Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Claimed by the Rival Hockey God novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: Donor Night

I crossed the street before Dario reached the steps.

Cillian stood at the top with his bandaged hand in his pocket, and he hadn't said a word.

"Nettie," said Dario. He held out the roses with both hands. "Thank God. I flew down this morning."

"I can see that."

"Come home. Please. I'll apologize on camera, I'll do whatever you want."

"You'll apologize to the camera."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you're sorry about the video, not about me."

His face went through three expressions and landed on hurt.

I took the roses from his hands.

They were white, the same kind he always sent after a breakup.

"I picked these out for her," I said. "I told the florist what to write on the card. Dario, I've picked everything out for ten years."

"So pick something now."

"I'm done."

I held the roses out to a woman waiting for a bus, and she took them, startled.

"They're free," I told her. "Enjoy."

Dario's mouth fell open.

Cillian came down one step.

That was all he did, and Dario backed up.

"Go home," Cillian said.

Dario looked at me one more time.

Then he turned around and walked away through the traffic, a man in a black coat with nobody carrying anything for him.

I stood on the sidewalk and watched him go.

My hands were shaking, and Cillian didn't say anything about it.

He just stood next to me until they stopped.

That night was the Ironclads' donor dinner at the Hudson Arena club.

Three hundred people sat at round tables under chandeliers, and the owners and sponsors and half the press box were there to eat chicken and clap for the team.

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