Page 95 of Fair Play
“It’s. Different.” His voice is a low growl.
“And so is Rome. He’s not the same man he was in his twenties.”
“Just end it—or I’ll make sure the whole fucking league knows how he took advantage of a teammate’s little sister.”
My breath catches, and tears fill my eyes. “That’s the line you’re drawing? You’re going to threaten us with his career?”
“Hell yeah, I will. I have to protect you even when you don’t know you need protecting. Mom and Dad would expect it.”
“Mom and Dad would expect you to let me figure out life on my own!”
“Not happening.”
With that, he disconnects.
What the fuck just happened?
I never dreamed Bodi would lose his mind this way. I figured he’d be mad, do his level best to convince me of all the reasons Ishouldn’t date someone so much older, a pro hockey player with two divorces under his belt, etcetera.
I was prepared for all of that.
Threatening Rome’s career never occurred to me.
Now I don’t know what the hell to do.
I grab my phone and call Rome but it goes to voice mail.
“Hi, it’s me. We need to talk. Please call me back. We knew Bodi would be mad, and he is, but let’s give him a day or two to calm down. Okay? Call me.”
I put the phone down and try to stop the falling tears.
There’s no way I’ll let Bodi destroy Rome’s chance to play another year, even if I have to break my own heart. Once he signs a contract, which will probably happen over the summer, we can straighten this out.
Unless the contract he signs is with another team.
This is a much bigger mess than I anticipated, and Rome is probably licking his wounds in private. I know he’ll want to protect me—that’s what he does—but he has to understand that I’m going to protect him too. I just can’t do that if he doesn’t talk to me. He has to trust me the way I trust him.
Slivers of doubt have crept in, and for the first time since we met, I’m scared I’m going to lose him.
Chapter 36
Rome
The only thingworse than being called into your coach’s office after a scuffle in the locker room is being called into the team owner’s office.
Marty was kind enough to let me crash at his place when we got back from Vegas and I got the message that Ms. Barrowman wanted to see me—instead of Coach Vanek—at nine o’clock sharp. I know what it’s about but I don’t know what I’m going to say.
If Bodi’s there, it will be that much more complicated.
That’s usually how it’s handled when two guys on the team come to blows. The GM or someone else high up gets involved, sits us down to get both sides of the story, and then we’re usually given a choice. Either to shake hands and move past it or decide which one of us is being traded.
In this case, it has to be me.
There’s no way I’m coming between brother and sister. I’ve always known if Bodi made her choose I would bow out. That’sprobably why I initially tried to keep my feelings in check. She had a lot more faith that he would come around than I did, and it turns out my gut didn’t let me down. Unfortunately.
What guy would want his sister to date someone with a history like mine?
I don’t like it but I understand his perspective.
