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“What?” That wasn’t what I’d been expecting to hear. “No. I was the one who stood up for him. I tried to stop that from happening.” I emphasized the word ‘stop’.
Ali smiled. “That’s what I told Colton. Everleigh, Coach told the team that he didn’t want to bench anyone; that the order came down from management, aka you.”
I gripped the arms of the chair. “That motherfucker. I can’t believe he’d throw me under the bus like that, especially after manipulating me to get the money for Bradshaw.”
“So fire him.” Ali gave a light shrug like it was a no-brainer.
“I wish it were that easy.” I leaned back on the chair, exhausted from the morning. “He saw Gunnar and I in the hallway one morning, and I don’t think he actually saw us kissing, but he’s not as dumb as he looks. I have to be tactful. He could go to the press.”
“Isn’t that kind of like blackmail?” Ali asked. “I mean, he backed you into a corner and demanded a new player and for other players to be benched.”
My head was spinning. “It isn’t ‘like’ blackmail, itisblackmail. He’s got dirt on me and is using it to get what he wants.” I took a deep breath and then slumped into the chair. “I stood up for Gunnar, I really did. But when the stories came out about him dating someone so soon after us, I decided to let it slide.”
We paused our conversation as the circular door rotated and a group of people walked through the lobby. Once they were in the elevator, Ali squeezed my hand. “I never thought I’d see the day that Everleigh King gets jealous.”
I rolled my eyes. “He could’ve waited a little longer. That’s all.”
“Stop,” Ali ordered. “He’s not seeing anyone. He walked that girl home and that’s it. She even invited him up, but he turned her down.”
“How do you know all this?” I glanced around the lobby, the urge to find a bathroom or even a trash can suddenly taking over my body. Without waiting for Ali’s reply, I jumped out of the chair and rushed to the restroom, making it into a stall just in time to lose my breakfast.
Ali took a water bottle out of her purse and handed it to me. “Was that morning sickness or…”
“I wish I knew.” I swished my mouth out with the water and wished I had carried a toothbrush with me. “Ali.” I leaned against the sleek black counter in the swanky restroom. “Let me see if I’ve got this straight. Gunnar thinks I ruined his career, and he thinks I did it to be spiteful?”
She nodded, and my stomach flipped again.
“And now he’s walked away from it all, and is nowhere to be found?”
“That’s about right.”
“Shit. What am I going to do?” My tears fell hard and fast. I pressed my hands against my face as an uncontrollable sob slipped out. Ali wrapped her arms around me and I let her hold me, bawling my face out in a public bathroom, pregnant and alone.
Luckily no one came into the restroom, and when I didn’t have any tears left to fall, I splashed some cold water on my face.
Ali handed me my purse which she’d been holding. “Everleigh, I don’t think that you can keep this a secret anymore.”
I shook my head. “Our family has been free of scandal for a while now. If this gets out, it will be bad – not just for me, but for the entire family and our business.”
We left the warm lobby and I shivered as we stepped onto the street. Any hint of summer left in the breeze was gone. Winter had stepped in. “I should talk to a lawyer.”
Ali fell into stride with me as we rushed to the parking garage. “Maybe so, but I think there’s someone you need to talk to first.”
“Who?”
Ali stopped and grabbed my arm. “Everleigh. You need to tell Gunnar.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. That would ruin his life and mine.”
“Maybe so, Everleigh. But he has the right to know.”
I knew that she was right. “Ali. We’re not even speaking, and he thinks I ruined his career. The man hates me.”
Her phone rang, the hockey night theme song blaring from her purse. “That’s Colton.”
“Did he pick that song out himself?” I laughed, thankful for the distraction.
“How did you guess? Let me see what he wants.”
