Chapter 23
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
Garrett received a phone call from Caitlin as he drove to the facility. He answered, suspecting a request to see her today. Mondays were busy, but he would make the time.
“How can I help you?” Even though he hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, he was riding a high like he’d won the fucking Super Bowl or something. They didn’t have a plan, and he didn’t know how to deal with coming out… although watching Addy and Cal had given him hope.
“Coach Harrison’s wife released a statement last night saying they’ve separated.”
It was a punch to the throat Garrett hadn’t been expecting. He’d thought they’d do it at the end of the season. Just quietly end it without a fuss.
“Oh.” What else was there to say?
“She mentions he’d been having an affair.”
Garrett’s stomach swooped, like he was back in the car as it spun out of control. There was nothing he could do to stop it. He felt the flip and the impact with the tree. Metal collapsed and his ears rang with his mother’s screams.
He pulled over and threw the car in Park, unable to keep driving. Was he even breathing? There was no way he’d survive this wreck. Everything he’d worked for was gone.
“Just tell me.”
“I was hoping to catch you before you review yesterday’s game… but you weren’t in the weight room.”
Because he’d lingered at Chester’s house, he was running half an hour later than usual. He couldn’t make that a habit. It shouldn’t have happened this morning, and yet there wasn’t a part of him which wanted to take it back.
“I’m five minutes away.” Not that it mattered. For a few seconds, he considered turning around, packing up, and disappearing. He didn’t want to walk in and face everyone’s questioning stares. The comments. He didn’t want to sit there and be told that while he was good on the field, his off-field behavior was a distraction the team didn’t need. James had won. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Had she been told to prepare him to be cut?
When he walked in, Oliveira was going to pull him aside and boot him out.
She was silent for a couple of seconds. “Were you at Bathtubs last night?”
“Yes, there were about six of us.”
“Someone photographed you leaving.”
“Fuck… Sorry.” Fuck. He wasn’t sorry at all. “Who followed me?” He wasn’t a star player. Nobody gave a fuck about him.
Until he fucked up.
He should have left with the others, ordered a ride, and gotten dropped off at Chester’s place. Or Chester could’ve come to the hotel, the same way they’ve been doing for weeks.
“That doesn’t matter now. What matters is that people have seen a photo of you kissing another guy, and they know Coach Harrison is separated, and they are speculating… Add in the other rumors before he was married….”
Garrett slapped the steering wheel, then tipped his head back and scrubbed his hands over his face.
He was done. He couldn’t see a way out of it. He didn’t want to deny it. Or pretend it wasn’t him in the photo and that nothing was going on.
“So what now?” His voice sounded broken, even to his ears.
“We stick to the game plan. You never mention Coach Harrison. Not in passing. Not in denial. Nothing. What you can talk about is your new boyfriend.”
“So I’m going to have to come out publicly.” He couldn’t start dating and let people assume. That’s what he’d been hoping for. He didn’t want a fuss. Chester didn’t want a fuss.
“At this point, yes. What that looks like we will discuss today.”
How the fuck was he supposed to sit through a review of yesterday’s game knowing that everybody had seen the fucking photo and had heard the Harrison news and was thinking the worst of him? “Are you at least going to tell the guys that I had nothing to do with Harrison?”
“I’m about to have that conversation with Emilio.”
Great, just great. Because what he really wanted was everybody talking about his sex life. This was why it had been easier not to have one; then there was nothing to talk about and no rumors.
Now it’s all they’d be talking about.
Not how well he played.
Just where he stuck his dick.
“She did it deliberately. She released the news to get back at me.” That she’d chosen to release the news the same day he’d played his first game with the Troopers couldn’t be a coincidence.
“You don’t know that,” Caitlin said.
“You didn’t see her face. She fucking hates me.”
“That doesn’t explain the photo of you and Chester.”
Garrett pinched the bridge of his nose. He was not turning up to training with red eyes, like he’d been crying all night, or was on drugs. “Do you want me to come up when I get there and skip the weights?”
“That’s a good idea. I’ve already assembled the current commentary on the issue.”
“Thank you.”
“And Garrett, I’m glad you came to me.”
“I shouldn’t have to tell you who I’m seeing.” Until last night, they hadn’t even agreed they were dating. Where did this leave them?
“And if not for the Harrison situation, I would agree with you. For the moment, I think it’s best you tell me everything.”
Garrett considered last night’s events, knowing she didn’t literally mean everything.
“That might be picked up by the media,” Caitlin finished.
“There is nothing else, and it’s too new to…” To be exposed to the hungry teeth and claws of the media. He wasn’t ready for that. Chester didn’t want that.
“You’ve got to give them something else to talk about. That’s the only way through this.”
No, the other way was for Harrison to come out and say it didn’t involve him. He doubted Harrison would do that. He might even blame Garrett. Either way, Garrett had no doubt Harrison’s job was on the line.