Tanner resisted the urge to tell him to fuck off.
"Seriously, man. What's going on?"
"Is it your contract?" Duper asked quietly.
Tanner sighed. "That. The trade rumors. And … I broke up with Katelyn."
"Shit. Really?"
They stared at him.
"Yeah."
"Why? What happened?"
"It wasn't fair to her, stringing her along while we wait this out, knowing I might be traded." He sighed. "You guys know she and I were together in college. I had to leave when I signed with the Islanders. It was a mistake to get involved with her again. When everything is up in the air. When I'll probably have to leave again." And when he was such a loser. The team didn't want him. Why would she?
"I'm sure she understands what's happening," Duper said. "She doesn't seem like she's stupid."
"No, she's definitely not stupid."
"Did you ever feel like you wasted all those years?" Rosser asked. "When you two were apart?"
"Uh … yeah."
Rosser nodded. "Happened to Jenna and me too."
"Yeah?"
Tanner sort of knew that Rosser and Jenna had known each other for a long time, since Rosser had grown up with Jenna's family, but he didn't know all the details.
"We thought we could never be together. Wasted fucking years of our lives because of that. Turned out we were wrong."
"How'd you figure it out?"
"We didn't, really. We just took a chance. Because being together was the most important thing."
Tanner sighed.
"I don't know, Benny." Rosser shook his head. "You and Katelyn seemed pretty good together. Everyone could tell from the beginning there was something between you. You may have been apart for years, but it didn't take long for you to get back together."
Army and Duper started laughing.
"What the fuck is so funny?" Tanner demanded. Another shot appeared in front of him and he tossed it back. The room was getting fuzzy and moving in circles.
Army slapped him on the back and he damn near fell out of his chair. "You are," Army said with a huge shit-eating grin. "I remember a conversation a couple of months ago, where you told us you planned to stay single forever."
Tanner frowned.
Duper grinned. "And I told you one day you'd fall in love, bam, and it'd all be over. And now it's happened."
Tanner scowled at him. Yeah, yeah, he remembered that.
And yeah, he'd fallen in love.
"Tell me again why you ended it with her," Rupper said. "Clearly you're miserable about it."
Tanner paused. "Things didn't end well between us last time. I didn't want that to happen again."
"So when you broke up with her, she took it okay?" Army asked.
Tanner flinched, remembering. "Uh, no. She told me to fuck off, basically."
"Well, good, so glad you prevented another ugly breakup."
"Christ." Tanner wanted to be pissed at Rosser's sarcasm, but shit, he was right. He'd fucked up.
"I still don't get it," Rupper said. "You broke up with her because … ?"
Tanner normally wouldn't have shared his deepest secret fears with these guys, but he was well on his way to wasted. "The team doesn't want me," he mumbled. "Why would she? I'm a big loser."
He glanced almost fearfully around the table, relieved that they weren't laughing at him. Wait. Did they agree with him?
"That's the biggest bunch of bullshit I've ever heard," Duper said mildly.
"Really." Army nodded.
"First of all, the team wants you. They keep saying they do."
"I don't have a contract yet."
Rupper waved a hand. "It'll happen."
"They're going to trade me."
"It could be any one of us," Hughie said seriously. "There are a bunch of us that are on the bubble."
Tanner blinked blearily at him. Yeah, there'd been talk about the guys who were going to be RFAs too.
"Even if you do get traded … " Duper leaned forward. "You'll be fine. You're a great player. There are teams that need you."
"Put things in perspective, man," Rupper said. "You're not injured. You're healthy. You're in the prime of your career. You'll be a success wherever you land. And … you didn't just lose the woman you love to fucking cancer."