Mason knew better than to talk back to his father, but he couldn’t help it. “Then why am I the only one here, Dad? They’re racists, and if someone recorded it—”

Coach Hayes cut Mason off. “You lead by example, and your behavior crossed a line.”

“Nearly every day they cross that line. They violate the athletic code we all had to sign, and you do nothing,” Mason seethed. “One word from you and they’d stop. I put them in their place and I’d do it again. I won’t apologize.”

“Then you’re benched.”

“Great.” Mason stood.

“Sit down!” his father roared.

Before turning around, Mason wiped the grim smile from his face. He knew Coach Hayes wouldn’t bench him. No way would he jeopardize winning regionals and their chance at the state championship.

His father clasped his hands. “Mason, they were letting off steam. Some of this stuff you have to let go or it distracts the team from doing what they need to do. Keep the boys focused on the game. That’s it. Besides, this never would have happened if you had played better, if you hadn’t missed that goal…” He went on and on, picking Mason apart until Mason wanted to shrink into his chair just like his mother did at home when the criticism was aimed at her. Mason stood and walked away under a barrage of threats and curses. He knew all too well how his father let off steam.

Punching Jesse had felt good, too good, and that realization gripped Mason with fear. I will never become my father, he vowed. I will never become that violent, horrible man.

Later that same night, when he and Kerrianne were in her bedroom, she asked him what was wrong. He told her about Jesse’s and Spencer’s slurs. “They’re just jealous of you,” she said. “They do it because they know it annoys you. You can’t let them get to you. If I let everything get to me, I’d crawl into a hole and die. Come here. Kiss me and forget about them.”

Looking over at Kerrianne now, Mason admits to himself that he doesn’t love her. After Logan turned him down for prom last year, Kerrianne was an easy, uncomplicated yes. They were friends, and even though she’d hooked up with a few of his hockey buddies the first semester their freshman year, she hadn’t been with anyone else. She stopped drinking, she stopped hooking up, but she didn’t stop hanging out with the team. And because Mason didn’t drink, either, they bonded over their alcohol-free red Solo cups, their love for hockey, and country music. Since prom, they’ve been a couple.