Indie winds her arms around me, hugging me. "Oh, honey. I'm so sorry."
"I just kind of stood there, gaping, as he... touched me. He grabbed my hand and tried to get me to hold his dick.” Tears form in my eyes. "And that was enough that I shoved him off me. He called me a spoiled brat, told me to get with the program... and then twenty minutes later, I fell. It wasn't a hundred percent his fault, but I was distracted."
Indie sniffles and buries her face in my curls. "I'll kill him. The bastard thinks that he can just go on coaching young girls? Fuck no. Not when I’m around."
I wipe at my eyes and take a big gulp of breath. "He sent me a letter from his attorney, warning me that if I said anything, he'd come after me. I guess at some point, I signed an NDA as part of standard paperwork to hire him as a coach. So, I'm fucked."
"Yeah, right." She snorts. "My dad's a lawyer, babe. He taught me that you can't hold someone under a non-disclosure agreement if what you didn't want them to say was in any way illegal. What he did sounds like sexual assault. There's no NDA that can cover that up."
“Wait.” I come to a complete stop, staring at my best friend. “Really?”
Indie snorts. “Yeah, really. His NDA isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.”
"The bastard." I turn to glare at Coach Savard, who has definitely noticed me. "The fucking bastard. I’ve been handcuffed by an NDA that isn’t legal?"
“I’m sorry, babe.”
As I watch, he touches one of the girls on the back. Correcting her, I’m sure. My blood boils. I’m not going to let him get away with making her feel dependent on him. As if he’s essential for her to keep competing.
Fuck Jean-Luc Savard.
“I… I want to speak out,” I tell Indie. “I want to let the parents of these girls know just what a skeevy low-life he is.”
“Really?” Indie’s eyes light up. "You should tell your brother. Or your boyfriend. Either one will probably pound him into tomorrow."
I look at the three young girls that he has skating in a wide circle around him. "What if... he does it again?"
"Oh god. Thinking about it makes me sick." Her eyes follow the girls too. "So, are you going to tell your brother or Thorne?"
I slowly shake my head. "I don't know."
Across the ice, I see Coach Savard break away from his class and skate toward me. The look on his face says that he's about to start yelling at me. I can imagine that all too well.
"Let's go." I motion to Coach Savard heading our way and skate toward the tunnel. Indie stiffens but hesitantly follows.
She does drag a finger across her throat while glaring at him, which seems to stop him in his tracks. His gaze narrows on us as we hit the hallway.
My boss, Juliet, is in the press room when we duck in to grab our bags and take off our skates. She looks up from her laptop with a grin.
"You found me out. This is where I like to work to hide out from everyone else."
I chuckle. "I won't tell anyone, I promise."
"Hey, that guy skating out there," Indie butts in. "Do you know why he's here?"
I cut her a look but don't say anything. Juliet leans forward, pursing her lips.
"That's Coach Savard. He's being considered for an auxiliary position on the staff. Basically, a part-time coach? Something like that. Why?"
I shake my head at Indie, who wisely decides to play dumb. "No reason. I was just curious."
"Ah." Juliet smirks. "He is pretty hot. He's got that swagger that only hockey players ever have."
"Hockey players?" Indie asks.
"He used to be a hockey player before he blew out his knee," I say.
"If you already know who he is, why are you asking me?" Juliet looks between us skeptically. "Is this a TikTok thing I don't understand? Please don't make me look old online. I don't want to be a meme."
