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Monderra looked at him, his face a mask. “None of you are irreplaceable—remember that.”
I stood, hustling River out the door before he got us both benched for the rest of the season. When I reached the threshold, I looked between Monderra and Caitlyn. “None of us asked for this. Our privacy was invaded. Our lives are under a fucking microscope. We could have gone our whole career without this ever being a problem. Maybe you should ask who wants to see the IceCaps getting screwed over in the court of public opinion, rather than trying to micromanage our relationships.”
I shut the door softly behind me and caught up to River, who was striding down the hallway like he’d happily rip the head off the next person who looked at him funny. We made it to the locker room, and luckily, most of the guys were out on the ice at practice. We’d missed most of it anyway, so fuck it, we could just go home.
Everyone with any brains vacated the room when River stormed in, picking up a hamper of dirty towels and throwing the whole thing at the opposite wall. “FUCK!”
I winced as it hit with a crash, and that wince stayed a permanent fixture as Coach Toons appeared in the doorway. He looked concerned, which was never a good sign. “What did the boss say?”
River stomped to his locker, pulling out his gear and stuffing it in his duffel bag. I shook my head and looked back at Toons. “He basically put us on probation.”
Toons slid a hand down his face with an exasperated sigh. “Fucking players. Can’t keep your dicks out of the limelight.”
River turned on the spot and glared. “You got something to say, old man?”
Toons raised an eyebrow. “Watch your fucking mouth, Cooper. I legitimately don’t give a fuck who you sleep with. In fact, I wish more of you would date one girl, because then I’d only have to worry about one tell-all story in the fucking tabloids, instead of Ludo’s fuck buddies gushing how big his dick is in the damn gossip column every other week. That shit is a nightmare.” He looked between us, shaking his head. “If you get benched because of this shit, I’ll do what I can. I know it seems unfair, but if you could keep your shit out of the public eye for just a little longer, I’d appreciate it.”
I grunted out a noncommittal noise. I wasn’t hiding Nova away like she was a fucking dirty little secret. But I wasn’t going to push her into the public eye, either.
Toons shook his head. “Go home. Sort shit out. I expect to see you back here tomorrow for the game.” He strolled out of the dressing room. “Don’t forget to train,” he yelled back, and I shook my head.
Packing up my shit, I grabbed my phone. River’s was in pieces inside my bag. He’d thrown it at the wall after someone had made a joke and Ludo, who’d been uncharacteristically solemn, had shown him an article. He’d doom-scrolled through his own phone, finding all the articles, and then tossed the expensive piece of hardware at the wall.
Let’s just say, the jokes stopped after that.
My phone had dozens of voicemails, including a message from my mom and one from my dad—which must have meant they were worried, because he hated phones—but hundreds of text messages.
When I opened the message thread from Dev, I resisted the urge to do the same thing River had done.
She saw. She’s locked herself in her room.
He’d sent the message over two hours ago. Fuck. This was bad. Would she run? Would I blame her if she did?
The answer was that I didn’t know. So I herded River out of the rink, out to the car and we hightailed it back to the house. Seeing there were paparazzi around our gate, I resisted the urge to give them the finger. Fuck, didn’t they have anything better to do? We weren’t big news. We might’ve been pro athletes, but we were small-time.
Apparently, it must have been a slow news week because they all snapped photos as we drove through the gate. River snarled, his hand on the door handle like he was personally going to go out there and take his frustrations out on every single one of them.
“Stop. You’re just giving them what they want.” I did skid the tires a little so rocks flew up in their faces and at their precious camera equipment, though. Hazard of being a vulture, right?
I threw the car in park right in front of the door, climbing out quickly and keeping my face averted. They weren’t going to get any cheap shots now.
Striding into the living room, it was empty, though the television was on. I quickly turned it off before something we didn’t want to see came on and then we’d be stuck with another broken piece of tech when River inevitably put his fist through it.
A small noise from the kitchen had me sprinting toward the room, but when we rounded the corner, it was Devan. He looked rough. Huey was cradled to his chest, a bottle between his lips even as his eyes fluttered with sleep.
“Where is she?”
“Upstairs in the media room. She’s on the phone with her friend Chloe.” He put the baby over his shoulder, burping him gently. River turned, heading up the stairs before I could stop him. Dev and I watched him go, and I had a bad feeling in my gut.
“How’s she taking it?”
Devan shook his head, his lips pressed tight and his jaw tense like he didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news. Dread settled on my chest, and I resisted the urge to chase after River, to kiss Nova and hold her in my arms until she knew all this bullshit was just that. Shit. We were what mattered, not the opinions of the rest of the world.
“The lawyers?”
Devan let out a long, defeated sigh. “Nothing they can do. They sent cease and desist letters on our behalf, on her behalf—hell, I even did it on Muss’s behalf. They’re refusing to print a retraction. I’ll sue the bastards until they’re bankrupt for defamation of character if I have to. Someone is gonna pay for this, Rigby.”
Huey was asleep over Devan’s shoulder, and I reached up, taking him and settling him in my arms. I looked down at the sleeping baby, so blissfully unaware of the turmoil of his guardians.
