“I did not cuss you out.”
“—and I understood that you’d grown up.” Kulti rubbed my lower back. “I take so much pride in knowing you’ve become the player you are because you looked up to me, Sal. It’s the greatest compliment I’ve ever been paid.”
Bah.
He kept right on going, oblivious to my heart shooting off fireworks. “I’ve met enough people in my life that I can recognize who wants to know me for the right reason and for the wrong reason. I have trust issues, you know that. It took me time to figure out that you were someone I could trust, but it didn’t take that long. I knowyou. I know that someone who will defend her father and risk losing her career is someone I can trust, someone that I can respect. Loyalty is one of the most precious things I’ve ever encountered. You don’t know the things people would do to get ahead, and I would bet my life you would never turn your back on anyone that needed you.
“Every single thing that has ever happened in my life has led me here, Sal. Destiny is a ladder, a series of steps that takes you where you’re supposed to go. I am the man that I am, and I have done the things that I’ve done, to get me to you.”
What do you say to that? To a man that kept your childhood letter for half a lifetime and mentioned you and destiny in the same sentence?
I bit the inside of my cheek and leveled a look at him. “Are you sure you don’t care? I used to kiss your posters. Now that I think about it, I’m really surprised no one in my family spilled the beans and said something.”
Rey palmed my face. “Not at all.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Iwas reallysad to hear you ladies lost last night,” the front desk employee said as he handed me a visitor’s pass.
I’d have to give myself a pat on the back later for not even wincing at the reminder. Somehow I managed to shrug, pinning the pass to the bottom of my T-shirt. That damn Pipers and Wreckers mural above the desk taunted me. “Me too.”
“I’m sure y’all will get ‘em next year, don’t you worry about it,” the nice man suggested as I put my bag over my shoulder to go through security and up the elevator.
“Hope so. Thanks,” I told him before giving him another smile and continuing up the stairs.
Really, I did hope the Pipers would win next season. It would be great for them.
All right, I’d be fine if they didn’t, but I wouldn’t be mad if they did.
I’d been doing a lot of thinking since talking to Rey the night before, and even though I wanted to vomit at the insecure point my life was in, I realized I really was doing the best thing for me by leaving the WPL. If it were up to Cordero and the rest of the coaches who hadn’t given me a second thought, I would never play for another Altus Cup.
Or screw it, for a gold medal. Why not?
If I moved, played somewhere else and got my nationality…
Why not?
IfI moved. But I wasn’t going to worry or psych myself out too much. Things happened if they were meant to happen and if they didn’t, I’d figure out something else.
What I was doing now was moving on with this stage in my life, and I was surprisingly more than okay with it.
I found the equipment manager’s office halfway down the hall on the Pipers floor. She was inside and looked a little surprised to see me, but she took my things and said she’d see me later. So apparently, the news hadn’t gotten around that I was out.
This was all was totally fine. There was only one other person I’d want to see before I left, and his office was two doors down. It sure as hell wasn’t Cordero either. I had no interest in seeing that miserable man ever again. Plus I wasn’t sure if he was aware Rey had lied about rejoining the team or not, and I didn’t want to hear about it. His part with me was done. The German had already assured me once more that I didn’t have to worry about him. His money gave him a great legal team, so he said.
Legal team. Jesus. That’s what I’d gotten myself into. He didn’t just have a lawyer, but a whole legal team. God.
You only live once, right?
Gardner was in his office with the door open when I stopped by. I knocked twice. He looked only slightly frazzled as he typed away on his keyboard, frowning when he saw it was me. “Sal. Come in,” he waved me forward. “Shut the door.”
I closed the door behind me and took a seat across from him, hands on my knees.
“Where were you last night?” he asked first thing.
“I left right after the game. Sorry. I just wasn’t in the mood,” I explained truthfully, taking in his tired features. “Are you all right?”
He rolled his eyes. “Same old hell as usual from Cordero, it’s nothing I wasn’t expecting. You? Hold on, what are you doing here?”