Page 207 of Call the Shots
“Uh, June?”
“Your entire team is begging me to let you off the hook. Denali swore to personally supervise your curfew and Elijah’s been promising me his future checks.”
“Seriously?”
“If they’re not out there already, they’re on their way, blowing up my phone.” He held up his cell, purposely turned off. “You have a lot more influence on the Gladiators than you suspect. Which is what I need.”
“What you need?”
“I’ve never been a head coach before.” He shifted forward. “I need you to take the punishment, without complaint.”
I watched him, surprised.
“This isifthe charges aren’t aggravated assault. If they are, I can’t do anything for you.”
I tried to lean to the side, but the handcuffs stopped me and I shifted uncomfortably. “Can I…still be alternate captain?”
“Why?” he asked, studying me.
“Because I’m good at it. And…” I couldn’t lie to him, and I didn’t want to. Coach was clearly trying to save my ass. “Alternate captains get leeway with housing. I wouldn’t have to live at RV anymore.”
“Is this about June?"
“Yeah. It’s about June,” I admitted. “With me, it’s pretty much always about June.”
“You’ll be suspended from the role for the summer,” he said carefully, and my hope sank. “But…you can earn the badge back with good behavior. And whatever contract you sign with housing is final. You can tell them you’re still an alternate captain. That’s me being generous, Bear.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief, wincing with how much it hurt. “Thank you, sir.”
“I need you behind me. Every step of the way.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I don’t want to hear Xavier’s name again. Do you understand?”
“Yes, thank you, sir?—”
The door opened again, and police officers followed through, their faces stormy. What was the verdict? My dad hadn’t even come in, I didn’t know what the next steps were.
One of them produced a key ring, shaking his head in disgust. “Must have a guardian angel, lucky son of a bitch.”
“What happened?” Sémajuste asked.
“Charges were dropped.”
Dropped?Just like that? How was that possible? I rubbed my wrists, confused. Why did Xavier drop the charges?
“Oh, you do have a guardian angel,” Sémajuste chuckled as I caught sight of the door frame.
June stood tiny among the police officers.MyJune. Her eyes were bloodshot, her blonde hair was in a messy bun, she was so goddamn beautiful. I swung off the bed while June maneuvered around the cops. As soon as she was close, I pulled her towards me.
“Hey, baby,” she whispered. “Let’s go home.”
The Gladiators wentapeshit when they saw us in the waiting room and I had more arms thrown over me than I could handle with the bruises.
Elijah mussed up my hair. “That’s our fucking boy!”
We stopped atGianna’swhere Denali had a Gladiators hoodie to exchange for the bloody shirt, and someone put a paper crown with ‘Professional Ass Kicker’ on my head. It hurt too much to do anything but grin as my teammates flashed videos of the fight, digging into pizza.
