Power Play (Nashville Assassins Next Generation 2)

“Maybe I am one now for what I did. But you’ve always been one—and will continue to be one. That’s why it didn’t work. How could it when you aren’t even around? Or don’t even care for anyone but yourself? It’s pathetic. Shit, you’re pathetic.”

Her words will not hurt me.

She doesn’t have that power anymore.

“Right back atcha, princess,” I sneer, and she rolls her eyes.

She reaches back for her boxes and heads toward the door.

“Good luck in your marriage. Try not to cheat.”

She scoffs. “Why would I cheat on someone who worships me?”

Julia heads out of the house just as Wes comes in. He shuts the door with more force than needed before looking back to me. “Man, I’m glad that shit is over.”

I’m still staring at the door. “Was I not good to her?”

He lets his head drop back along with his shoulders. “Dude, we’ve been through this. She’s a cheating whore who didn’t deserve you. Don’t let this shit get to you.” He moves into the living room, falling onto the couch.

“She said I was a piece of shit who didn’t care about her.”

“She’s full of it. Don’t let this bother you. She’s gone. You’re free, nothing here is hers. Come on. Let’s get on Fortnite.”

I don’t move, though, and he groans loudly.

This isn’t our first go-round when it comes to Julia. Wes and I have been close since I came to the team three years ago. We became friends instantly. The chemistry was there, on and off the ice. We both like the same movies and music, enjoy craft beer, and we also both grew up in single-parent households. His mom had passed from complications during his birth. His dad, being the cool-ass dude he is, raised Wes himself, and Wes adores him completely. My mom loves Wes, and she doesn’t like many of my hockey friends. Says they are a bad influence. But not Wes. He’s one of the good dudes, the guy who brings your daughter home by nine and sends poems and affirmations of love.

We may have not known each other long, but he is my best friend.

The person I grew up with, my childhood best friend, dumped me when Julia and I broke up. In his defense, his wife is Julia’s best friend and she has him by his balls, but he did drop me. Wes, though, he was my constant confidant. We got drunk, we went to strip clubs, we ate bad food, and he listened. When I say listened, I mean I cried, bitched, and moaned for a whole month, and he never complained. He was there for me. He bashed her with me, and he called me on my bullshit. I wanted to call her, try to make it work, but he wouldn’t let me.

Why would you want to be with someone who cheated on you?

I didn’t. If I’m in a relationship, I’m in one, and I want the same from my partner. It’s easy for me to say I don’t think I would have made it through the breakup without Wes.

He’s a damn good dude.

The brother I never had.

I walk over to the lounge chair and fall into it, shaking my head. “I really don’t understand what happened. I don’t think I changed.”

He tilts his head, and I can hear him say, “You didn’t. She did. It happens.”

“It just blows my mind. She wasn’t some manipulating bitch when we got together. She was great. Loved the rink, loved hanging out with my friends and being at my games. I’d thought I chose right. Do you think it was when I got farther into the league that it all changed?”

Wes starts to bang his head into the sofa, and while I want to laugh, I don’t feel like it. I’m not broken over her anymore, but I am bitter. I think it’s the lack of closure. I want her to admit that she left me because she couldn’t handle my career. But instead, I get bullshit excuses and name-calling from her. She tries to make me feel like shit for a relationship she ruined. I did everything right, to the best of my ability, and yeah, it sucks that I wasn’t enough, but my mom keeps telling me there is someone out there who will love me and my career.

Not sure I want to do it all again, but things could always change.

Maybe my mom is right and someone great will come along.

Or I’ll continue to think all women are cheating whores.

I mean, the possibilities are endless.

All of a sudden, Wes sits up, his hands on his knees and his eyes on me. “Dude, listen to me, okay?”

I blink. “Okay?”

“I think Julia thought the life you were promising her was gonna be the best life ever, but then it wasn’t. We are gone all the fucking time, weeks on end. Our lives revolve around this sport. It is hard to find a woman who wants that, who is supportive and willing to go the extra mile for you and your love of the game. I think, at the time, Julia thought she wanted that, but then after you moved to Nashville, she realized it wasn’t for her. Do I blame her for wanting out? No, I don’t. It’s rough, takes a special chick. I just wish Julia had done things differently. Do I think she is a bitch for cheating on you? Yes. I hate her. You are better off without her.”