Page 71 of Offside Secrets
“He’s right,” Elle adds. “I’ve watched you turn the Renegades into something incredible. You understand hockey, you understand business, you understand people.”
“You’ve done what Dad never could have imagined,” Gavin continues. “Jimmy couldn’t have done it. I couldn’t have done it. You’ve built something amazing while dealingwith men who question your every move just because you’re a woman.”
“So why,” Elle jumps in seamlessly, “are you letting those same men dictate your personal life now?”
The question hits me like a physical blow. “That’s not what I’m doing.”
“Isn’t it?” Gavin’s voice is gentle but relentless. “You’re so worried about what the board thinks, what the media thinks, what random people think, that you’re sacrificing your own happiness.”
Elle nods. “What did you tell me when I was freaking out about dating Dixon? When I was convinced the team would think I was unprofessional?”
I take a sip of wine, not liking where this is headed. “I told you that you deserved to be happy.”
“And?” both Elle and Gavin say in unison.
Despite everything, I laugh. “Did you two rehearse this?”
“Great minds,” Elle says with a shrug. “Now answer the question.”
“I told Elle that two consenting people could handle their professional relationship like adults. And that we make the rules.”
“Exactly,” Gavin says from the screen. “We make the rules. So why don’t those same rules apply to you?”
“Because my situation is different?—”
“Oh stop it, it’s not different,” Elle interrupts. “Sutton, I’ve watched you stand up to league commissioners, board members, and your own family. You’ve never backed down from a fight when it mattered. But now, when it comes to your own happiness, you’re running away.”
“From a man who looks at you like you have the answers to the universe and beyond,” Gavin adds. “A man who, from what Elle’s told me, stayed late to jump your car battery and showed up in a tuxedo to be your backup at a fancy party.”
I stare at both of them—Elle beside me with her fierceloyalty, Gavin on the screen with his steady warmth. “You two have been talking about me?”
“Elle contacted me after your last conversation,” Gavin admits. “We’re worried about you.”
“We’re worried you’re about to throw away something amazing because you’re afraid,” Elle says softly. “Plus, I noticed you hadn’t even tried to wow me with your word of the day recently, and that makes me worry your little light could dim.”
“My light will never dim.” I shake my head, biting back a tiny laugh. Only a best friend could get away with the things this one says to me. “I appreciate you two being worried about me, but what if being with me costs him opportunities?”
“What if it doesn’t?” Gavin counters. “What if this Campbell is exactly as strong and capable as he seems?”
Elle turns to face me fully. “What if the problem isn’t that you’re too much for him, but that you’re scared you might not be enough?”
The words hit me like lightning, illuminating all the fears I’ve been hiding from myself. Not just that I might hurt Campbell’s career, but thatI’mthe one who might not be worth the risk.
“I saw how he looked at you in that gala photo,” Elle continues gently. “That wasn’t a man being taken advantage of. That was a man who didn’t realize he was falling in love.”
“The question is,” Gavin says from the screen, “what do you want, Sutton? Not what you think is safe or appropriate. What do you actually want?”
I close my eyes and let myself imagine it. Campbell’s smile, his steady presence, the way he makes me feel like I can handle anything as long as he’s beside me.
“I want him,” I admit quietly. “I want to see if we can make it work. I want to stop being so worried about everything.”
“Then there’s your answer,” Elle says. “You need to go get your man.”
“There’s a game tomorrow night,” I add.
“Are you going to go?” Gavin asks.
The question hangs in the air. Am I brave enough to show up? To face the cameras and the whispers and the possibility that Campbell might not want me back?
