Page 89 of Puck Drop
“But why?”
“Because I thought his talent would be wasted back in the minors. So I’d been looking for another team where I thought he could fit in. That’s how the Austin Aces came into play.”
I hold my breath as I listen to all this. I can’t believe my ears. All this time that Logan was so worried that my father would destroy his career while he was actually saving it.
“Why didn’t you tell Logan?”
“Players get traded and moved around all the time. I didn’t owe him an explanation.”
I can actually understand this part. I just feel differently about it because of the personal connection I have to the one player he sent away.
“You still tried to break us up when you came to Austin,” I remind him. “You were mean and condescending. To the both of us,” I make sure to add.
My father lets out a long sigh while his face is in a grimace.
“I will never get used to you being with a guy,” he says. “You’ll always be my little girl. I tried to protect you for so long…”
“Daddy,” I interrupt him. “I should be able to live my own life seeing that I am on my way to thirty and all. Besides…” I hesitate before saying this last part. “It’s not like Logan was my first…”
I blush to the roots of my hair, and I swear I see my father’s eye twitch.
“What I am trying to say is…” I clear my throat while looking anywhere but at him. “I’m trying to say that I knew how to sneak out at a very young age. But when I met Logan, I really fell in love. I knew you would not be okay with it, and I convinced him to keep it a secret. I wanted him all to myself… It was all me.”
The breath leaves my body as soon as I get everything off my chest. I feel like I might just die of embarrassment because I’ve never had this type of conversation with my father, or with any adult that would have any authority over me.
“I can’t say that I’m happy with what I hear, Elizabeth,” he starts talking. “But I can finally accept the fact that you are too old for me to keep tabs on you, at least the way I was used to doing it.”
I give him a sad smile. “It didn’t help that I still ran around like a teenager.”
Because that’s the reality of it. It’s not just his fault for treating me like a kid while in my twenties, but me as well. I had it good, and I didn’t want to grow up.
Then, I met Logan. I wanted him. I thought everything would go my way, because it always did. Reality smacked me in the face when I realized I had to get a job. Since I used connections to get it, it wasn’t even that hard. But then I lost it, and I panicked because I couldn’t come up with anything that would provide me with an income. Logan had to help me through it all.
“I really love him, daddy,” I whisper. “I know I acted immaturely, but this is not just an infatuation. I love him,” I repeat.
“I hear he broke up with you,” he says out of nowhere.
I swallow around the lump in my throat. “He told me to come back to you,” I tell him. “He said he couldn’t offer me the pampered life I deserved…”
I don’t think he actually used the word pampered, but he thinks I’m a princess he’s not worthy of.
“I just want to be deserving of him and his love. That’s all I want.”
He stares at me for the longest time without saying a word. He makes me uncomfortable with how intense his gaze is, and I can see why he’s been so successful in his business ventures.
“I was worried that he would be with you for the money he thought you had.”
I shake my head at him. “But you said you liked him.”
“I liked him as a hockey player. I didn’t know anything about his personality or goals in life. I didn’t want you to be his meal ticket.”
We lock eyes, but my vision becomes blurry from all the emotions I am feeling.
“I became his burden, and he was more than willing to take me on.”
“He’s definitely proved himself,” my father agrees. “And it’s not easy for me to admit it.”
Dropping my face in my hands, I start crying. My shoulders shake with the sobs leaving my body. At some point, my father stands up from his chair and drops to his hunches in front of me.
