Page 72 of Mistletoe Face Off
“Want me to deal to Lorcan and Celine out on the ice tonight?” Hunter offers, and despite the fact it may give me satisfaction to see Hunter pin both Lorcan and Dion up againstthe plexiglass in an uncompromising way, I know that's not the answer—particularly when we're all on the same team.
But it doesn't stop me picturing it.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” I say.
“Settle down, you lot,” Coach Newton says, walking into the room. He turns his attention to me. “Harrison. A word?”
I suck in a breath, trying to steady the nerves that suddenly kick right up. This is it, the moment when I need to defend myself to the people that matter—not the Lorcans or the Dions of this world, but to management.
I throw on my jersey and make my way into Coach’s office, where I find both Coach Newton and Abby Sinclair.
“Hey, Harrison,” she says with a grim smile.
Coach sits behind his desk and offers me a seat beside Abby.
I jump in first because, let's face it, I know why I'm here. “Before you say anything, I want you to know that it is true that I was involved in this, but I did not take any performance enhancing drugs, and that’s the honest truth.”
Coach throws Abby a look.
“The problem we've got on our hands right now, Harrison, is that rightly or wrongly, your name has been tarnished, and with it the team,” Abby begins.
“But it's not true,” I protest, sounding like a whining kid, even to my own ears.
“Why don't you give us your version of events,” Coach suggests.
“Okay. I was working with Garth Gluckman and we were at the regional champs when he suggested the only way I could beat out the competition was if I took drugs. He had a supply. I took the bottle from him and went home to talk to my mom about it. I didn't take a single pill. You have my word on that.”
“What happened next?” Abby asks.
“My mom went to see Garth and told him that I wouldn't be taking anything. I wasn't there, but she told me that it didn't go down well with him and the next thing we knew, he fabricated a story about me in the media. He said I was the one who was taking the drugs and he tried to stop me. After that, my fledgling career as a figure skater was over. Dead in the water. No one was going to trust me again, not when the great Garth Gluckman was going around telling everyone I was a cheat.”
By now I'm worked up, the desperation I felt at the time filling my chest. “It was then my mom told me we needed to leave Oregon. We moved here to the city and we started a life here. I changed my name to my mom’s maiden name.”
“And that's when you started playing hockey?” Abby asks.
“Yeah. I thought the story was dead and gone, that it was an unfortunate incident that happened in my past. I was only sixteen. I couldn't deal with all of that. If it wasn't for my mom taking decisive action? Well, I don't know what would have happened.”
“That's quite a story,” Coach says, studying me from behind his desk, his fingers steepled. “Do you swear it's the truth?”
“Of course I do, Coach. One hundred percent.”
He nods, his lips pulled into a stern line. “I know you as a man of your word, so I accept what you tell me as the truth.”
Relief rolls over me. “Thanks, Coach. That means a lot.”
“Whether this story in the press is true or not, the problem we've got is perception,” Abby says. “I met with management earlier today and they’ve recommended you don't play tonight.”
“What?” I snap. “But this has nothing to do with hockey.”
“As I said, Harrison, it's all about perception. Have you seen social media since the story dropped?” she asks, and I shake my head. After leaving the rink, Holly, Macy and I headed back to her apartment, where I lay low.
“I didn't want to.”
“Let’s just say they're not exactly saying complimentary things. We need to do what's right for the team as a whole,” she says.
“But I want to be out there, doing my part for the team,” I grind out, fear gripping my chest.
“I know you do, Harrison. But we need to let this storm die down before we let you out there again,” Coach says.