Page 79 of Breakaway

Arbitrator P. R.

Rage and fear swirled in me. The audacity of this person! The sheer arrogance and condescension grated on me. While it didn’t say the society other than sneakily in the last line, or the gender of the person, I knew without a shadow of a doubt it was them. And I’d even go as far as to guess it was Reese’s aunt—Pippa.

The information about Emila floored me. It had to be something her father had been part of. I couldn’t see Emila willingly going along with something like the Society.

The urge to keep this invite hidden and deal with it alone was tempting. Henley was already dealing with so much; I didn’t want to burden her more than necessary. But I’d made a promise, and I intended to keep it. I hit reply and responded before I could overthink it.

Dear Arbitrator,

I believe we have differing ideas on what will advance our hockey community.

I’ll see you at 1 pm.

Fletcher Cromwell

With an exhale, I closed the laptop and stood from the table. The rest of the house was quiet, the others having gone to bed hours ago. I checked my phone and sighed at the time. 1:00 am. It was going to be another short night’s sleep.

Padding down the hall, I popped into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, and tossed my clothes into the hamper in an attempt to keep my room cleaner. I peeked in Henley’s room first, but found her bed empty. I checked Reed’s next, but only one lump lay under the covers with Lady Sterling curled up at the foot of the bed. Closing his door quietly, I went back down the hall to Dax’s. When only he was in his bed as well, I became worried I’d missed her leaving and hadn’t noticed it in my work fog.

Moving to my room, I flipped on the light so I could find pants and shoes to track Henley down. Maybe she’d gone for another jog or was at the arena?

“Fletch?” a voice asked from the bed, halting my scrambling with one leg in my pants and the other out. I turned toward my bed, my breath escaping me at the sight of Henley sitting up. Her hair was in disarray, and she squinted her eyes as she blocked out the light. Relaxing at the sight of her, I hit the light switch and stepped out of my pants.

“Hey. Sorry, I didn’t know you were in here. I was going to look for you,” I said, crawling into the bed beside her.

“Where did you think I was?” she asked, her voice airy and light with a laugh. I shrugged.

“Either jogging or training. It seems to be where you are if you’re not here.”

“Fair.” She snuggled into my chest. “But I always leave a note.” She yawned, her hand moving across my chest. “Did you get everything done?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re burning both ends, Fletch. You can’t keep it up forever.”

“I know.” Then sighed, I wanted to believe I could do it all, but it was becoming clear I couldn’t. “I think I might need to step back from the team. Don’t hate me.”

“I could never hate you, Fletch. And I was going to suggest the same. Scar could step in while you’re gone. There are plenty of people here to fill in, whereas there aren’t at HTC. I know it’s important to you to leave Emila’s company in good hands, and you’ll need to be more present to do that. I knew you’d have to leave at some point, but selfishly, I wanted to keep you to myself for as long as possible.”

Kissing her temple, I pulled her closer to me. “You could never be selfish, Henley.” I sighed, letting out a big breath. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Okay. Should I sit up? I’m kind of comfortable where I am, though.”

“You can stay right where you are, Baby Shaw. I happen to like you there just as much.” I smiled, my hands rubbing up and down her back. While I loved sharing her with the others more than I thought possible, having her to myself in my arms was bliss. “I got an email from the Arbitrator tonight. From what I gather, they’re the head of the Society. I’m guessing it’s in response to the documentary.”

Her body tensed for a second before relaxing. “What did it say?”

“Nothing good. Apparently, HTC has, or had, ties with them.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. My thoughts exactly.”

“What does that mean for you?” She tilted her head up, blinking at me.

“She wants to meet and discuss at the next game against Royal Hill.”

“She? So does that mean Pippa is this Arbitrator person?” she asked, running her finger over her lips in thought.

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