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“What—?”
He nodded toward the empty office. Coach Rata had peeled out of the parking lot as soon as practice was over. He didn’t spend any time in the arena that he wasn’t contractually obligated to.
We stepped inside and Rowan closed the door behind us, plunging us into semi-darkness.
“What’s going on, man?” I asked, forcing a laugh. “You trying to take our relationship to the next level?”
My attempt at a joke fell flat.
“Kane and Boomer were the ones who tried to take Hope home from Copper’s Saturday night,” he said, dropping pretense. I stared at him, my ears ringing. Somewhere, a slow, steady drumbeat started up, growing louder and louder until it filled the small room. It was the sound of my heart, throwing itself against the walls of my chest.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked.
“When I saw her cry like that, I was ready to kill someone and I needed to know who it was going to be,” Rowan continued. “So I went back to her boss’s house—”
“You saw Thacker?” I asked dumbly.
I was trying to follow him but there were too many moving parts. I felt like someone walking into a surprise party, but the surprise was terrible.
“He showed me the picture he took and I recognized Kane’s scrawny friend. It was our shit new goalie,Boomer. I didn’t bother tracking him down. Thacker had already done plenty of damage to his face. So I went straight to the source.” I waited, holding my breath. “I didn’t hit him,” he said. That was all I needed to hear. I pushed him aside, reaching for the door, but he grabbed my arm with an iron grip and jerked me backward.
“He ordered a fucking ass-beating, Rowan. If you’re not going to do it, please step aside so I can deliver,” I growled, fighting against my assistant coach’s hold.
“Wait a minute!” he hissed sharply. I stilled, willing to hear him out before I kicked Kane’s ass anyway. “If we bench him, we’ll lose the season for sure.”
Now I turned to glare at Rowan in disbelief.
“I don’t give a fuck about the season! That little fucker tried to rape my girlfriend.”
Rowan flinched at ther-word, but he didn’t release me.
“I warned him to stay away from her. If he doesn’t, then I give you full endorsement to kill him if you really think he’s worth going to prison over.”
I yanked my arm away and I guess Rowan sensed that I wasn’t trying to leave anymore, because he let go of me.
“You want to give the guys who tried to assault Hope a chance to do it again?”
“They won’t get a chance to do it again, Jamie,” Rowan insisted. “Because if Kane so much as looks at her, it’s all bets off. I told him so. But even if he doesn’t, I agree that he’s due for a taste of justice. Listen, I’ve got a plan…”
I watched his face as he spoke, my grin growing with the dawning realization that we were going to get our revenge on Kane Devereaux after all.
44.
Thacker
The day had gone to shit before I even got to Speedgoat. I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing Hope after everything that had happened over the last couple of days. I didn’t even want to know how she knew the He-man who came to my house for the picture. And I didn’t want to know what information he gleaned or what he did about it. I was already more involved than I ever wanted to be with Hope and her drama.
She was stirring a pot of sauce with her back to me when I came into the kitchen, and I took the opportunity to duck into my office without saying hello. I dropped my coat and briefcase into the chair and flipped the light switch.
When my eyes landed on my desk, I froze.
In the center, on a white cloth napkin, was a chocolate cupcake.
“Just my way of saying thanks, since you won’t answer your phone,” said a small voice behind me. I turned to find Hope leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest. Her hair was frizzing from the steam in the kitchen, sauce was already splattered on her apron, and she was hands-down the most beautiful woman in the world to me.
Just standing there, she might as well have been digging a knife into my heart.
“You don’t need to thank me, Hope,” I said. I would give anything to erase what happened, both for her sake and for mine. I knew I was in love with her now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, but a fat lot of good that did me. She already had a boyfriend and another guy waiting in the wings. “Anyone would have done what I did.”
