Page 237 of Wrong Pucking Player

“Fernandez?” Oscar questions. I have a feeling he knows who it is. If Kenzie already told me about him, I’m pretty confident she shared something with Oscar about her recent ex. “Who’s that?”

“Frankie Fernandez,” Denzel announces. “He’s playing on one of the hockey initiative teams, I think. I’m not sure we’re facing them. I think they’re scheduled to face the Vipers in the game before the semi-finals if the Vipers beat their next game.”

“That little shit,” Mitchel’s voice is cold while the lines of his face scream annoyance. “Frankie is a user. Fucks all the puck bunnies possible while saying he has a girlfriend and shit. He was in Toronto for a few years, and we heard the crazy stuff he’d get involved in. I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten arrested.”

“Yo, spill the tea,” Caren speaks up, clearly intrigued, though her eyes are telling me another story.

As if there’s a sense of fear hidden within those irises of hers.

“I know all this shit ‘cause Frankie isn’t on good terms with a lot of elite families. Not to say mine is elite or anything, but you know my older brother, Damien, is the CEO of a lot of really high-scale businesses and companies,” Mitchel reveals. “My brother is among many other investors who put money into Frankie’s business project, which was supposed to launch this year in Strattonville, but it was a complete bust. Apparently, they’re saying he spent all the money partying and shit. He was dating a girl before he launched this project. The moment he got ten times more than what he expected from the project, he dumped her like she was trash.”

“Interesting,” Leo mutters, and I can see how his eyes darken.

Does he know who this girl is? Maybe has relations with her.

“Gets better,” Mitchel mocks as he shakes his head and moves in closer, prompting all of us to lean in to listen to his next words.

“When he was in Toronto, he always emphasized how he was dating some college girl. Always had to tell everyone he met how he missed his girl and he’s hustling in his biz on her behalf because she’s broke or some shit. Said that constantly, yet every weekend he’d be seen with Winchester. Some would say they were best buddies, but when you ask Winchester who his best bud is, what does he always say?”

We’re all glancing at Armani, who just drinks down the remainder of his beer.

“Carry on,” he finally states, knowing well everyone gets the message.

“Now that Winchester is trending with all the shit he’s been involved in and the uneven advance drama, many are beginning to point out how toxic and homophobic he is,” Mitchel reveals before his voice quiets down even further. “To the point they want to bring him down entirely.”

“Bring him down?” Royce questions. “You make it sound like Winchester’s a mobster. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was in some dirty shit. Heard he’s been doing illegal drugs and shit.”

“Wait, seriously?” Silas looks baffled. “He can get kicked out if they find out.”

“Oh, please,” Ryker grunts with an eye roll. “He’s got the police wrapped around his finger. Look what he did to that poor mother whose child almost died. If Nurse Johnson wasn’t there with Mr. Champion’s son, they would be burying that kid six feet under.”

“How is he able to get away with all this shit, though?” Axel looks peeved. “Like fuck. We can’t even get our advances changed when we’ve been on our best behavior our whole lives, but Winchester can manipulate, barely show up for practices, be a selfish prick on and off the ice, get away with attempted murder, and use illegal drugs without anyone batting an eye.”

“And sending threatening death notes to that gay guy on the Vipers’ team,” Denzel brings up.

“Huh?” Xandra begins. “What do you mean?”

“You guys haven’t heard?” He looks around the table to see more than one of us looks confused by the news. “Felix on the Vipers has been getting death threats and shit because he’s gay. Even text messages. They’re trying to trace the phone connected to it. I overheard people trying to pin it on Armani.”

“Oscar?” I gasp and feel a sense of boiling anger. I despise injustice. Hate it down to my very core. “Why the fuck would Oscar spend time to do that bullshit?” I’m actually mad because I know how the system works. If they pin that on Oscar, he’s out of the team instantly.

“Everyone assumes I’m involved when Jayce is questioned for shit.” Oscar still sounds calm. “Everyone thinks of me as his dog that always does what he asks. I’m not surprised by the news, but I don’t want to be pinned for shit I have no association with. Plus, Winchester recently broke my phone. I had no choice but to get a new one.”

“I defended you, anyway,” Denzel admits. “I thought they were speaking foolishness. Was more pissed that they even though Armani was involved. You’re always at practice or getting IV treatments from Andrews. Why the hell would you have the time to bully anyone?”

“Especially for being gay,” Mitchel notes with a shake of his head. “Winchester is just trying to hide the truth that he’s fucking Fernandez.”

Shit…

“That’s legit?” Kane whispers.

“What I’m hearing is the reason Felix is getting bullied is he saw Winchester with someone. Not a puck bunny,” Denzel reveals and looks at Mitchel. “You’re saying it was Fernandez?”

“100% Fernandez,” Mitchel reveals, and we can barely hear his next words. “Crazy part of all of this is, I think Fernandez is using Winchester to screw him over.”

“Fuck. Why is this like a murder mystery without the murder part?” Axel questions and has his arms on the table as he rests his head. “Why do you think it’s a setup?”

“Apparently, Winchester was the one who helped gather all those investors to contribute to Fernandez's vision for his organization. After that happened, Fernandez started dating that girl he was obsessed with as a way to hide he was gay and with Winchester. That pissed Winchester off, which is why he would go out with all those puck bunnies as some sort of revenge. Some say he got his ‘gay’ fix by dating someone else, but no one could figure out who it was. Now that Fernandez and that girl broke up and those investors are now knocking on his door for their share money, he’s desperate for a way out.”

---