Page 34 of Gross Misconduct

Let’s talk about this when I get home.

Okay. In the meantime, I’ll send more dog pics.

The pills must have kicked in while I was looking at dog pictures, because I woke up with my phone on my chest. I was a little groggy, but some coffee would help with that. I stumbled out of bed while Bryce kept sleeping, and took a long shower. I picked up my phone to see a missed call from Orla. She’d called the night before, but my phone had gone on Do Not Disturb.

What the fuck?! The last person in the world I wanted to hear from was Orla. She hadn’t left a message, and I should have just ignored it, but curiosity got the better of me. I quickly changed and headed down to the lobby which was quiet for seven in the morning. I didn’t care if she was sleeping, and when she answered on the fourth ring, she sounded tired. Too bad for her.

“I thought we weren’t going to contact each other everagain. Wasn’t that the plan?” I couldn’t hide the disdain from my voice. She’d been the one calling all the shots, and now she was calling me?

“That was the plan,” Orla said, then sighed. “In case you hadn’t noticed, a lot is going on.”

“Right, and now is the wrong time to call.”

“Consider it a courtesy call. I’m leaving Lex.”

Words escaped me. She’d stuck it out with Lex for so long, and now he’d gotten himself in trouble, and she was bolting? And then a worse thought hit me. Would people think she was leaving him for me? “Why are you suggesting this is a courtesy call? Why should I care?”

“I’m moving back to Vancouver. I’m packing up as we speak. That’s where my family is, and I want to be with them right now. I’m moving on from this. I’ve got irons in the fire, and now is the time to set myself free.”

Right. Lex had met her in Vancouver. I’d forgotten about that, but what were these irons in the fire? What did she have planned next to ruin my life? This was getting worse and worse. “Is now the best time? People are blaming us for Lex’s gambling, and you want to move back to Vancouver? Don’t you think that will make the situation worse?”

“I don’t care what people think. This is about me, and I need support. I don’t have friends here. I barely know anyone.”

I covered my phone and growled so she wouldn’t hear it. Did she have any concern for Lex?

“And what about Lex? You’re going to abandon him?”

“He screwed up his life. I’m not going to let him screw up mine. Anyway, thought you should know. I’m packing up what little I have here and leaving next week.”

She hung up, leaving me standing in the lobby staring at my phone. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried not to panic. If she moved back to Vancouver, everyone would begossiping about this, expecting me and her to hook up. No, I couldn’t let that happen, but I had no way to stop it. And worse, I didn’t even have the chance to ask her what her new plans were, and I certainly wasn’t calling her back.

I headed straight to Ethan’s room and knocked until he answered. He was rubbing the sleep from his eyes and asking what the emergency was. I stormed into his room and woke up his roommate, another kid on the team. Nilsson was from Sweden and on his own for the first time in his life. Coach Anthony had picked a good person to pair him with. Ethan was going to be a big brother, someone to keep him out of trouble, but right now, I needed Nilsson to fuck off.

I shook the kid awake. He jumped out of his bed when he saw me. The kid was dressed in only boxers, and I told him to get dressed and buzz off for fifteen minutes. A few minutes later, he was out the door.

“What is the emergency?” Ethan asked, heading for the bathroom. While he took a piss, I told him the story.

“What am I going to do? People will assume we are getting back together. I’m going to let Jill know and catch up with Dave today to tell him. As if the gossip wasn’t bad enough.”

Ethan sat on his bed and rubbed his eyes again. “This does suck.”

“How do I distance myself from Orla when all this shit is happening?”

“I don’t have an answer for you, but I’m sure you have a few days.”

“She’s packing as we speak.”

Ethan groaned, and I knew I was fucked. Getting nowhere with him, I headed back to my room to get ready. When we got to the rink for practice, I asked Coach Anthony if I could talk to Dave for a minute. The request was unusual, but given my shitty situation recently, he didn’t seem to care. I texted Dave,and he met me outside of one of the offices designated for the away team. His stern brown eyes were staring at me as we both took seats.

“I got a call from Orla Donnelly. I wasn’t going to talk to her, but ended up doing it anyway. I wish I hadn’t, but she does have news. She’s leaving Lex and moving back to Vancouver.”

Dave closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “For fuck’s sake. Please tell me you aren’t still fooling around with her.”

“I haven’t spoken to her at all. As she said, it was a courtesy call.”

“I’ll talk to Jill.”

“I was going to do that.”

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