I ran my hands through my hair. “Fuck. I think I fucked up.”
“Dude, even I know that was a fucking stupid thing to say.”
“Yeah. Fuck.”
He let out a long sigh. “Don’t worry about it, she needs to be angry.”
Panic was rising in my chest. “Should I go after her?”
“Fuck no, give her some space and just let her stew for a bit and calm down. She’ll be gone for a while, but she’ll come back.” He scratched his beard. “We can spend the time figuring out what to do about that fucktard Richard.”
This wasn’t something we were going to solve by ourselves. The two of us were clearly too stupid to know what to do. We needed more heads in the mix.
“Okay,” I looked at my watch. “I’m going to go and change, then let’s go and see Felix. He can help us come up with a plan.”
“Let’s do it. After that display, we probably need all the help we can get.”
I groaned, but at least we were on the same page. “Tell me about it.”
Forty-five minutes later, we pulled up in front of Felix’s house and jumped out. There were a few cars in the driveway already, including Freddie’s, which I recognized. Thank God, the more the merrier in sorting out this shit-show.
Cooper and Jasper were in the kitchen when we walked in, sitting at the table with Felix, his leg in a brace propped up on another chair.
I bent down to hug him. “How’re you doing, buddy? I fucking missed you.”
Even though we’d texted almost throughout the entirety of every day I was away, we’d never spent so much of the season apart. It had been harder than I thought. I wasn’t looking forward to playing without him.
“Bored as fuck,” he grumbled, hugging me back before greeting Jupiter. “Hey, man, good to see you again.”
“You too, dude. Sorry about the leg.”
“Thanks.” He nodded toward Cooper and Jasper, “Guys, you know Jupiter, right?”
Greetings took place around the table. They’d all met in some capacity but never spent any time together, just knew who each other was out of mutual appreciation for sport mates at the pinnacle of their game. At that moment, Murray strolled in, walked over and squeezed my shoulder, looking between Jupiter and me.
“Hello, chaps. Do stick me on the guest list next time you throw a party. Sounds right up my street.”
Felix and Cooper snorted into the beers they were already drinking.
“Fuck off, Murray. Not now.”
“Who’s this dickhead?” Growled Jupiter, not finding him quite as hilarious as everyone else did.
“Their brother-in-law.” I nodded over to where Cooper and Jasper were silently grinning in amusement as Murray sat down at the head of the table.
Felix shifted his leg uncomfortably on the chair. “Anyway, how are you? How’s Emerson? Is she with you?”
I shook my head. “No, she stormed off wanting to be on her own.”
His eyes widened. “Oh, fuck. That bad?”
“Yeah. Pretty fucking bad. The studio fired her.”
Cooper gave a low whistle. “Fuck, that’s savage.”
I walked to the fridge and took out a couple of beers, handing one to Jupiter who’d taken a seat. “I know. Then she just got sick of the both of us and left.”
I found an empty chair near Murray and sat down.
