Playing to Win(32)

"It's not mine, obviously," she said, "so by process of elimination,  thanks to your ridiculous game-day superstitions, that means it's one of  your teammates.

"And you want more honesty? You want to be able to trust me? You know  that fair and honest article on the Sports Nation blog? The one about  how you're hurting your team? I wrote that."

Blood roared in his ears as he processed that betrayal.

"I wrote it before I ever met you and when I found out they were going  to publish it against my objections, I asked them to take my name off  it. Because not hurting your feelings and continuing to work for the  Storm meant more to me than the byline that would have helped me reach  my dream job in sports reporting.

"You think I'm out to hurt you and the team? Then why have I kept this  illegal activity under the radar instead of selling the story to any  number of media outlets who would pay me large sums of money and give me  my pick of jobs? Your heart is not the only one that got bruised here.  And while I've always admired your loyalty to your teammates, if you do  not figure out who is poisoning your team right now, then you're all  going to end up infected."

Luke crossed his arms, kept his voice level. "I think you've said everything there is to say. You should go."

"I agree." The tears she'd so valiantly held back spilled down her  cheeks, but he refused to be moved. Holly's words were impassioned, but  they didn't change anything.

All this time he'd been giving her his heart, and he meant nothing to  her. Just as he'd accused her of from the start, all she'd wanted from  him was a career-making story. She'd written the Sports Nation article.  She'd been investigating them the whole time. And he'd taken her to his  home. He felt sick to his stomach, like he'd just put the puck in his  own net.

He'd let his heart overrule his head. Ignored the clues-he'd caught her  in her lies about not knowing hockey, listened raptly to her stories  about her mother and her childhood dreams of becoming a reporter. She'd  been rubbing it in his face for their entire relationship, and he was  too stupid to have even noticed.

She might have kept this story secret for a couple days, but she wouldn't sit on it for long.

He should have trusted his instincts and fought harder to get her fired  from the get-go. He'd had his own suspicions about the list but he'd  let her distract him. And now his reputation, the reputation of his  entire team, was going to be dragged through the mud in the court of  public opinion. All because he couldn't keep his dick in his pants.

He was the worst kind of fool-a willing participant in his own downfall. That ended now.

* * *

"FIRED?"

The word felt like ash on her tongue, chalky and bitter. The taste of lost dreams.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Evans, but it was stated very clearly in your contract  that you were not to interact with players outside of your professional  capacity."

"But who-?"

"I'm sorry, but we can't release that information. Suffice it to say, a  reputable source came forward and we have no choice but to enforce the  terms that you yourself agreed to."

Said contract sat on Hastings's formidable oak desk, mocking her. Holly  raised her eyes from the blinding whiteness of the paper with binding  black type marching in perfect lines that reminded her the striped  prison garb in old-timey movies. She raised her eyes to the man who sat  across from her.

"I don't even get to defend myself?"

"I'm afraid the informant is a rather...important member of the Storm's organization."

Hastings was one hell of a finesser, she'd give him that.

"As such, we will be terminating your contract immediately and your  services will no longer be required. In return for this short notice,  you will receive your full compensation, as outlined in your notice of  hire. Do you agree to these terms?"                       
       
           


       

"Do I have a choice?"

"I will take that as a yes." Hastings slid another piece of paper  toward her. "We do require you to sign this nondisclosure agreement,  which states that you will not discuss the details of this parting of  ways, or anything leading up to it, upon threat of legal action."

She grabbed the pen and with numb fingers, scrawled her signature on the designated line.

Luke had sold her out. She'd gotten too close to hurting the team and he'd turned her in.

Betrayal burned white-hot in her chest, and she had to gulp to get  enough air in her lungs. The fact that he hadn't even given her a  heads-up... She understood that he was angry at her, but at least she'd  had the courtesy to bring her concerns to him first, even though it had  been the last thing she'd wanted to do. She'd been honest with him. To  his face. Because she loved him.

She hated herself for it, but she did. Even when she'd believed he  might have been involved in illegal activity, some part of her still  believed that what they'd shared was real. And now, when he'd sold her  out, she was still conflicted about breaking the story.

Luke had seemed genuinely hurt by her accusation, even as he'd  confirmed all the reasons that some extra money could have gone a long  way. She thought of Luke's parents, of Ethan, of everything the Maguires  had been through. Luke loved his family enough to do anything for them,  but she hadn't considered what a betting scandal would do to them if  he'd been exposed. He would never have taken that risk.

She'd interpreted the evidence, but she'd boiled it all down to  numbers, to probabilities and stats. She'd been so focused on doing what  it took to get the job of her dreams that she'd failed to take the man  himself into account. And now she'd lost everything. Her story. Her job.  And the man she loved. Unsure what to do with herself, she gathered her  things and headed for her father's house. He looked up with surprise as  she entered the door.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the day?" he asked.

"I got fired, Pop."

"Oh."

"Oh? That's all you have to say about this?"

All her frustration, all her anger, everything she'd kept bottled up  since the night she found out her mother was never coming home again  roiled up from the depths and she was powerless to hold it in.

"Everything I've ever done is to make you proud, and you just look right past me!"

"That's not true."

"It is true! I've been sitting on this couch beside you for years  trying to get your attention, and all you've ever done is ignore me and  watch sports! So I watched sports, too. And I learned everything there  was to learn about them. Players, rules, stats, just so we could have a  conversation sometime. But you wouldn't even give me that! You just act  like I'm not even here!"

"Holly-"

"Don't ‘Holly' me! You talked sports with Neil! Why not me? Why not me,  Pop?" She was too angry to cry, too exhausted to shout anymore. She was  just empty. Holly sat on the couch in her usual spot and stared at the  basketball game on the television.

"When I lost Mom, I didn't think anything could ever hurt as badly as  that again. But I was wrong, because Mom didn't leave me on purpose. Not  like you did."

Her dad got out of his chair and joined her on the couch. In her entire  life, her father had never sat on the couch. She almost jumped when he  put his hand on her knee.

"You remind me of her. Especially when you're on camera. That's always been hard for me."

Holly looked at her dad, felt like she was seeing him for the first time. "What?"

"You're smart and beautiful and you're so good at everything you do. Of  course I'm proud of my girl. But sometimes it hurts to look at you  because I miss her so much. I didn't realize how unfair I've been to you  all these years. I never meant...I never meant to push you away. I love  you, Holly. I do."

The words brought tears to her eyes. She couldn't remember the last  time her father had said something nice about her, or told her he loved  her. Throughout the years, his sporadic comments were always externally  focused: "work harder, know more, do better." And she had. She'd lived  her whole life striving to be good enough for him. To actually hear that  he was proud of her made her heart swell.                       
       
           


       

"They were stupid to let you go. You're an expert at that game. If they  can't see that, then they don't deserve you. And you'll show them.  Because when you put your mind to something, there's nothing that can  stand in your way. Now don't go and cry on me. I've never been good with  that."

"Well, tough beans," Holly said with a watery laugh, and she hugged  him. He stiffened in her grasp, but then his arms came around her and  she felt his weathered hand pat her shoulder. It was like she was six  years old again. Like she had her dad back. "I miss her, too," she  confessed.