Love Game

Chapter Thirty-Three: Nothing Holding Me Back

"You're heading to Ottawa," Joe's words repeat through my mind. 

I did it. I got traded.

"Patrick, I hate to tell you this, but Ottawa also wanted Duchene," Joe says and I see Patrick face palm.

"Shit," he growls. "Two of my best forwards gone just like that."

"Not to mention Varlamov is a free agent," Joe mumbles. 

"Stop making me depressed," Patrick grumbles, shaking his head. 

I sit there uncomfortably watching the two men talk about the future of the organization, the organization I am no longer apart of. 

"Thank you, Joe, for doing this," I whisper and force a smile. 

"Of course, Mallory. We wish you the best of luck in Ottawa," he replies, forcing a smile my way, as well. 

We all push ourselves out of the booth. I pull both of them into a hug, forcing the tears back and just taking in the moment. 

In the span of a year, I survived sexual assault from one of my brother's teammates. I made it to the NHL, playing for the Colorado Avalanche. I was teammates with benefits with Gabe Landeskog. We fell in love. I got too drunk with Varly and we went at it, and that night I had a miscarriage with Gabe's baby. After recouping from that, I struggled with watching my best childhood friend Karson go through injuries, some at the hands of Gabe. We beat Karson and the Kings in the Western Conference Finals, and we won the Stanley Cup. Gabe and I got engaged that night. My lap dance with Varly went too far, and now here I am, being traded to Ottawa to run away from my fears, problems and responsibilities. 

"Thank you both so much for believing in me," I say to Joe and Patrick as I pull away from our hug. 

They both nod their heads at me and smile, soon we go our separate ways. 

I walk out of the Starbucks and I take a deep breath. I pull out my phone and I send a text to Varly.

"Looks like I'm going to Ottawa," I text him. 

My phone buzzes immediately. Of course, it's Varly.

"Awesome! The Islanders are offering me a contract. What should I do?" he responds.

"Take it! That way I can score on your ass often." I text. 

"Or we can both score whenever we want," he responds with a winking face at the end of his text. 

I feel my phone buzz again. 

"Want to stay over tonight? Don't think it will be a good idea to stay at Gabe's," he adds. 

"Be over soon, going to break the news and pack."

I put my phone in my pocket and I start to make the walk towards my soon-to-be old apartment. I cannot believe I am actually about to break up with Gabe, but I know I have to do this. I cheated on him and I know he would call it off anyway. I could be honest and tell him exactly why I am breaking up with him. I'm just so terrified he is going to go crazy. 

I walk into our apartment building around 8:30 in the morning. I take the elevator to the top floor. I dig around for my keys in my purse as I walk down the hallway. I arrive to the door and I see that it is cracked open. I hum to myself in confusion as I slowly open it, hearing voices muffled in the apartment. I tip toe into the apartment and I see pink tennis shoes on the floor and a brown Gucci bag. These aren't mine...

As I walk down the hallway, the voices I heard when I walked in are now getting louder.  I start to see clothing scattered all over the floor. I hear a woman moan from Gabe's bedroom. Wait, is he cheating on me too?