Page 86 of Slash & Burn

AJ: You better get down here

Grady: What’s up?

AJ almost never texted me. And if he did it was usually stupid shit to get me fired up for a game, like a video of some sick shot one of my rivals made. He liked to stoke my competitive streak, but that was about it.

AJ: Daly got arrested

“Holy shit,” I muttered, drawing Jill’s attention from the other side of the room.

“Everything okay?”

“Not sure,” I answered, my eyes on my phone as I typed.

Grady: For what? How bad?

AJ: Bad. Coach is calling in the local guys and conferencing in the rest. You’ll probably get a ping this morning

It pissed me off that AJ knew something about the team before I did. Aaron Daly was our left wing—the other piece of our starting forward line with me and Cooper. He’d been added to the roster a couple of years ago and we were just starting to gel. We didn’t have a great backup for him at the moment, after Gordon Harding had decided to retire early.

Grady: I haven’t heard anything

AJ: It just broke this morning. Cooper called me in a panic

Grady: Figures

AJ: Yep

AJ: You coming?

I sighed, scraping my hand down my face as my eyes landed on Jill who was still watching me from her spot on the window bench, a worried expression on her face.

Grady: Yeah. Be there in a few hours

AJ:

“I have some bad news,” I started, walking over to sit beside her. “I’ve got to head straight to Boston when we get back to Portland.”

“What’s wrong?”

I took her hand, looking down at how tiny it was compared to mine. “One of my players got into some kind of trouble. Coach is calling a meeting.”

She sighed nodding as she asked, “What kind of trouble?”

“Not sure yet. He got arrested for something but AJ didn’t specify. I’m guessing if Coach is calling us in, though, whatever it is will be bad enough to keep him on the bench.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “What could be that bad?”

“Well, the league has some rules. But Coach has more. If it was a violent offense, he’d be benched pending dismissal. It’s one of his lines you can’t cross. And we all know it.”

Jill’s back straightened. “So hitting Adam really would have ruined your career.” She wasn’t asking, and I could see the regret in her eyes as she said it.

“If I’d hit him, it wouldn’t have been your fault.” I took ownership for my actions, and I’d be damned if she blamed herself. When she cast her eyes down I knew what she was thinking. “I’m a big boy, Jill. I knew the price and Ididn’thit him, so we don’t have to play out that scenario.”

I flipped my wrist over to check the time and sighed. “I’ve got to get on the next ferry. Can I see if Lexi can give you a ride back to Holden Cove?”

It wasn’t a real smile that she offered me, but I appreciated the attempt. “Of course. I can call LeAnn, too. If Lexi’s busy.”

Shaking my head I stood up and walked toward the door. “She’ll make the time,” I said, hating that I wasn’t going back with her myself. “Be ready in ten?”

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