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She answered, and her eyes immediately went wide. I couldn’t hear my brother’s side of the call, so Ali’s words didn’t make much sense.
“Where? When? OK, keep him there. He needs to know something.”
I had no idea what or who she was talking about, until I heard my name.
“Coach benched him, not Everleigh. Don’t let him leave.”
“Ali,” I hissed through my teeth. “Don’t you dare tell him.”
“Colton, I’ll explain when we get there. Don’t. Let. Him. Leave.”
She ended the call and I didn’t waste a second. “What’s going on?”
Ali slipped the phone into her purse and grabbed my arm, hurrying me to the parking lot. “Colton is on his way to meet with Gunnar. Right now.”
TWENTY-FOUR
GUNNAR
It had felt easierto breathe once I got out of the city. The little resort on the shore of Lake Casper felt like a ghost town, and the cabins were all vacant except for the one I had rented. In the summer and fall, it would’ve been a beautiful place to stay, but the leaves had all fallen and the trees looked like ominous skeletons.
I was a fighter, so it surprised me that when things had gotten tough, I’d chosen flight. I’d walked out of the dressing room in my street clothes, picked up Norman, and gotten the hell out of the city. Norman still wasn’t in any shape to chase tennis balls, but we got up each day and went for a long walk.
Leaving like that had been unprofessional and immature, and as the cloud of frustration cleared from my mind, I knew that I had some serious fallout to contend with when I returned to society. Everleigh would likely fire me, but was she vindictive enough to ensure that I never again played for the league?
Betrayal is a harsh thing, and it had seeped into the game.
I’d thought what we had was real, and now I felt like I was going crazy. How could she have replaced me so quickly, both on the ice and off? My mind continued looping shitty thoughts.
I needed to get into fresh air, and walking had been the only thing that cleared my mind. I promised myself that after the walk, I would get back to reality.
Digging through my bag, I found the charger for my dead phone and plugged it in. As I waited for enough battery power to make a call, I tried to figure out my next move. A meeting with Coach would have to happen. And, I supposed, a meeting with Everleigh too.
I had royally fucked up. But then it hit me that at least one other person might understand what I was going through – Colton. He was a bridge between management and the team, and he also had some influence in the King Dynasty. I had to start with Colton.
The phone glowed to life and started dinging nonstop as notifications from the past few days started rolling in. I didn’t look at them. Instead, I took a deep breath and called Colton.
Normanand I were standing on the shoreline of Colton’s Laketown cottage. When I’d asked for a meeting with him, he’d already been on his way to Laketown. It was perfect. Norman and I had driven around the bay to the other side of the lake, and were waiting on Colton’s dock when his chopper set down on the roof of his boathouse.
Norman folded his pointed ears to his head, his fur swirling in the wind from the chopper’s blades.
Colton ambled down the stairs of his boathouse with Wendel in his arms. “I’m so glad that you’re here.” Colton grinned and then patted Norman on the head. “You too, Lockwood.” Colton set his puppy on the dock.
“Thanks for coming.” I ran my fingers through my hair, then took the wool hat from my pocket and put it on. It wasn’t snowing, but it looked like it could. The sky was at least ten shades of dark gray, and the remaining golden leaves that had hung onto the branches glowed against the moody backdrop.
“I needed to come up here to check on the place, and it’s not too far.”
I pointed to the aircraft as the pilot shut off the engine. “Especially when you’ve got one of those.”
“It helps.” He grinned. Colton wasn’t one of those rich guys who apologized for his wealth. He owned it. And while some found it obnoxious, I admired him for it. “Before we get down to business, do you think that Norman could demonstrate swimming for Wendel? What kind of golden retriever is scared of the water?”
As if he knew we were talking about him, Wendel hopped off the dock and bumbled up and down the beach, his high-pitched puppy bark echoing off the rocky shoreline each time a wave surged close to his toes. “He’ll get it.” I laughed. “It’s best not to force it. You don’t want him to get scared. And don’t expect Norman to do any demonstrating. His scar is not ready for swimming just yet.”
“How about we go sit in front of the fireplace, then?” Colton blew into his hands and rubbed them together.
“Have you got any coffee?”
“Sure do.” Colton was already leading the way up the pathway to the huge post and beam cottage.
