Page 3 of Find Me Again

As it were, Neil had gone to see him, and found him drunk, angry, and bitter. Josh had a problem with everything from the team's management to the unfairness of Neil's injury healing faster than his. He'd talked on and on about how he'd lost everything, but without taking any responsibility for it at all.

When Neil had had enough and gotten up to leave, Josh stopped him with, "I need you to help fix this."

Neil waved his hand at Josh and his cane, restraining himself from pointing at all the bottles, but only just.

"I have no way of fixing this."

"You have to talk to the Coach and the GM," Josh went on as if he hadn't heard him. "Tell them to offer me something. I'm willing to negotiate."

Neil snorted.Unbelievable.

"First of all, I don't have to do anything. But even if I wanted to, I have no input on their decisions and you know it. We don't get to decide such things, and we never did."

"They're taking you back!"

"I'm off the ice until I'm good enough to play, and that's not before the end of the year, at least. And even then, it's their decision as well."

Josh narrowed his eyes. "Such a perfect team player, huh? Toeing the line, never doing anything wrong. I wonder whatthey'd say if the whole world found out you fuck guys."

Neil's stomach clenched so hard he couldn't breathe.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Everything, apparently." Josh leaned forward. He had to look up because Neil was standing now, but he didn't seem to care. "But I'm not the only fuck-up on the team, and I won't give up without a fight. I have nothing left to lose, so I'm warning you. You better talk to whoever you need to talk to, and make it work. Or else, I'm telling everybody who'd listen about what a stand-up hockey star you are not."

"Are you threatening me?" Neil asked in disbelief.

This could not be happening. He'd worked so hard not to ever let this happen.

Josh sat back and gave him a mocking smile, the asshole.

"I'm warning you. Or," he said with a shrug, "giving you a piece of advice."

"You're going to out us both?" Neil stared at the man before him as the anger rolled through him. Then, the words slipped out before he could stop them. "Because you fucked up your own career, now you need to fuck up somebody else's?"

"I'm just upping the stakes for you." Josh shrugged. "If I have a team to come back to, great, I'll be a team player and not say anything. But if I go down, I'm dragging you with me. I'm dragging all of you with me."

Clenching his hands into fists, Neil wanted to hit Josh so badly he could almost see it happening. He wished he could wipe that smug expression off the face of a man who had never learned to lose gracefully.

But Neil also felt nauseous and on a cusp of falling apart, so he needed to get out of there more than anything else.

He'd gotten out of that house, and then soon after, he'd gotten out of Savannah.

And here he was now, freaking out in the shower in hischildhood home, with Josh's final words still ringing in the back of his head.

"I'm gonna give you until the end of the year. After that, if you don't help me, you better have a goodbye press release at the ready."

CHAPTER TWO

Ryan Dawson hated airports for many reasons, as most people did, but the thing he considered the worst was the baggage carousel. Or, more specifically, the fact that he would go through the security check, the waiting, and the flight itself, with various shenanigans from the fellow travelers, only to come out on the other side and be forced to stand there and wait as the carousel spewed out the baggage in random order until it finally spewed out his.

Because of that, he usually traveled with a carry-on only, but this was the holiday season and he'd be staying until the New Year's, so he needed more room than usual. And so there he was—cranky, tired, and waiting for his suitcase to come out.

When he checked his phone, he found a text from his mom. His parents were already at the airport, so he messaged her back about his status.

Glancing at the small photo of her at the top of the message chain, he smiled. It had been way too long since he'd last visited. Pennsylvania wasn't far from DC, so he could easily squeeze in one more trip a year—or convince his parents to come to him. His mom loved DC and his dad loved the museums, so it shouldn't be that hard. Dragging them away from the grandkids was more challenging, but since his brother, George, was currently visiting his in-laws for a few weeks with his wife and kids, maybe their parents would learn they could survive the separation.

The sudden tightening of the crowd closer to the baggage carousel was as clear of a sign of the suitcases coming in as the characteristic hum of the belt moving. Ryan straightened but stayed in his place. With his height allowing him to seeover some parts of the crowd, he would know when his suitcase appeared, especially since it was bright green and thus hard to miss.

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