Page 84 of Tough Call

I swept my tongue across my lips. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. They need an answer soon—free agency is starting in North America, and Vancouver is limited on cap space. They need to know if they’re signing you or not.”

“I, uh…”

“What is there to think about, Madars?” my agent chuckled. “This is what you’ve been wanting. Why the hesitation now?”

I flicked my gaze to Connor, who watched me with an expression full of concern and confusion. “How, um…” I cleared my throat. “How long do I have to decide?”

A sharp sigh came down the line. “Free agency starts on Tuesday. So… seventy-two hours?”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I exhaled. “Okay. Okay, just let me think about things? It’s what I want but it’s still a big decision. You know that.”

He tsked. “I’ll send over the contract for you to look at. Don’t sit on this one too long, Mads. Chances like this aren’t going to come your way often, and they’re not going to wait forever for you to make a decision.”

Then he ended the call, and I swore in Latvian.

Connor’s hand landed on my shoulder. “Hey. What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

I took a deep breath before I faced him. As I slid my hand into his, I whispered, “Vancouver’s offering me a PTO.”

“Seriously?” His face lit up. “That’s great! That’s amazing! God, Madars, it sounded like someone had died. What’s⁠—”

But then his eyes darted down. To our joined hands. To our naked bodies.

“Oh, fuck,” he breathed.

“Yeah. I…” Shaking my head, I exhaled. “I’m sorry. We were…” I gestured at ourselves and the bed. “We were relaxing, and now my head is…” I didn’t know how to explain it.

“It’s okay.” He gathered me in his arms and kissed me softly. “This is important.”

I closed my eyes and leaned into his warmth. “I don’t know what to do.”

Connor stroked my hair. “You don’t have to make a decision right this minute, do you?”

Deflating a bit, I sighed. “I don’t have much time. Kirils says they won’t wait long. A couple of days, tops.”

“Fucking hell. But they know players have to review contracts and think about things, don’t they?”

“They do. To a point.” I drew back and looked at him. “Maybe he’s just erring on the side of caution. I don’t know. But he doesn’t want me to drag my feet on this.”

Connor touched my face. “You’re not dragging your feet. It’s a huge decision, especially since you have to move across the damn ocean. I mean, at least you have dual citizenship, so you don’t have to deal with the immigration shit like most European players, but the League has to be used to other players needing to figure out logistics.”

“That can all be figured out after signing the contract, though. I signed my contract in Switzerland before we started dealing with visas.”

He scowled. “But… even still…” He flailed his free hand. “It’s a huge decision!”

“I know. And I can probably think on it for a day or two, but… I’m going to have to give him an answer sooner than later.”

Connor held my gaze and swallowed hard. The question in his eyes was impossible to miss.

I broke eye contact and stared down at our hands. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“But you’ve been wanting another shot with the NAL for years.” He squeezed my hand. “Baby, I would never ask you to give up your dream for me.”

“I know. I just…” I ran my free hand through my hair. “Fuck. There’s no way in hell they’ll let me play while I’m dating a ref.”

Connor flinched. “I’m sorry.”