Diverting his eyes to Dawson, Markus swallowed hard before running his tongue along his teeth. “I have no clue what you’re talking about. I hated it in Florida, and my performance reflected that.”

“Or,” Baylor said, her voice full of knowledge. “You’re still torn up about Mekena, and it’s fucking with your head. Either way, you’re better than this. I know you are.”

“What? Really?” Jayden gasped, but Markus ignored him.

“No!” He laughed, shaking Dawson awake. “Ha. Please! I haven’t seen or heard from her in over a year. I don’t even think about her.”

Lie.

“Yeah, okay,” she laughed, and he really didn’t like Baylor Sinclair any longer. “You loved her, Markus. I know that, everyone knew that. And I get it, it hurts, but are you going to throw your career away because of it?”

“Baylor,” he said sternly. “I’m not throwing my career away. I got a little distracted, maybe derailed a bit, but I can get back to where I was. That’s not the problem. The problem is no one believes in me.”

Silence filled the room, the only sounds those of Dawson breathing softly. Markus felt like a failure, and he was. It was that simple. His parents didn’t care about him or his career. The girl he loved, he lost. He wasn’t with the people who cheered him on, and everyone was moving on but him. He was stuck.

They were both right. He was acting like an entitled little child, and that wasn’t who he was. He worked for everything he had, with no support or love from his parents—or anyone, for that matter. He graduated with decent grades and a degree in sports medicine because he wanted it. He didn’t have to do it, but he did because he wanted something to fall back on. He was a smart guy, so what in the world was he doing?

He knew the answer. It was there, flashing in his face.

He had gotten lazy.

It was time to go back to what he knew, and that was how to work for what he wanted. Before he could express that to the people he was closest to, he looked up to see Jayden watching him.

“That’s not a problem at all,” he said simply. “We believe in you. We love you and know you are one of the best players and people we know. If that weren’t the case, would we let you be the godfather of our child? The answer is no. I don’t know when you lost the confidence in yourself, but I need you to find it, bro. I need you to be the man, the person, I know and love. I can’t play with the person who is sitting across from me holding my son, a boy who one day will look up to you.”

Wow. Jayden wasn’t holding back.

“He’s right,” Baylor agreed, her eyes full of love, but also hardness. She was one of the toughest chicks he knew. “You know he is right.”

Swallowing hard, Markus looked back down to Dawson. The little guy was just looking back up at him, a tiny gleam in his sweet green eyes. No clue how hard it was to be an adult or the future of shit he would have to deal with. The heartbreak, the betrayal, and the unknown of life. Unfortunately, Markus knew exactly what had made him lose his confidence.

Or better yet, who.

“Jayden is absolutely right,” he said softly, looking up to them. “And I’m going to prove them wrong. I’m going to get into the NHL because I’m going to work my ass off. Nothing will hold me back. I will be the player you know I am. Don’t worry. I got this.”

“We know you do,” Baylor said, her lips curving.

Nodding his head, Jayden smiled. “You belong with us, Markus. We all know it, we all believe that. Do you?”

“I do.”

“Then prove yourself.”

“I will,” he said confidently, and for the first time in months, he believed the words. He believed in the person who was saying them. Nothing was going to stand in his way; he was going to get his dream. He wouldn’t think of that night. He wouldn’t think about how he woke up with a girl in his bed he had never intended to sleep with. And he definitely wouldn’t think about the pure betrayal in Mekena’s eyes when she came to see him the morning after, finding her sister with him. He couldn’t. He had a goal. He had an endgame, and he was going to get there.

Doing it the only way he knew how. Work: pure and simple.

No distractions.

No worrying about the past.

Only the future.

His future.

The NHL.

“And you’re more than welcome to stay here,” Baylor said then, and he looked up, meeting her gaze. “You’re always welcome here. But how about you get on the team and get your own place?”

“That’s the plan,” he said, a sigh of relief leaving his lips.

“But we’re heading to the cabins tomorrow. I’m pretty sure there’s a free one you can have. Let me text Lucy and make sure,” Jayden said, pulling his phone out. Only a second passed before he nodded. “Yeah, there is one available, and she says she can’t wait to see your punk ass.”

Markus grinned. “Cool, tell her, ‘back at ya.’”

A smile settled on Jayden’s lips as he typed away, leaving the room. Baylor watched as her husband left and then looked back to Markus. “Don’t take his candor to heart, you know how hard he is on everyone.”

Markus waved her off, careful not to drop Dawson. “He’s right, and we all know how serious he is about hockey and his word. I can’t let him down.”

“You’re right, but I also know that you’re better than this.”

“I know.”

“Then what’s going on?”

He shrugged, unsure what to say. The only person who knew the whole story about that night was Jace. Markus hadn’t gone into detail with Baylor. He only told her that he had cheated. While he knew her heart wasn’t as broken as Mekena’s, Baylor was sickened about it. Markus wasn’t a cheater; he was the commitment type. And for a long time, Baylor wouldn’t talk to him. She was so upset and disappointed in him. He couldn’t blame her, yet he couldn’t tell her the truth. He wasn’t even sure what he could say. That he had sex with someone he didn’t want to have sex with, and he didn’t even know how he did it? How he didn’t remember anything about the night? It was embarrassing, and he felt like a total piece of shit. He couldn’t tell her that. No, he’d stick by his story.

“I can’t let go of what I did to her. I feel like shit.”