She doesn’t take the new position as a chance to climb out of bed, simply nestles against me in a space that was made for her.
I tuck her close. Both exhausted and exhilarated until one of our phones buzzes.
She hisses a curse in French, I think, then grabs my phone from the nightstand.
“Not you,” she babbles.
“Oh. Thank God for that. But… that means it’s you.”
“Oops. So it does.”
Victoria props her chin on my chest as she checks out the message, then she cuddles under my raised arm and turns the screen to face me.
It’s an article from one of the biggest sports news networks in the country—PSN.
Head Coach of Oakwood College Hockey Team Fired Amid Drug Scandal
BY MACK FINNEGAN
Despite a strong start to the season, the Oakwood Dukes have begun to falter, but not, it seems, under pressure.
The recent poor performances of some of their star players may have an explanation—today, Marc Ridley, the Dukes’ head coach, was fired amid a drug scandal that only came to light after a series of bizarre social media posts regarding Derek Dyers, 21, a Dukes’ defenseman, caught public interest.
Dyers’s family claim these publications are not only slanderous, but proof he is the victim of a hate campaign. The NCAA announced late last week they’d be investigating the veracity of these claims, but the first step in that investigation appears to have led to the termination of Ridley’s contract.
The entire situation began with Dyers’s arrest at the beginning of Christmas break, thanks to his assault of an NYPD parking agent. As video footage of his arrest spread online, stories trickledout of the forward’s behavior on campus. Some were difficult to confirm, others less so.
Photographic evidence of Dyers’s repeated use of drugs before games as well as at parties and events at his fraternity, Rho Beta Epsilon, were published on social media by an anonymous account born in the aftermath of Dyers’s arrest. Acting as a whistleblower, this account is feeding revelations to the wider public of the college student’s volatile behavior and criminal activities.
Dyers’s counsel claims that these pictures are not proof, just AI deep fakes, but more stories have trickled forward of Dyers’s time on and off the ice. Abuse of women, both physical and sexual, alongside verbal intimidation of teammates.
To make matters worse for the forward, these “activities” line up with his father, Brutus Dyers, Consul General of the US Consulate to Edinburgh, UK, donating a substantial amount of money to the college.
Last year, Dyers was spotted snorting cocaine with a woman alleged to be a prostitute—two days later, his father paid for a new endowment. The donation of a state-of-the-art gym at the campus’ hockey facility followed Dyers’s bullying of a fellow frat brother.
If thisisa smear campaign, it’s cleverly executed and systematically carried out. Clearly, it has bite. Ridley covered up several complaints by Dyers’s teammates—a school spokesperson has confirmed that he will no longer be working with the Dukes.
Is there enough evidence to permanently suspend Dyers? The NCAA’s investigation will hopefully uncover the truth.
“Who sent you that?” I stroke my hand over Victoria’s shoulder.
“Callan.”
My lips purse. “He’s a strange one.”
“I think he’d say the same about you. You made him jump out of his skin when he knocked on my door last week and you walked out.”
“Can I help that he’s jumpy?”
“He’s gone to the extremes for us,” she corrects. “You need to be nice to him.”
“All these men you’re collecting. Do I have to be nice to every single one of them?”
“That’s what happens when your wife has friends,” she teases. “Oooh, you haven’t seen this yet.”
“What is it?”
“Denver, Callan, and Uncle Conor’s plan of action. It’s what led to the article being published.”
