AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“A fucking bathroom, Mar?”
“Are you intentionally being ironic right now, or…?”
“You don’t ever think, do you?”
“Ryan, all the bedrooms were full and I kinda wanted to blow him, OK? I’m single, so I really don’t see the problem.”
“You were just with me a few hours before that.”
“And? You’ve never had multiple hookups in the same day? Because we both know that’s a fuckin’ lie.”
“That’s…different.”
“Different. Right. So, you’re the only one who gets a free pass to be a slut then. Is that it?”
“He’s married, Amara. With two young kids. You’re literally no better than the whore who fucked your ex.”
He regretted it as soon as it’d left his lips. She’d almost been sexually assaulted and had been physically assaulted, both of which infuriated him. He knew neither was her fault, but he didn’t have the first clue how to process the blinding rage that was slowly consuming him. He knew she didn’t know he was married until she saw the ring on the floor, but his anger begged him to say something that would hurt her.
And hurt her he did; she hadn’t spoken one unnecessary word to him since.
He couldn’t get past the fact that she’d just been with him earlier that night and then was willing to go off with another man mere hours later. He couldn’t get past the fact that other guys found her attractive and wanted to be with her. And mostly, he couldn’t get past the fact that she wasn’t his girl anymore but was continuing to lead him on.
He’d naïvely thought after they’d hooked up at the game and flirted a bit, maybe they could give it another shot. Instead, all the bullshit happened with Hayes and Jenna, then the party, and the night just hadn’t gone the way Ryan had planned.
What he did to Neil Halloway was of course retribution for his treatment of Amara, but it was more complicated than that. The punches he’d thrown were also punches he wanted to throw at his deteriorating relationship with Amara.
They were punches he wanted to throw at Hayes for going to the show first and for whatever the fuck he and Amara had going on between them.
They were punches he wanted to throw at himself for being such a mentally unstable whore that he chased away the only woman he’d ever given half a damn about.
They were punches he wanted to throw at his shitty performance as a shitty defenseman in a shitty development league.
Most of all, they were punches he wanted to throw at the colossal fucking mess he’d managed to make of his life.
And what scared him the most is that he’s pretty sure if those two guys hadn’t pulled him off, he would’ve beaten Neil Halloway to death.
“Baylor.” Rizz called his name and snapped him back to reality. “Coach Hastings needs to see you. Come on.”
He got up and they walked slowly to the conference room. “Hey, I heard what happened, and for what it’s worth, you were 100 percent justified.”
“Thanks, man. Think Coach will say the same?”
“I doubt that. But whatever happens, I support you, man. I just wanted you to know that.”
They arrived at the door, which was cracked, so Ryan walked in. Seated at the table were Coach Hastings, Coach Reilly, who was the defensive coach, and the Bridgeport GM, a pompous ass named Tom Sellars, who Ryan had met briefly at his contract signing.
“Close the door behind you,” Coach Hastings directed. Ryan did and had a seat across from them. “I’m assuming you know why we called you here.”
“I do.”
“As I’m sure you know, this is a professional organization, and this kind of behavior is highly frowned upon, Ryan,” the GM lectured. “We’ve heard some things about what happened, but we wanted to give you a chance to speak to it. We’d like to hear your side of the story before we make a decision about your future here.”
Ryan took a deep breath and folded his hands on the table in front of him, hoping that he’d be able to remember what he’d practiced a million times in preparation for this meeting.
He spoke slowly. “My roommate and I attended a party at Aiden Hughes’s house on Gilgo Beach following the Islanders-Leafs game on Sunday night. We were at the game to support Tyler Hayes in his NHL debut.” He gulped and took another deep breath, feeling his anxiety creeping up. “While at the party, my roommate entered a bathroom with Neil Halloway with the intention of engaging in sexual activity with him, and upon learning he was married, she asked him to stop. He refused, and when she tried to push him away, he hit her in the face. She has a bruise from it.”
He looked across the table and noticed Sellars scribbling notes in a notebook. “Then what?”
