Page 187 of Rebound
Roman’s wearing my jersey from when I played with the New York Valkyries.
Around us, the crowd is clapping and cheering louder than they did even for the Falcons. Roman turns and finds me in the crowd. His mouth turns up into a gorgeous smile and he winks at me.
With a simple move, Roman’s changed the narrative.
I could’ve lived with a bad reputation. I could’ve even lived with people questioning if everything Josh said is true. The fact that Roman took such a big step on this stage proves to me that I chose the right person to spend the rest of my life with. Drunk me knew what she was doing.
“I had no idea my cousin had this much game,” Elena says.
I laugh and turn to her. “Let me introduce you to the Maniacs.” I wave at the women sitting on the other side of the arena. A few of them even wave back.
Not everyone’s happy with Roman wearing my jersey. As I wave at the Maniacs, a face in the crowd catches my eye. He’s like an older version of Roman, though the harsh lines of his face are nothing like his son’s.
In many ways, Roman’s as soft on the outside as he is on the inside. He’s always quick with a smile and his eyes are always sparkling with mischief. Mr. Maddox, on the other hand, looks like a ghost in the crowd. An angry, vengeful ghost. There’s a bruise across his nose that suggests it was broken recently.
“Someone’s not very happy,” Jules says, her eyes following mine.
I can’t tell if Mr. Maddox is angry that Boston loves Roman or whether Roman loves me.
“That man is never happy,” Elena says. “The few times we went over to their house for Christmas dinner, he spent the whole time picking everything and everyone apart. He’d always tell Roman that he would never make it to the NHL.”
Roman told me that. How his dad would force him to practice until he couldn’t walk anymore, let alone skate. Only forhis father to later say that Roman was never going to make it if he didn’t practice.
I can’t help comparing it to my own upbringing. Dad loved that Drew and I played hockey, but he always left the choice to us. He would have been as happy if I’d gone into business or academia or anything else.
It goes to show how resilient people are because despite being raised by a man who never loved him, Roman’s full of love and kindness. He’s the brightest star in the sky. And I hate the man who made him believe that his light was never going to be enough.
“Hey, sorry I’m late. Everything okay?” Sage plops down in the seat next to Jules.
“Late? Girl, you’re out there doing your job and making the Titans look good. I’m sure that isn’t easy,” Jules says.
Sage laughs, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Honestly, making these guys look good isn’t a hardship. You’re never going to believe who’s trending right now.”
“Please don’t say it’s me. I can’t take it anymore,” I cry, dropping my forehead onto Jules’s shoulder.
“Oh, it’s definitely you, and it’s all the other women who stitched your video with their Josh incidents,” Sage says, voice tinged with excitement.
“Are you serious?” I straighten and grab my phone, which is on do not disturb, and realize that it’s now frozen because of the number of notifications on it.
I have to restart it before the notifications pop up again.
“Did you forget you’re famous?” Elena asks.
“Apparently,” I murmur. I open the first notification and see a woman doing a reaction video to my original video that I’d posted.
She sings along to the song, dancing happily, and when the song stops, she says she dated Josh in college, and he was a pettyass bastard the whole time they were together. Whenever they did anything, and she came out on top he sulked for days.
He manipulated her to the point where she thought she was in the wrong for getting better grades than him and scoring better than him at her games—she played soccer. Other videos are similar. Some share stories about Josh, but others mostly offer their support.
“What a massive asshole,” Elena says.
“Everything I learn about this man makes me question my own decision making skills,” I say.
“That's what he wants,” Sage points out. “He wants you to think the mistake is yours when he's a really good manipulator.”
“We never realized there was anything wrong with him,” Jules says. “He had us all convinced that he was the best guy.”
She's not wrong. My entire family and I were convinced Josh's exactly the good boy he projects himself to be. Whereas Roman, who’s spent his whole life being the bad boy, is so nice. I can't imagine Josh ever wearing my jersey to play a game, not even to piss anyone off.
