Chapter 30 Chapter Thirty
Vanessa POV
Danny's question hung in the air between us like a sharp blade that was doing its job quite well and cutting right to the heart of everything I'd been avoiding for years now.
Do you mean your dad or all hockey players?
I looked at him—really looked at him—standing there in his bedroom with photos of us still pinned to his bulletin board, waiting for an answer that could either build a bridge between us or burn it down completely.
"For a long while," I said slowly, choosing my words carefully, worried about how to explain almost ten years worth of hatred.
"it was all men. Any guy who showed interest in me, I'd find a reason to push away. Tell myself he'd leave eventually, so why bother getting attached?" I paused, wrapping my arms around myself.
"I used that line for years and the therapist my mom got me had a field day with that one."
Danny's expression softened.
"You see a therapist?"
"Saw," I corrected.
"In high school and the first year of college. My mom insisted after she found me having a panic attack in my closet on Father's Day." I laughed, but it came out hollow.
"Turns out abandonment issues don't just go away on their own. Who knew?"
"Vanessa—"
"But then," I continued, needing to get this out,
"I started college trying to get involved with boys even as just friends, and I thought maybe I could move past it. Maybe not all men were like my father. So I let myself trust again. Let myself fall for someone." I met his eyes.
"Let myself fall for you."
Danny took a step closer.
"And then I hurt you."
"And then you hurt me," I agreed.
"Or I thought you did.” I paused my gaze focused on the wall suddenly lost in my own head
“ Now that I think about it, I was mostly hurt that you lived up to my expectations of men” I whispered softly
“And suddenly it wasn't all men anymore—it was specifically hockey players. Because my dad was a hockey player who left, and then you were a hockey player who cheated, and the pattern was so clear I couldn't ignore it anymore."
"But I didn't cheat," Danny said quietly.
"I know that now," I said.
"Or at least, I'm starting to believe it that you believe that too”
"It can still be real between us," Danny said, closing the distance between us.
"We can still make this work."
"Can we?" I asked.
"Like you said your father hates my last name because my father destroyed his career. We're caught in the middle of their mess, and I don't know how to separate their story from ours."
Danny reached for my hand, and this time I let him take it.
"You didn't answer my question. About whether it was your dad or all hockey players."
"Yeah."
"So which is it?" he pressed gently.
"Because I need to know if you think just like him."
I looked down at our joined hands, at the way his thumb was tracing small circles on my palm—a gesture so gentle it made my chest ache.
"I'm starting to realize," I said softly,
"that it's just him. That he's the one who's broken, not every hockey player in existence. For a long time, I lumped you all together. My dad left, so all the hockey players left. You—or I thought you—betrayed me, so all hockey players betray. It was easier to hate all of you than to deal with the fact that my father specifically chose to abandon me." I looked up at him.
"But slowly, I'm coming to realize it's just him. Just Trent Williams who's the problem. Not you or every guy who plays hockey. Just... him."
The hope that flashed across Danny's face was almost painful to see.
"Do you really believe that?" he asked.
"I do," I admitted.
"It's hard to undo three years of thinking one way. But I think it's working, maybe it's the way you look at me… " I trailed off, feeling vulnerable and exposed.
"How do I look at you?" Danny asked softly.
"Like I matter," I whispered.
"Like I'm not just some girl you're dating to piss off your teammates or whatever. Like I'm... important."
"You are important," Danny said fiercely.
"You're the most important thing in my life. More important than hockey, more important than my father's approval, more important than any of it."
My breath caught.
"Danny—"
"I need to know something," he interrupted.
"Can you ever believe that I'm not like your father? That I won't walk away when things get hard? Because Vanessa, I'm all in here.” he paused looking up at me
“I have been since freshman year but I was dumb enough to mess that up so I need to know if you can ever really trust that."
It was the question I'd been asking myself for weeks. Months. Maybe even years.
Could I believe it? Could I trust that Danny wouldn't walk away when things got hard? That he wouldn't choose hockey over me the way my father had chosen it over his entire family?
I opened my mouth to answer, to tell him yes, I wanted to believe it, I was trying to believe it, that maybe if he was patient with me I could get there—
The door burst open.
We both jumped apart as Dylan stumbled in, grinning and clearly a few drinks past sober.
"There you are!" he announced, like he'd just solved a great mystery.
"Cap, dude, we need you downstairs. Now. It's time!"
"Time for what?" Danny asked, his voice tight with frustration at the interruption.
"The surprise!" Dylan said, like this should be obvious.
"For the birthday boy! Bean's gonna kill us if we mess up the timing. Everyone's in position. Come on!"
I sighed, memories returning, of course it was Marco's birthday and the surprise party Bean had been so excited about even more today.
"Dylan, we're kind of in the middle of something important here," Danny said, not letting go of my hand.
"Nope, no time," Dylan insisted, grabbing Danny's other arm and physically pulling him toward the door. I followed them,
"Bean's been texting me every five minutes. If we don't get Marco down there in the next sixty seconds, she's gonna have my head. And yours. Let's go!"
"Vanessa" he said, looking back at me with genuine frustration.
"It's fine," I said, the moment felt broken now, the vulnerability shattered by Dylan's drunk enthusiasm.
"Let's go. We can talk after."
“ If we keep her waiting I'm sure she's going to have me drawn and quartered” I hummed softly and he laughed
“ I guess we can expect that from her”