AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lincoln nods, shoving his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. “I guess you don’t want to know that Ron got a DUI last night.”
“Among other things,” Tag adds.
“He what?” My voice rises, causing a few players to turn their heads in my direction, including Rhett. So help me God, if he got a DUI with Avery in the car—or worse, Mason—I’ll kill him myself.
Just because I don’t want to be with her, doesn’t mean I want anyone to hurt her.
Mine.
No, not anymore, asshole.
Especially not the way her brother is staring a hole into my face.
Rhett’s across the gym, but even from here, I can see his chest rising and falling with every breath he’s forcing in and out of his lungs. His mouth is set, his eyes are narrowed, and his right hand clenches into a fist. He works his jaw back and forth like he’s forcing himself to stay quiet and stalks from the room, his glare burning into me until he’s out the door.
“Oh, yeah, he’s pretty pissed at you right now, too. You’re going to start running out of friends, Craig. Maybe don’t be so much of an asshole.”
I stab at the buttons, lowering the speed of the treadmill to a more comfortable jog, and take a healthy drink of water. “I’m sorry. I’m pissed at myself right now.”
“I’m frustrated with you, too. I told you not to fuck around with a single mom, but no one listens to me.” Tag crosses his arms and stares me down. I ignore him and drag a towel down my face.
“Ron Cooper? Arrested?”
“Yep.” Lincoln nods. “He left the game, went straight to Whiskey and Rye, and decided it was a nice night for a drive.”
“Knob.”
“And I imagine it was a nice drive until he crashed into a daycare facility.”
“He what?” I stop the treadmill and gulp down the rest of my water.
“A fucking daycare facility,” Tag says with a hollow laugh. “Plowed right into the side of it. When the cops showed up, he started tossing money at them to fix the damage. One of the officers tried to cuff him, and Ron punched him in the face. Then the Taser came out,” Tag adds with a smile, and to be honest, it’s a little scary. “There’s footage from the dash-cam.”
Holy shit. “He was by himself? No one was hurt?”
“Nope.”
I blow out a relieved breath and run a hand through my damp hair. “Good.”
A ghost of a smile teases Lincoln’s lips, and I know I’m not going to like anything that comes next. “You seem concerned for a girl you were only keeping around to fuck.”
“It’s complicated.”
“It always is, my friend.” Lincoln slaps me on the back. Hard.
I know what he’s getting at. The Devils don’t have the greatest track record in the relationship department. Him and Jazz had an epic, newsworthy breakup before they got back together. Even Tag didn’t escape the drama. He let Elle slip right between his fingers before he pulled his head out of his ass and went back to Georgia to get her.
Rhett, too, now that I think about it.
All three of them lost the girl and had to win her back. They were in love and just had to realize it.
That’s not me. I didn’t lose Avery, I set her free.
“Look,” I sigh, running a hand down my face. “Just because you guys had to fight for your relationships, doesn’t mean it’s the right move for me. What Avery and I had wasn’t real anyway.”
Tag’s brows scrunch together, and he chews on his thumb nail as he assesses me. “Looked pretty real to me.”
I glance around the Devils’ workout facility. It’s just us and the goalie. Everyone else must have headed to the showers. Dimitri has his headphones in and isn’t paying us an ounce of attention; still, I pull the guys further away. I don’t need him accidentally or purposefully overhearing.
