in some fiendish twist to make him suffer even further—had not gone well. Harper had tried to force an explanation but he kept with the name, rank, and serial number defense. This pissed her off further, but all she could do was express disappointment in him. Like that was a new feeling.
As far as he knew, they were scrambling to ensure negotiations for the women’s franchise were put back on track, and while giving Harper ammunition to use as a bargaining chip with Selena might have helped his case, Cal couldn’t betray Mia’s trust any more than he already had.
He’d screwed up, lashing out at Selena and dropping Mia in it. He got that. But, hell, she wasn’t exactly helping her case by lying down and playing dead. Sure he understood the no-conflict approach—he lived it—but this was not the time to be rolling over.
After his rollicking from Harper, he turned up at practice twenty minutes late, which meant he didn’t get a chance to talk to Vadim. Not that he could explain anything to him that wouldn’t tell tales on Mia.
Mia, who now had everything she wanted, all her plans on track, even the one he’d almost derailed. He had no doubt the Chase sisters would figure it out. All of Mia’s dreams—professional and personal—would come true. She had the job, the guy, the life she’d been planning for the last two years. He had done his part, helping her get there, and all he wanted now was to go back to that time before he knew her. Before her gorgeous smile and smart mouth and big heart had sucked him into her vortex.
He had never been a huge risk taker, and he was good at calculating the odds of something breaking in his favor. The odds on anything with Mia going the distance had always been slim to none. If they could even get past the Vadim factor, then there was a racetrack of other hurdles to leap, not least of which was the fact that she was in love with someone else.
That was not the foundation for a win.
Now, he longed for numbness. Unfortunately emotions weren’t a spigot you could turn off and on with a flick of your thumb.
Well, he could. Usually. He could keep it bottled inside, could breathe it away. This was how he’d survived his parents’ mind games, Bethany’s betrayal, and this was how he would survive Mia.
He shook off his mood, or tried to by focusing on practice. He nodded at Vadim, who thankfully nodded back. For the next hour he went hard at it, pushing through the pain in his head and his heart.
On his way back to the bench to get water, he brushed shoulders with Durand, who of course mumbled something.
Cal stopped and pivoted. “What’s that?”
“De rien.”
“Not nothing. It’s never nothing with you.” Cal skated back. “If you have a problem with me, just fucking say it.”
Durand smirked. “What’s wrong, Foreman? Did someone say something mean about you on Twitter?” He skated up close, right in Cal’s face, and in a low voice said, “Have you had a fight with your woman? Still too chicken to claim her in public?”
That smirk still held.
Even when Durand fell to the ice.
Even when Cal pounded his jaw.
Even when someone—Vadim and Gunnar together, he learned later—pulled Cal off while the rest of team swarmed.
“Off the ice. Now!” Coach yelled.
Cal was fine with that. He didn’t feel like practicing or drills or playing his part. Vadim put a hand on his shoulder and Cal shook it off. There was an audible gasp, like no one could believe this display of ill temper, and with his best bud, the captain, too.
He’d had his heart crushed and needed a moment to indulge his negative emotions. But even in the midst of the pain, he knew he shouldn’t take it out on Durand. The guy couldn’t help being a dick. Cal could, and that was where they differed.
He turned, an apology on his lips, but Durand held up a hand and shook his head, something like pity on his stupid face. The fact he understood that lapse from Cal made it worse. Reid Durand actually empathized.
Cal was alone when Vadim walked into the locker room and took a seat beside him.
“It’s time we had this out.”
“Vad, about last night. I’m sorry.”
His friend assessed him. “Okay, but this isn’t like you. I’ve never seen you get mad at anyone, not even on the ice. Not even when Bethany