Page 5 of How We End

“Not a girlfriend, an escort.”

“Seriously?I’m sure the podcast will love that.Julian Silver has to pay for sex.”

“No one will know.She’s a professional.”

“She?As in, you know one?Does Teigen know?”

“No, and it’s not like that.She’s a friend of the family.Kind of.”

“I know your family.”I stifled a groan as I stepped over the bench.“And no.I’m not going to pay for sex.I got enough to deal with.”

“Jules, you gotta do something.Our season is tanking.”

“Sex isn’t going to help, so drop it.Okay?I’ll figure it out.”I had been since I was thirteen.

* * *

“Listen, Matt, I hear what you’re saying, but Silver is too old to be playing this game.He is not his father.In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if his dad didn’t demand Julian change his last name.He had two stupid turnovers tonight.He’s too old.Time for him to retire.”

“Tom, you’re putting this all on the shoulders of one player.Silver is not the goalie.He’s one right wing, and the rest of the team was just as bad.The defense couldn’t keep the puck in play if it was glued to their stick.The entire team looks like shit.You can’t put this all on Silver.”

“I can.Admit it, Matt, he’s too old.There are younger, better players out there that are chomping to prove themselves.And yet Vegas is stuck with the dead weight of Silver’s contract.I say cut him.I think Payton Hulton is…”

I turned off theBlueLinepodcast as I pulled into the garage.My phone buzzed again.It was my father.Maybe Tom West was right and my father would demand I change my last name.I was tarnishing the Silver name he had worked so hard to make a household name in the hockey world.

Tonight’s game was bad, and I didn’t know why.I trained harder than last year.Dropped seven pounds and added five miles to my daily seven-mile run.I lifted every day and worked with a trainer every other day.My game should be better.And yet everything felt like it was spinning out of control.

I didn’t want to believe that Anders was right.That all those things Emily had said somehow wormed their way into my head.I was Julian Silver, the highest scoring player in the league two years in a row.

The son of the great Quinton Silver.I was hockey.

And then one night changed everything.

October 9

11:59 p.m.

Julian:

I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this but whats her name

Anders:

Let me talk to her first

Julian:

Why

Anders:

She’s very particular about who she sees

Julian:

Forget it

Anders: