Page 78 of When Alec Met Evie
“Okay,” Summer says, stepping up next to Nathan. “Everything’s okay.”
Carter’s eyes widen like he can’t quite believe his luck. “They’re letting him go?”
“He didn’t have alcohol on him, and the arresting officer didn’t do a breathalyzer, so it would be tough to make a case against him. He says he mostly picked him up to teach him a lesson and keep him from getting into troub—” Summer’s words cut off as her eyes widen. “Ohhhh, no,” she says, looking over my shoulder.
We all turn to see Coach Davis standing in the doorway of the police station, a stern expression on his face. He walks toward us, stopping next to Carter. “Does someone want to explain to me why I was called out of bed on a Friday night whenallof you should be home resting up for our game tomorrow?”
“Coach, we didn’t mean—” Carter starts, but I stop him with a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Theo was picked up for underage drinking,” I say evenly, “but only because the officer didn’t want him to get into any more trouble. No charges have been filed, and they won’t be.”
Coach frowns. “But hewasdrinking?”
Carter meets my eye, and I give my head a slight shake. “He was, but honestly, Coach, I feel like this is my fault. I should have been watching out for the twins, and I wasn’t.”
“They’re old enough to make their own choices, Alec,” Coach Davis says. “And that kid has been causing trouble from the start. I have an entire team to think about, and I can’t do that when, over and over again, one player keeps causing problems. He’s picking fights with his own teammates, and now this? What does this do for the Appies image?”
“I understand that. I do. But—” I glance over at Carter, debating how much of his personal business I can justify sharing. “Theo has been through some pretty devastating stuff lately,” I say. “He lost his dad a while back, but we’ve been talking a lot lately. What he needs right now is to play. He needs this team.”
Coach studies me closely. At his heart, he’s a guy who cares about his team as men as much as he does as players, and since he lost his wife, I’m sure he can imagine the pain of losing a parent. But he’s also a firm disciplinarian and maintains a very high bar for the Appies.
He folds his arms over his chest. “Other coaches would healthy scratch a player for less. And they would be justified. Sitting on the sidelines without a jersey on makes an impact.”
“I realize that,” I say, “but as his captain, I’d like to give him another chance.”
He takes a deep breath, his eyes shifting from me, then over to Carter. “All right. I respect your judgment enough to give you this one. But this is on you, Sheridan.”
“Hey! It’s like an Appies reunion!”
We all turn and see an officer leading a smiling Theo into the lobby of the station. He gasps. “Is that coach? Coach Davis, what are you doing here? Hey, Carter, did you see Coach?”
On the ice, Theo’s struggles seem to make him angry more than anything else, so I’m surprised he’s such a happy drunk. But then he makes eye contact with me, and his expression sobers. He looks over to the officer standing beside him. “I don’t think my captain is very happy with me right now.”
“Your captain just wants you to make better choices.” I reach out and shake the officer’s hand. “Thanks for picking him up. And sorry for the trouble.”
“No problem at all.” He looks from me over to Nathan before he grins the slightest bit. “I’m a big fan. Go Appies.”
Theo lifts his arms into the air. “Appies!” On the inside of his left arm, a new tattoo has made his skin pink and prickled, the ink slightly raised. It should be wrapped if he only got it tonight, but that’s not what has me squinting at the ink, trying to read what it says.
Summer is directly beside me, and I lean toward her. “Does his new tattoo sayApples?”
She sucks in a gasp. “Ohhhh, that is one unfortunate typo.”
Nathan chuckles. “Let’s not point it out until tomorrow.”
“Okay, I’m leaving before I regret my decision to give Apples over there another chance,” Coach Davis says.
Nathan snickers. “Apples,” he repeats. “That nickname might be harder to shake than the tattoo.”
“Bye, Coach!” Theo calls.
Coach Davis moves to the door, shooting me a pointed look on his way. “I’m trusting you,” he says, and I nod in response, wondering if I’ve just made a decision I’m going to regret.
Carter and Theo’s truck is right outside the station, and since Carter didn’t have anything to drink, there’s no reason why hecan’t drive us from here. I say goodbye to Nathan and Summer, then climb into the front seat while Theo stretches out in the back. He’s snoring in a matter of seconds, and Carter is quiet for most of the ride home. It isn’t until we’re pulling into the neighborhood that he looks over at me, his expression serious.
“I’ll tell him what you said,” he says, and I give him what I hope is an encouraging nod.
Evie’s car is in the driveway when we get home. I wasn’t sure it would be, because it didn’t take all that long to retrieve the twins from the police station, so she must have left right after we did.
