton was just hoping I could do what he and Xavi couldn’t.

Get her back on our side.

I parked a few spots down in my Escalade, engine still running, the radio off. I scanned the apartments through my windscreen until I found the one labeled with her number, followed it up one story, and caught sight of something moving in the window.

Annie.

She was pacing, her hair hanging loosely around her shoulders in messy waves that looked like she hadn’t brushed them in weeks, an oversized shirt hanging limply around her frame. I couldn’t see her lower half, but she was gesticulating wildly, her phone up to her ear. She moved like she was furious.

I didn’t move. I couldn’t. I just sat there for a moment and watched, my heart thudding wildly in my chest. I hadn’t seen her in over a month, and there she was, so close that all I needed to do was walk across the street.

I killed the engine and got out, walking across the pavement with my eyes glued to the window. She wasn’t paying a lick of attention, and I climbed the concrete steps up to her door with careful, quiet strides.

But the closer I got, the clearer her voice became.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying I neededtimeand you’ve given me none!” Her voice cracked with anger, cutting through the door of her apartment. “I’m handling it. I just started taking the meds the doctor gave me. I can’t go back to work until they start to kick in, you know that. Mom dealt with it too, with me. Did you tellhershe wasn’t trying?”

I froze outside the door.

“Oh, fuck you. I didn’t ask for this to happen,” she hissed. “But it did, and now I have to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do next, and instead of supporting me like a fathershould, you’re threatening me. I can’t pay my rent, Dad. I need access.”

My stomach turned.

Mom dealt with it too, with me.

I didn’t ask for this to happen.

“Dad. Please. How am I supposed to do this without help?” she croaked. “How am I supposed to take care of?—”

I couldn’t breathe. My throat closed in. My head spun with questions

“…You know what? No. Don’t. Don’t call back if all you’re going to do is remind me how disappointed you are.”

The hollow thud of something hitting the floor leaked through the door, followed by the sound of ragged sobs, and I couldn’t hold myself back anymore.

I knocked on the door frantically, trying the door handle but finding it locked. My stomach twisted as I imagined her inside, staring at the door in horror, worried it was Elliot or her dad, and I had to say something. “Annie,” I called out. “Annie, it’s me. It’s Cole.”

There was a beat of silence so long that I thought she wasn’t going to let me in.

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