Page 51 of In The Game

“Anytime. I’m still gonna call you tonight.”

She nods and bites her lip, spinning around and walking back inside.

As soon as Raleigh is out of my sight, I’m texting my lawyer.

Me: Here’s the screenshots you asked for.

After I heard there were messages, I contacted Gary to see if any action could be taken after the fact. He said it was possible, but first he needed to see that they actually existed.As if this was some lie Raleigh came up with. I get that he’s trying to protect me, but I’m the one who sought her out, not the other way around.

Me: Is there any way to see if Julia sent these?

Gary: These are helpful. Thanks. If we can get access from the Lakes servers, we can see if they were sent from the offices.

Gary: God, these are brutal.

Me: They’re fucked up.

Gary: Has anyone else on the team ever mentioned weird stuff with their accounts? I’m guessing most of them actually use their social media, though.

Me: I’m already kicking my own ass, I don’t need you to do it for me.

Gary: Just throwing it out there. Anyway, if this happens to be the result of a disgruntled Lakes employee, we will be likely dealing with the whole org, especially employee negligence and falsifying your identity.

Me: I don’t have a problem with the Lakes, I’m not going to put my contract in jeopardy by putting them in the line of fire, they had nothing to do with this. Julia took action all on her own.

Gary: These messages are awfully personal. We may want to look into submitting an HRO against her.

Me: Not yet. I don’t want her to catch wind of what’s going on and try to come after Raleigh or Arthur. I don’t trust her. But when we do, be sure she pays for every day I missed out on with my family.

Gary: Sure you don’t want a paternity test?

Me: I’m sure.

TWENTY-ONE

Kucera gets another goal. The fans are losing their minds. He’s doing really well for his second season.

“Shift change!”

I jump back on the ice with my line and get into position for the drop.

Sully narrows his eyes at me, and I know what he’s thinking:stay focused.

I’m agitated, but fuck, I have every right to be. I’ve never had something big enough to take my head out of the game, but finding out you have a son you didn’t know about, qualifies. We’re up by three points in the third period. I make my passes, and my stick handling is right where it needs to be. I’m skating my ass off, and sweat is sluicing out of me. Yeah, I’m a little on edge.

At puck drop, I crowd Colorado’s winger, Grutzmacher, he’s chirping some bullshit at me, trying to rile me up, but I ignore him and focus on our play. As soon as the puck hits the ice, their center snags it. We chase it down, as Burke and Kucera do a fine job defending our goal, but I end up in a puck battle with Grutzmacher, and my back against the boards. My patience is thin with anyone standing in the way of what I want. This puck included. I’m able to snake it out and pass to Sully who takes off in a breakaway, but as I push off to follow, Grutz slashes the back of my knee with his stick and pain shoots up my leg.

I don’t even wait for the call when I spin around and give him a shove. He shoves me back, and I drop gloves. The refs blow their whistles, stopping the play.That’swhen they decide to call? Not when Grutz gets the back of my knee? If this ref had one more fucking eye, he’d be a cyclops. Grabbing the back of Grutz’s neck, I take a swing at him. He grabs my jersey at my shoulder and throws a punch, but I’ve got at least eight inches on this dumb motherfucker. He’s fighting in the wrong weight class.

I knock his helmet off and clock him in the jaw before they pull me off and escort me to the sin bin.Fuck that guy.

In the penalty box, fans slap the plexiglass behind me, but there’s so much adrenaline in my system, the pounding is muted and dull. I’m torn between watching the game and hanging my head in embarrassment. Two minutes of being disconnected from my team because I couldn’t keep my cool. Our med, Jenny, motions to Coach to pull me off the ice. The back of my knee is numb where he got me, and she’ll need to check it before I’m back on.

Honestly, I don’t even care if they pull me for the rest of the game.

* * *

“Hey, Ral.”

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