Page 70 of Passing the Red Line
Dude is a prick now, I can’t imagine the type of prick he was back then. From what Eliana was telling me, I can tell that he hurt her badly. There’s probably more to the story, and I don’t know if Eliana will ever tell me, but even if she does, the next time I’m on the same ice as Bradford, I’m beating his face in.
For checking me last year and for hurting Eliana when they were teenagers.
“Rodriguez!” My name is called out and right away, I look up to see Coach Anderson standing at the entrance of the locker room, looking straight at me. “My office.”
Fuck.
I’ve been called to Anderson office only twice in all my years with the Knights. Both times were because I had gotten ejected from a game, and I was going to be suspended. So much shit goes through my mind as to why he may be calling me.
Am I getting traded? That would suck on so many damn levels.
Is it about Eliana? Does he know we’re together?
I have no fucking clue.
“I’ll be right there,” I answer him, and he gives me a nod before walking away.
This honestly can’t be good.
“When was the last time you got called in?” Liam asks when I stand up from my bench.
I nod toward Blake. “The kid’s rookie year for my last suspension.”
“You don’t think there’s a chance…” Blake starts but doesn’t finish, leaving the unfinished sentence up in the air. I know what he’s talking about.
I shrug. “There’s one way to find out.”
When I reach coach’s office, he’s sitting behind his desk looking at some paperwork that litters his desk. The man is trying to look busy, but we both know that he’s just trying to shoot the shit as he wants for me.
I knock on the door. “You wanted to see me?”
He looks up and gives me a nod. “Yeah, close the door and have a seat.”
I do as he says and take a seat in one of the chairs in front of him. I don’t say anything, just wait for him to start the conversation.
“You’re not getting traded if that is what you were thinking,” he says, taking off his ball cap and placing it on the desk.
“Good to know,” I say, giving him a curt nod.
So, if I’m not getting traded and this sure as hell isn’t about my misconduct on the ice since we haven't even had our first exhibition game, it must be about his daughter.
He found out about us somehow, because he sure as hell didn’t hear it from me and I know Eliana hasn’t told him. I don’t even know if she’s talked to him at all outside of the arena.
“How was your time off?” he asks, sounding a bit awkward even asking.
“It was fine,” I say, not giving him any details.
“You have a house in California, right? Close to the bay area?” He asks, his eyebrows raising in question.
I give him a nod. “Yeah, off the Santa Cruz coast.”
He nods, looking down at the paperwork on his desk. “My daughter was in the area this summer.” He states, like we have normal conversations like this on an everyday basis.
“That’s nice,” I say, trying not to give too much away. Thank fuck I master my distain expression when I was a teenager.
Anderson looks up at me finally and looks me straight in the eye.
He wants me to admit that I’m with Eliana, but that isn’t going to happen. He’s not getting a single thing from me. For all he knows, I didn’t even know he had a daughter.
