Page 50 of Cheap Shot

He seemed pleased. “Good for him. Yeah, have him change out. He can borrow whatever he needs from the equipment room.” He paused, and a smirk appeared on his lips. “Should I take it easy on him or show him what a college practice is like?”

I chuckled. “I think he wants the real experience.”

“Sounds good.” He tapped on the screen, then looked back up at me. “And the second thing?”

I swallowed. “There was an incident last night.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “How much damage?”

“None,” I rushed out. “That I know of, and there really shouldn’t be.”

“What happened?”

“A friend of mine was at a party, and we think someone slipped something into her drink. She was able to get to a bathroom and call me before passing out. I went to the house, carried her out, and took her to her dorm.”

Tiny lie at the end, but it wasn’t the important part.

“You didn’t drink?” His eyes rose to meet mine.

“No, sir. I was in and out of the house in less than five minutes. Just long enough to find to her and get help carrying her out.”

He nodded. “Thank you for telling me. I’m not going to fault you for helping a friend, especially in a situation like that. It’s sickening things like that happen.”

Relief washed over me. He understood and wasn’t going to suspend me.

“I’ll let you know if we get word about anything having to do with you, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Thank you.” I started to stand when he spoke again.

“And your friend, is she okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, luckily she woke up this morning with just a headache.”

“I’m glad to hear that, and that you’re someone trustworthy enough that she would call you in her time of need.”

That was high praise from him, and I gave him a tight smile before leaving.

I was only a few feet from the office when I heard yelling. I ran toward the noise and found Ethan on top of Garrett, a junior right-wing, on the ground. He was swinging his fists into Garrett’s face while a few guys stood around watching.

I found Jake, wide-eyed and opened-mouthed.

“Ethan!” I screamed at him to stop.

He hesitated for a second before landing another punch. “Stay away from her!”

I tackled him, rolling both of us away from Garrett before he could hit him again.

“What’s the matter with you?” I growled, keeping him in a headlock with my legs wrapped around him to hold him in place.

He thrashed for several seconds before his body relaxed and his breath came out in ragged huffs.

I rolled him off me, keeping my knees on his chest and stomach.

“What’s going on?” Benjamin yelled behind me. “Matt, help Garrett get to the trainer’s office. Becker, grab towels and start cleaning up. Reid, tell me what happened.”

I turned my head just enough to see him. “I have no idea. I came in, and Ethan was beating the crap out of Garrett.”

Jake shifted toward me. “Garret said something about seeing Haley and how hot she looked. And that someone needs to …” He hesitated. “Get with her.”