Page 70 of Tangled Vows

My heart was breaking, and there was nothing I could do about it. We still had four more days on the road before I could go home and sort this out. I couldn’t even get Shayla to talk to me, so I’d have to wait until I got home to pour my heart out. I was kicking myself now for not telling her I loved her before I left.

I tucked my phone away, fighting the impulse to call her until she picked up, and stepped off the elevator. Most of my team was already waiting in the lobby. Early morning sun shone brightly through the tall glass façade, momentarily blinding me. That was why I didn’t see the tall figure storming toward me until he shouted my name.

“Walker, you son of a bitch,” Coach Danvers called, his voice full of malice. “You fucked my wife again,” he accused, pointing a finger at me. “I warned you to stay away from her!” he roared, cocking his arm back to slug me. Tillman came out of nowhere, hooking his arm through Danvers’s and putting him into some kind of martial arts hold that pinned his fist to the back of his shoulder, his elbow pointing to the sky. Danvers cried out, his back arching as Tillman wrenched his arm back. He would dislocate Danvers’s shoulder if he pulled any harder.

“I didn’t sleep with your wife last night! The only wife I want to sleep with is mine,” I informed him, and his body visibly relaxed. I tapped Tillman on the shoulder and nodded toward my old coach. “You can let him go,” I said, and Tillman released him. He rolled his shoulder and rubbed at the joint before straightening his shirt. “Can I trust you not to swing on me again so we can talk like rational adults?” He gritted his teeth, but thankfully agreed.

We stepped away from the group to an alcove where we wouldn’t be overheard. Tillman, Kent, and Weiss hovered just out of earshot, watching us closely for any signs of trouble. They looked ready to pounce if Danvers even looked at me sideways. The rest of the team murmured amongst themselves, casting wary glances our way.

“I don’t expect you to trust me, but I promise, I didn’t sleep with your wife last night.” He winced but stayed silent. “She found me at the bar and came onto me. I didn’t want her to makea scene, so I walked her to the lobby and told her it wasn’t going to happen.”

“That’s not what it looked like,” he growled.

“I know it looks bad, and I hate to have to say this, but she wouldn’t keep her hands off me. I pushed her away repeatedly, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.” His nostrils flared, and he huffed out an angry breath. “I told her to leave me alone and walked away. Then I went back to my room alone.” He searched my gaze, looking for any signs of deception, then his shoulders sagged when he realized I was telling the truth.

“She didn’t come home until four a.m.,” he said, his tone defeated.

“I’m sorry, man, but she wasn’t with me.”

“Do-do you have any idea where she went? Did you see her talk to anyone else?” I shook my head.

“I never looked back after we parted ways.” He looked so sad and defeated, I couldn’t help but feel bad for the guy. I got the feeling I wasn’t the only person his wife had been unfaithful with, and I certainly hadn’t been the initial cause for his rocky marriage. They had bigger problems than just her sleeping with me, but I still felt terrible for my part in it.

“For what it’s worth, I’m truly sorry for what I did last spring. I honestly believed you were going through a divorce.”

“That’s what she always tells them.”

My brows shot to my hairline at the mumbled confession. My suspicions were right. I hadn’t been the only one.

“Are you ready?”Weiss asked, his worried gaze honed in on me as we suited up for our game against Minnesota. I’d been rattled since waking up this morning to three different articles accusingme of cheating on my wife. There were probably more by now, but I wasn’t about to go looking for them. I already wasn’t in the best headspace for the game, and that would only make things worse.

“Yeah,” I breathed, wishing I didn’t have to play tonight. I felt volatile, like a grenade with the pin half pulled. I didn’t have any business getting on the ice tonight, but I didn’t have much of a choice, so I laced up my skates and headed out to the rink for warmups.

It took less than five minutes for me to land in the penalty box. My head was a mess. I was making careless mistakes, taking stupid penalties, and my temper was out of control. I needed to rein it in or I would cost us the game.

“You good?” Kent questioned cautiously as I glided back onto the ice for my first face-off afterserving my time in the box. I nodded, and we bumped our gloved fists together. I got my head out of my ass and focused on the game.

That was until Minnesota’s defenseman decided to run his mouth about Shayla at the start of the second period.

“It’s a shame that pretty little wife of yours wasn’t enough to hold your interest,” he taunted, his lips pulled into a smirk.

“The fuck’d you say?” I asked, straightening and bumping his chest with mine.

“If she’s looking for someone who can be loyal, send her my way once she divorces your ass,” he replied smugly, and his teammate chuckled. My gloves came off so fast, he didn’t see the punch coming. The crowd erupted as fists flew and helmets fell to the ice. I got a few good hits in before I was pulled off him. I grinned with satisfaction as blood poured from his nose, and the taste of copper filled my mouth from the single punch he landed. And back to the penalty box I went.

I managed to stay out of trouble the rest of the game and ended up scoring a goal, putting us in the lead. Tillman heldoff their offense, deflecting shot after shot. We came out on top, winning four to three.

The conference room was buzzing when my teammates and I entered and took our seats. No one thought we had a chance at beating Minnesota, but we proved them all wrong. Kent and Weiss answered most of the questions. Reporters tried to talk to Tillman, but soon gave up when they realized they wouldn’t get much out of him. Then a guy wearing a Sports Watch T-shirt leveled his gaze on me, and an unsettling feeling curled in my gut.

“Mr. Walker, you had a rough start to the game tonight.” I gritted my teeth, not liking where this was going.

“We all have those nights. Just gotta move on and do better next time.” It was such a generic response, but I wouldn’t give him any more than that.

“Some might say your aggression on the ice is a result of the recent scandal involving your former coach’s wife, Jessica Danvers.” So they had figured out who she was. Great.

“I think anyone in my position would be upset at having false accusations hurled at them,” I replied.

“Are you saying you didn’t leave the bar with Mrs. Danvers?”

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