Part of Daniel wondered if coming to Miami had been a massive mistake, but at the same time, if he hadn’t come when he did, he and Micah might never have found each other again. Daniel wouldn’t have been at the game Micah attended. He wouldn’t have been living close enough to actively spend time together and rekindle their friendship. Even if Daniel had returned to Florida after retiring a few years down the line, a lot could’ve happened in that time. Micah might have already been committed to someone else, and if they’d managed to reconnect anyway, it might never have become the relationship Daniel valued so much now.
No, Daniel couldn’t regret coming to the Thunder. He’d tried, and as he often told his kids, you couldn’t succeed if you weren’t willing to make the attempt in the first place.
He’d come to Miami. He’d made his choice. And now he had another one to make.
Tabby had already said she and the kids would stay in Miami if Daniel did receive another offer and accepted a trade. His family would be here when he was done, if he went that route. Daniel would miss his kids during the busier parts of the season when they couldn’t sneak in visits, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. They’d work out a visitation schedule, and the season was only so long. The situation might not be ideal, but it was workable.
But what about Micah? He hadn’t signed up for a long-distance relationship. Micah had already been concerned about Daniel’s place on the Thunder and what it meant for their future. Now his fears had come to fruition, and Daniel didn’t know how he’d react to learning Daniel would have to go elsewhere if he wanted to keep playing.
Then again, he had another option now. Coaching for the Thunder. It would let him stay here in Miami, and the pay, while not being close to what he earned as a player, would probably be more than decent. But inwardly, Daniel felt wary. His time on the team hadn’t been great. If the Thunder retained any of their former players, like Cedric, would the abysmal season and the ongoing disconnect both on the ice and in the locker room color the way they reacted to Daniel as a coach? He didn’t think the concern was unwarranted, and it was something he’d need to seriously consider, along with any other potential offers that might come his way.
“Daniel?” Clarke said, pulling him out of his thoughts.
He looked around to find everyone at the table watching him expectantly.
“Um.” Daniel got to his feet, prompting the other men to do the same. He went around the table to shake Vladimir’s, then Mark’s hand again. “Thank you for giving me a chance, gentlemen. If you have a contract my agent and I can review before we discuss anything further, I’d love to see it.”
“Of course,” Mark said. “Think about it and let us know your decision. We’d love to add you to our staff. We think you’d be an incredible asset to the team in a coaching position, but we realize this would be a dramatic change for you and that you might want to keep playing elsewhere. If you could get back to us in a few days, that would be great.”
“I absolutely will.” Daniel accepted the folder Vladimir offered him. “We’ll be in touch.”
He and Clarke left the meeting room, and Daniel didn’t speak again until they were out in the parking lot standing next to his Jeep.
“If you’d like, we can talk at the bar at my hotel,” Clarke said. “I don’t fly out until tomorrow morning.”
“Sure, sounds good. I’ll follow you there.”
The hotel was only a short trip, and soon they were seated in the patio area. It was midday and the temperature was in the low seventies, warm enough that Daniel shed his suit jacket while they waited for their drinks.
Across from him, Clarke loosened his tie. “So, this thing with the Venom. I spoke briefly to Fenton a few days ago. He asked if I knew your status with the Thunder and what they might be offering you. Hubbard hadn’t gotten back to me yet, but I told Fenton there’d probably be room to talk regardless of what they offered you.”
Daniel nodded. “And?”
“He said the Venom would be willing to offer you a contract for the remainder of this season and the next, if you wanted to come back to the team and maybe retire from there next year.” Clarke sat back when the server returned and set a tumbler of whiskey in front of him. He thanked her and waited until she’d given Daniel his beer before continuing. “I also spoke to the GM of the Reign, and I think we could pursue something there, too. Maybe even a two-to three-year contract, if we play our cards right.”
Daniel mulled it over as he took a long sip from his glass. So now he had three possibilities if he wanted to stay in the NHL. His brain rebelled at the idea of Seattle already. It was a long trip between Florida and Washington State. Or he could go back to the team of his heart for one last hurrah, which was tempting, but maybe not as much as he would’ve expected it to be. He missed his old teammates fiercely sometimes, but they’d moved on without him and the dynamic in their dressing room had doubtless changed over the course of the season. Even if he did go back, it wouldn’t be exactly the same as it had been.
“You don’t have long to let me know what you want to do,” Clarke said, “but you do have some time to evaluate your options. Just try not to delay any more than possible. Once the deadline passes in ten days, we won’t be able to reassess or make any moves until the off-season.”
Daniel made a thoughtful sound. “Yeah.”
“Are you leaning in any particular direction right now?”
“Not really. There are conversations that need to be had before I decide anything for sure.”
Daniel was grateful to even have options when he’d walked into that conference room earlier fearing he had nothing—but the problem was, none of them felt right on an instinctive level. Not the way the offer from the Thunder had last summer.
Then again, look how that had turned out?
Daniel cringed and chugged down the rest of his beer. He definitely had some soul-searching to do.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Micah sang along with his favorite Spotify playlist, putting the finishing touches on dinner and glancing at the clock as he slid the cookie sheet with the bread out of the oven. Dinner was a simple pasta primavera with some ready-to-bake garlic bread. But he’d been at work late and this was a quick and easy dinner, and Daniel had sounded odd on the phone when he’d called to see if Micah was free tonight.
Odd enough that Micah’s stomach tightened unpleasantly and his heart raced in his chest when he thought too hard about it. It couldn’t be that Daniel wanted to break up, he knew that logically, but sometimes emotions weren’t logical, and honestly, if he was dumped by the love of his life over pasta primavera that was going to make for one depressing story...and one meal he was never going to eat again.