Page 60 of Breakaway

“Sweetie, he’s making a statement, and not being shy about it.”

“Am I supposed to know how to react to this?” Surely a few photos online wasn’t a call to action to immediately forgive him.

“Maybe just consider talking to him. Trust me, a real player would never put their heart on social media like that.”

“I don’t know...”

“If you need proof, talk to Dom. He was such a flirt in his early days with the team. We never saw him with the same girl twice, before Hailee.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” She knew her aunt meant well, encouraging her to give Travis a chance to speak, but Morgan wasn’t sure what to think. Her fragile heart was at stake here.

“Just keep an eye on it,” Aunt Trina suggested. “Who knows what else he’s going to post.”

Hanging up the phone, Morgan went to the kitchen for a bottle of water, hoping to clear her head. She aimlessly opened cupboard doors, and then closed them again.

“What’s this?” Katie looked at her laptop screen. “Oh Morgan, did you see this?”

“Why do you think I’m over here searching for chocolate?”

“Woops, I finished the chocolate yesterday. But this is all new. None of this was on his Instagram page the other night.” Katie pointed to the screen. She clicked on an image. “This is new, only posted a few minutes ago. Oh!” She gasped.

“What is it now?” Morgan slowly returned to look at the laptop.

A new photo of her was added to the page, with the words “I miss her.” Her heart seemed to quiver in her chest. Travis was pulling out all the stops, but could she put her trust in him again?

“I’m going to bed.”

“Morgan, I can tell you for certain, very few of the young guys put their personal lives on here. It’s all hockey, cars, and drinking. Posting photos of their girlfriend back home tends to ruin their image with the bunnies, and none of them are willing to do that. I think he is trying to send you a message.”

“Well, he can send all the messages he wants. I’m going to bed. G’Night.”

Morgan lay in her bed, fighting the tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks. She missed him and wanted to put her trust in him. But it was only a few photos. Photos that had replaced the ones that had gotten him in trouble in the first place.

This was what her uncle had warned her about all those years. Don’t date an athlete; they’re all players. Too bad her heart was already gone.

MORGAN BOUGHT HER SECOND coffee of the day and returned to the front desk. She hadn’t slept well last night, for obvious reasons, and needed the pick me up if she was going to make it through the day.

“Have you checked his Instagram today?” Katie asked. Her friend had thankfully avoided the subject so far today, but Morgan knew Katie was going to explode if she didn’t get to talk about it soon.

“No, Katie, I haven’t.” She wasn’t interested in thinking about Travis today.

“Oh, okay,” Katie said, with disappointment in her voice.

“Have you?” Morgan knew her friend wanted to look, and she was surprised that Katie hadn’t been stalking his Instagram account all morning.

Katie grinned devilishly. “Not yet.”

By ten o’clock, the lobby was busy with the open skate of Rink Two. Luckily, they were too busy to talk about Travis anymore.

Soon a familiar voice interrupted her busy day.

“Hi Morgan,” Aunt Trina greeted her. Little Hank was in tow, and Willow was already at the glass with her nose pressed against it, watching her dad on the ice.

“Hi Aunt Trina. What are you guys doing here?”

“We’re meeting Sam for lunch after practice. And I wanted to bring you a package that arrived for you this morning.”

“Oh?” She took the box. There was no sender’s name, but the return address was Wilkes Barre.