Page 136 of Over the Moon

“How about I lead us through today’s practice?” Lefty said. As team captain, his stepping up would speak volumes.

“That would be great. Let’s do it.” I led them to the gym, with Coach beside us.

“Nicely done,” he said, keeping his voice low. “But you’re still going to run a few extra miles just so I can prove my point.”

I chuckled. It wasn’t as loud or boisterous as it would normally be, but I was trying to do what my girl asked of me.

The next few hours were a blur.

Lefty pushed us hard, and then I ran the three miles that Coach insisted on.

We hadn’t heard anything from anyone, but everyone was aware that both Eloise and Randall were missing from practice.

“You think we’ll hear anything today?” I asked Coach as I wiped my face with a towel when I got back to the locker room.

“Not sure. Everyone’s being quiet upstairs.”

I nodded before taking a quick shower and getting dressed.

“Chadwick,” a familiar voice called out, and I turned to see Wolf Wayburn standing in the locker room. He and I had gotten along well last season. “You got a few minutes to talk?”

“Yep,” I said, my gaze meeting Weston’s, and he nodded as if to say that everything would be fine.

He held up his hand for a fist pump and told me to call him after the meeting.

I rode in the elevator with Wolf, and we made small talk. He gave nothing away about what this meeting was going to be addressing.

And I realized in that moment that I didn’t care if they were going to cut me after this season. All I cared about was if they were going to terminate Eloise.

Because if she left, I already decided that I’d follow the minute my contract ended.

I just hoped they’d do the right thing by her.

He glanced over at me and smirked. “Don’t be so tense. We’re not the enemy.”

“All right. I hope that’s true.”

“Damn, you’ve got it bad. I get it, buddy. Been there myself.” He clapped me on the shoulder when we stepped off the elevator, and he led me to Sebastian’s office. When he pushed the door open, I saw Scarlett, Coach Gable, Sebastian, and Wolf’s wife, Dylan, there, as well.

They brought legal here, so something was going down.

I took the seat beside Coach Gable, and he and I shared a look, reminding one another that we were on the same page no matter what happened.

“Thank you for joining us,” Sebastian said. “I want to apologize to both of you for the spectacle yesterday. We did not call that meeting. Randall did. I had no idea that was going to happen until he walked in. He only told Scarlett that the meeting was urgent, but she also wasn’t aware of what it was regarding. Just that it was an emergency meeting.”

I nodded. “I thought it was odd that Eloise would be dragged in here and humiliated the way that she was when no one requested that I attend. We were guilty of the same crime.”

“Last I checked, falling in love is not a crime,” Dylan said, looking up from the file on her lap.

“Correct. The only mistake was not just coming forward with it,” Sebastian said.

“Well, I won’t speak for Eloise, as she isn’t here, but I can tell you that I would have been hesitant to come forward, as well,” Dylan said.

“Why?” Sebastian asked.

“Well, let me ask you, Scarlett. If you were in the same position, and you were in love with a player on this team, one who is also a very important member of this team, and you were newly in a position with this organization, would you have felt comfortable coming forward?”

“No.” Scarlett shrugged, no hesitation. “Add in the fact that this affair was brought to our attention, yet only one person was marched into this office and treated with blatant disrespect, I stand by my answer.”

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