Page 55 of Dump and Chase

“I think you do. Leclair told me that Rousseau told him that there was a huge bust-up in the Ravens gym between Garson and Warde. From what he heard, Garson and Munroe had been joking around about Warde and Tangi getting close. They didn’t mean anything by it, but Warde got pissed off and almost beat the shit out of Garson. Honestly, that wouldn’t have made me sad.”

That was a lot to unpack. Of course Tangi hadn’t mentioned it to me. Why would she? But I hated hearing this gossip through so many other people. I knew Garson was a little shit. The kid had been our top draft pick and came into camp thinking he was some second coming. Coach Anthony dealt with that chip on Garson’s shoulder pretty quickly and dispatched him to the Ravens.

But most of all, I didn’t want Warde defending Tangi. I should have been there. Except it had nothing to do with me, and I had to accept that. “Do you really think Garson wasn’t trying to rile Warde up?”

“Course he was. Why Garson would take on Warde is beyond me. Munroe said he tried to stop the whole thing but that Warde was freaking out. Allan had to break it up. Tangi got into the middle of it too, nearly got knocked over, according to Munroe.”

Blood rushed to my face. I didn’t know who I wanted to punch more, Garson or Warde for putting Tangi in that position.

“Anyway, Garson is back in juniors. Probably burned his ass, but at least he won’t be around for a while.”

“And Warde got off with no punishment?”

“That’s what Munroe told Rosseau who told Leclair.”

This game of telephone was infuriating. “So Warde nearly gets Tangi hurt and there’s no consequences?”

Jeremy’s baffled expression had me miffed. “Why would be? In a month or two he’ll be back with the Kodiaks. He’s our second-line center. Why would Fontaine and the rest of the Ravens crew care about it? Look, I don’t like the guy any more than you do, but he was defending Tangi. You’ve got to give him that.”

But did I? I ended the outing early because I wanted to catch Tangi before she went to bed. Was it a bad idea to talk to her? For sure. Did that stop me? Hell no. I was so pissed off that this had happened and that I was finding out through five other players. I got to my building and walked around for a bit. The last thing I wanted to do was go storming into the condo with guns blazing. When I thought I’d calmed down enough, I went up to the condo. Tangi was sitting out on the balcony enjoying the warm evening, since there wouldn’t be many of those left. She was reading on her iPad.

“Hey,” I said.

She jumped at hearing my voice. Shit, I hadn’t noticed she had her earbuds in.

“Hi,” she said tentatively, taking out her earbuds.

She had on black leggings and a bulky cream sweater that made her look adorable, right down to her thick socks.

“I have a road trip starting tomorrow. It’s just four days, but I thought I’d let you know.”

“I saw the schedule,” she said.

How did I segue into this? I couldn’t think of any right way. “I heard about the fight between Warde and Garson.”

She stiffened and then slowly got to her feet. She went inside the condo and I followed her. I guessed she didn’t want to have another public blow up on the balcony for all to hear.

“Word travels fast. It wasn’t a fight,” she said with no emotion.

“It was something if everyone is talking about it.”

She set down her iPad and faced me, fire in her hazel eyes. “Are we going to do this?”

I threw up my hands. “Why can’t I be concerned about you? Despite everything, I care about you and you’re having a baby. The last thing I want for you is to be in the middle of a fight between two guys who are a lot bigger than you.”

“First of all, there was no fight. Second, it’s been handled.”

“Munroe said you were nearly hit and that he had to break up the fight.”

Her jaw dropped and then she burst out laughing. Not the reaction I’d expected.

“Munroe? Are you kidding me? The second Brandon started talking to Garson, Munroe hid behind some gym equipment like a baby. So maybe don’t get your information from that turd. As for Brandon and Garson, they exchanged some words, nothing more. Allan broke it up, everyone talked to Coach Fontaine about it, and it was over. I wasn’t hurt, the baby wasn’t hurt, no one was hurt. No one threw a punch. You can stop worrying.”

I tended to believe what Tangi was telling me, but she could be covering for Warde. “You can’t blame me for caring.”

She let out a deep breath. “I don’t, but I can also handle myself. If I didn’t think I could, I’d have left the job by now. You need to mind your own business. If you don’t think you can do that, then one of us needs to find another place to live.”

She couldn’t be any more serious and the last thing I wanted was for her to live somewhere else. At least here I could keep an eye on her, even if she didn’t want me to. “Fine, I’ll back off. But if something like this happens again, can you at least tell me about it so I don’t have to hear it from ten other people?”

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