Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
I pick up the mug and sip. The beer is awful, but I swallow. “You have other family in the area?”
Drake turns to me. “Just tell me why you’re here and the terms of your offer, so I can tell you no and you can leave me in peace.”
I hear it in his tone and see it in the iciness of his expression slicing through me. His patience is gone.
“I owe you an apology. A really big apology.”
It’s true.
During our first meeting in Pittsburgh when we invited him to talk, I said something heinously offensive, and it’s not something I’m proud of. He was there for us to gauge mutual interest, and I asked him about his kids, as I knew he was a single dad, specifically how he planned to take care of them since he would be traveling so much. It was about as sexist a remark as one could make, highly inappropriate to ask in a work setting, and I was a complete dumbass.
While Drake had already come in itching for a fight because of the way he’d been treated by the league in the past, it enraged him, and he’d basically told me to go fuck myself.
“It was an awful question,” I continue. “Completely inappropriate, and had you asked me the same question, I would’ve slapped you. I can only ask that you give me a little grace, as I was quite discombobulated following the crash and didn’t know what I was doing half the time. It was wrong, and I promise you, that’s not who I am.”
Drake doesn’t say anything but faces forward and studies his beer.
“I think you came into that meeting angry because of the way the league abandoned you. Betrayed you, really. And I think because I’m the owner, and I did something admittedly stupid, it was very easy to walk away from it all. So again, I apologize. I wanted to be a better representation of what this league could be for you. You were judged unfairly, and harshly—”
“What could you possibly know about it?” he snaps, turning my way.
“I know the gist of what happened.”
And what happened was a travesty. His wife—well, ex-wife now—accused him of gambling on his own team, and he was eventually blackballed from the league. This all happened while he was recuperating from knee surgery, and by the time he recovered and was ready to return, the Buffalo Wolves didn’t want him anymore. Nothing had ever been proven, but everyone chose to believe the worst. Even after an investigation exonerated him, no one wanted to be tainted by the scandal.
Our goalie coach, Baden Oulett, vouches for Drake. He’s a personal friend and apparently these stories were fabricated by Drake’s ex-wife as he was battling for sole custody of their kids. Sole custody was a necessity because his wife was addicted to drugs.
Ultimately, the courts decided that Drake was not only a fit parent but the best parent and awarded him sole custody. The kids’ mother was granted very limited visitation rights. That pretty much confirmed her allegations were false, but no one in the league has shown interest in him since.
I’m interested, though.
We made him a good offer, but he’s rightfully jaded. No one gave him the benefit of the doubt when the accusations landed, and the media was ruthless in their pursuit to shape it into a sordid story of drug abuse and gambling.
No one was interested in a single dad being set up by a vindictive woman.
By the time it died down, Drake had left the league in bitter disappointment due to the way he was treated, and he never looked back.
Until the Titans came calling, and I said some stupid things that caused him to flip us the proverbial middle finger and retreat back to his life in the Minnesota burbs where he’s raising his three boys.
“Please reconsider our offer.” I push my beer aside, leaning an elbow on the bar to face him. He gives me the courtesy of his attention. “I know you’re angry at what’s happened to you, but what better way to get back at them? To show everyone you’re still at the top of your game, and better yet, you have a team that believes in you one million percent. Join the Titans and make everyone who ever doubted you choke on it.”
“You don’t believe the allegations against me?” His expression is dubious.
“I’ve never, ever been one to believe rumors. I believe in things I can see and what I have proof of. Besides that, Baden vouched for you, and I trust him implicitly.”
He regards me before turning back to his beer. He picks it up, takes a long pull.
“We need you, Drake. Our team could be great, but we need a solid goalie.”
His laugh is mirthless. “You’re scraping the bottom of the barrel for a solid goalie. There are a lot more secure choices out there.”