Page 23 of Total Shutdown

Regardless,nothinggets past this kid.

“Sawyer, talk to me.”

“Huh?” I blink multiple times and come to.

“The images—are there any on the internet?” Archer asks.

I close the window and run a quick search—no hits. “Nothing. Already taken down, I guess.”

Archer breathes an audible sigh of relief and then starts talking, but like the bad captain and friend I am, I zone out again.

Ezra was viewing her Instagram profile.

I click a couple more buttons.

And by the looks of his search history, he’s watched multiple Reels and viewed nearly all her other posts.

I scroll further into his history; he’s been searching for images of us together—obviously showing no hits—and random questions about Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Fuck me.

Did I just find my son’s new interest?

CHAPTERNINE

SAWYER

“You plan on removing your helmet at all today?” Jack tips his head at Archer as we stop mid-practice to take in fluids.

“True. By the time we got to the rink, you were already on the ice, padded up and stretching,” Emmett Richards, one of the team’s longer-standing defensemen, replies.

Archer throws me a look and takes a pull of his drink. I haven’t seen the extent of Shane’s hit, but I’m guessing he landed a good one on him.

With a deep sigh, Archer pulls his helmet off, and Jack’s eyes bug out. Since he didn’t leave practice yesterday with any injuries, it’s obvious he sustained the massive purple bruise along the underside of his jaw overnight.

“The fuck happened? Wait, did you meet up with Shane and some of the other guys last night?” Jack asks.

Nodding, Archer lightly runs a gloved hand across his face. “He was out with a few of the other guys on the farm team. I’d heard they had a few days off in between games and Shane and a couple of others were going out in Williamsburg. I turned up at one of the bars I knew they were hitting and pulled Shane aside.” He clears his throat and winces. “Told him what we’d discussed.” He rolls his eyes at me, still convinced it was bad advice. “And next thing I knew, his fist was in my face.”

Jack reaches across, patting Archer on the shoulder. “I think this season might be your turn taking home the prize for pissing off teammates.”

Archer raises a single brow in response. I mean, Jack isn’t wrong; fucking another dude’s girl isn’t a great move.

“One, he isn’t my teammate, and two, I had no idea it was his girl?—”

Emmett chokes on his water, interrupting Archer mid-flow. “Wait, you slept with Kassie?!”

“See!” Archer points my way. “I was at least right when I said her name began with aK.”

I clap sarcastically, and Emmett shakes his head.

“Damn, man. Boning another guy’s girl. I heard they’re engaged too.”

Archer tips his head back and groans, his dark hair dripping with sweat. “As I was saying, one, he isn’t my teammate, and two, I didn’t know she was with anyone.”

Archer resets his focus on Jack. “Tyler was one of the guys out with them. He said I’d been hanging out with you too long if I was now stealing another guy’s woman.”

On a headshake, Jack squirts his drink into his mouth. “A year on, and Tyler still can’t accept that Kendra not only got an upgrade, but he was never part of the race to begin with.”

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