Page 95 of Full Tilt
Lifting my head from Darcy’s shoulder, I cast my eyes around my closest friends. “Tommy lost his shit and pinned Ethan against a wall when he wouldn’t let go of me. So much of that night is a daze because I was really inebriated and it’s like my brain never wants to think about what could’ve happened if Tommy hadn’t been waiting for me.”
Collins nods once. Of all my friends, I think she can relate to what I’ve been through the most. She’s spent a lot of her adult life alone, and I know she’s run into her fair share of asshole men.
“Were you expecting to see Tommy that night?” she asks.
I shake my head and then look at Darcy. “No, I wasn’t. And you were right when you said that we were just hate-fucking. It’s like … I’d sleep with him and then not only hate him for pursuing me, but I’d hate myself for wanting it with him too. We’re like magnets that should repel each other, not be drawn in, no matter where we are. Tommy was waiting outside my door because he wanted to talk after the last fight we got into.”
Kendra tucks a piece of stray hair behind my ear. “And what happened after Ethan left?”
Another tear tumbles from the ends of my lashes. “I asked him to stay with me.”
Collins looks almost mad again. “Did Tommy try and sleep with you while you were drunk?”
“No.” I look her straight in the eyes. “He made sure I got into bed safely and slept on my pullout in the living area.”
Kendra winces, and somehow, I manage a soft snort of laughter. She hates that sofa bed and calls it the devil. When she split with Tyler and her apartment was condemned, she had to endure a week on it.
“No one is going to believe Tommy’s version of events.” I speak quietly to all three of my friends. “Not unless I set the record straight. Trouble is, the last time I saw Tommy, he bailed on me after a night together that was …” I trail off again, another lump forming in my throat. “After a night that was so much more than just two people hooking up,” I finish. “I’m mad at Tommy right now for hurting me, but I can’t let his career get torn apart over something he didn’t do. He’s already on a warning with the Blades.”
Kendra, Collins, and Darcy all look between them.
“I think you should say something to Jon,” Darcy says, earning agreeable nods from the other two. “As the coach, he can go to the GM directly. This isn’t just about hockey and careers. Ethan is going to press charges against Tommy.”
As Darcy finishes speaking, my cell buzzes in my shoulder bag, and I unzip it and pull it out.
Holt
Looks like you won’t need to worry about that prick Schneider any longer. The Blades just announced that he’s fully dropped from the team, pending a full investigation into the attack he put on Ethan Hadley. Karma will always find you.
Locking my phone, I drop it back into my bag, clear on what I need to do.
“Darce …”
“Yeah?”
“Is there any chance you can get Jon on the phone right now?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
JENNA
“Oh my good bloody God. I’m going to be an auntie!”
Darcy defies gravity, launching herself across Jack and Kendra’s living area and into her sister-in-law’s arms. I’m not sure who’s more excited over the pregnancy—Darcy or the rest of her family. Felicity—Jack and Darcy’s mom—releases a high-pitched squeak that could call ships into dock. Jon—aka Coach Morgan—clears his throat, fighting back an onslaught of emotion.
“Do you ever wish you had parents like Jon and Felicity?” Collins points toward the Morgan huddle of love.
Collins is a closed book when it comes to her past, but I know her parents died when she was younger, and she’s never had a close bond with her blood family.
I shrug a single shoulder and set my water down. I’ve been drinking way too much lately and need to cool it, even in the offseason.
“I’d like to think Holt would react in a similar way if I announced a pregnancy.”
Collins casts me a side-eye. “Have you heard anything from Tommy lately? Sawyer tells me he’s not permitted to practice either.”
I shake my head. It’s been two days since I made a statement to Coach Morgan, setting out exactly what had happened that night. He said he’d make it his priority to see Tommy back in the team. Still, there hasn’t been any word from the Blades, and Tommy has gone dark on us all. I can’t be sure he’s even in town right now.
“Sawyer tried to call him last night, but he didn’t get an answer. He’s worried about Tommy.” I can hear Collins speak, but I don’t process her words.
