Page 28 of Cheap Shot

“We are a team. We win or lose together. We need each other to be at our best in order for West Penn to get the attention we all deserve, but we can’t do that if we’re losing sight of what’s important.”

Ethan stepped toward me, but Ben put a hand on his shoulder.

“Stop being stupid! Stop thinking that you’ll get away with it. That the rules don’t matter. Do any of you want to play professionally?” I paused, giving them time to reply, but no one uttered a word. “Because you’re not acting like it. We only have our time here to prove our abilities. If any of you want to make it to the NHL, this is your one chance. Start treating it like that. No party, no girl, is worth risking it all. You might not respect yourself enough but look around you. Look at who else your choices could affect.”

A few of them did while the rest ducked their heads.

“Do better!” I yelled, my chest heaving.

Did they get it? Did they finally understand? I wanted to wait until each of them swore, but everyone was silent.

“Come on, man.” Ethan tugged on my elbow. “Go shower and cool off.”

Ben stood next to him, giving me a look that said that wasn’t a suggestion. A small part of me wanted to resist being told what to do, but they were right. Yelling at the team wasn’t making me feel better, I was just bringing everyone down to my level.

But they needed a reminder. Obviously. Some of them were at the frat party last night. They knew better than that. We had rules for a reason. There were things we did and didn’t do. Specific houses we avoided, and we never took pictures.

“Fine,” I bit out and pushed past them to the connected shower room.

By the time I returned, almost everyone was gone. Ben and Ethan waited until I got dressed before standing and leading the way out to the parking lot.

“Let’s go off campus,” Ben suggested and pulled out his car keys.

I wanted to get as far away as possible, so I nodded and climbed into the backseat while Ethan claimed the front. The three of us were rarely able to step out of our dorms without gaining a crowd. Driving even a few blocks away gave us the anonymity we rarely got these days.

“Burgers?” Ben asked as he pulled onto the street.

“Sounds good,” Ethan agreed.

“Sure,” I added.

A few minutes passed in silence before Ethan spoke again. “Are you going to make us wait to tell us what’s going on?”

I rubbed my face. I wanted to forget about it, but they deserved answers. They would support me no matter what, but it helped if they at least understood why they were defending me.

“Coach Hiller called me in.”

“I noticed.” Ben caught my eye in the rearview mirror. “What happened?”

“He showed me a picture that was anonymously sent to the team’s general email. He happened to be the first to open it and deleted it before anyone else could see it.”

Ethan reached out and put his hand on Ben’s headrest so he could twist to face me. “A picture of what?”

“Me at a party a few weeks ago,” I admitted. “One at the football team’s house.”

Ben clutched the steering wheel. “Who else was in it?”

“Just me.” I didn’t tell him that I could make him and Matt out in the background, but Coach hadn’t noticed, so I didn’t point it out.

Ethan’s jaw tightened. “What did he say?”

I stared out the window, not wanting to meet either of their eyes. “That if I step out of line one more time I could get suspended from the team.”

“Really?” Ben’s eyes widened. “But the others were suspended immediately.”

“I know.” I dropped my shoulders. “I was lucky it was Hiller and not Weston that saw it.”

“We can make it a few games without them. You, we can’t afford to lose.” Ethan sighed. “We’ve got to be more careful.”