Poor dude. Nate would feel much sorrier for him, but he seemed very cozy with the rookie punter, so it was hard to feeltoosorry for him.
“Yeah, I did hear. That sucks, man. Sucks that people keep taking advantage of you.”
“Thanks,” Dawson said, tapping his fingers on the tabletop. “I was wondering if you had any recommendations. Knew anyone who was really good at handling contract stuff. And wouldn’t be against seeing me through the rest of this trial with Ackerman.”
Ackerman was, Nate was pretty sure, the guy who’d stolen all his money. His ex-father-in-law.
Luckily, Nate did actually have a dynamite lawyer. A guy he actually trusted. “Yeah, my guy’s great. I’ll text you his number.”
Dawson smiled gratefully. “That’s awesome.”
“No prob.”
Nate told himself not to do it, but he couldn’t help it. He glanced back, to where Ramsey was chatting now with Wes and Mo.
“You seem like a real helpful guy,” Dawson continued.
That wasn’t what Nate was expecting to hear, though it felt good to hear that instead of the opposite that he usually got from Sterling. “I do?”
“Well, yeah. I’ve been through it, sure, but it sounds like that guy’s been through it too.” And of course,of fucking course, he waved in Ramsey’s direction.
He’d give Dawson a minimum of credit. At least he’d come up with a relatively legit question before he segued into what he’d clearly dragged Nate over here to discuss: Ramsey.
“Not you too,” Nate retorted.
“Listen, I don’t know what your issue is—”
But Nate was done hearing about it; he was definitely done talking about it. “Yeah you don’t,” he interrupted Dawson. “And you’re not gonna. Did Aidan suggest that you talk to me? I can handle my own shit.”
Yeah, sure, you can, but you haven’t been. That’s obvious, from how everyone’s jumping on you about this.
“Of course you can. And no, of course Aidan didn’t put me up to anything.WouldAidan do that?” This was all delivered in an especially soothing tone, like Nate was a spooked horse that needed calmed.
Well, fuck that.
“No. He’d never want someone to pull something off where he failed.” He didn’t mention that Aidan hadalreadytried.
“Exactly. We’re just both saying similar things, because it’s so obvious.”
God, of course it was. Nate hadknownit, even as he hadn’t been able to hold himself back, to make his own feelings more opaque.
“What’s so obvious?” Nate challenged.
Dawson shot him a look brimming with sympathy. “That you want to go talk to him.”
It was like a hit to the solar plexus. Nate had experienced so many of those, over the years. Was able to slough them off, now, almost always. Like they’d never happened. But this blow had force and weight, thanks to Dawson’s blunt honesty, and it stung, too. Humiliation blooming inside his stomach.
Everyone knew. Everyone knew, and everyone wanted tohelp.
“I absolutely fucking don’t,” Nate retorted. Praying that if he said it with enough vehemence, that might make up for the obviousness of the lie. “That guy is a menace. Always showing up and throwing his weight around, like anybody gives a shit about some washed-up hockey player who can’t get on the ice.”
It was an objectively awful thing to say. Ramsey’s situation could’ve happened to any of them. They both played intensely physical professional sports. It was the root of why Aidan was trying to fold him into the team. It was why Wes had made sure he wasn’t alone.
It could’ve been Nate or Aidan or Mo. Any of them could’ve taken one hit too many, their careers balancing precariously after.
It had been too harsh and mean, and cruel in a way that Natewasn’t.
He didn’t know who he hated more in that moment: Dawson for making him say it, or himself for saying it.
