Provoking the Punter

Chapter 25

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FIVE

Once again, Garrett found himself sitting across the table from Oliveira, Ross, and Caitlin. He still wanted to puke, but for different reasons. No one had mentioned cutting him yet. Was that a good thing, or were they covering their asses first?

Caitlin had printed out several of the articles, and they were spread out on the table between them. His eyes kept drifting to the photo of him and Chester. It was clear they were very much into each other and not going home alone.

He’d called Chester twice. Left two messages and texted.

Chester hadn’t replied.

He was probably working.

Garrett hoped he was working.

Or perhaps he’d gone for a swim and dropped his phone in the pool, and it was broken, and that’s why he wasn’t texting or returning his calls.

That or Chester was ignoring him because he’d never wanted to be a part of this. He’d made that clear from the start. He had his own life and businesses, and he was not giving that up.

Fuck, Garrett didn’t want to be a part of this situation, as Caitlin kept calling it. This isn’t what they’d talked about last night.

He reached out and put his finger on the photo. He hadn’t noticed it at first, mostly because he’d been looking at the photo and wondering how close the person had been and how he hadn’t noticed or suspected a thing, not the text beneath. “There is only one person who calls me Gary, and he does it because it pisses me off.”

He wanted to be wrong. He really did. Maybe some other knob out there thought it was fun to shorten his name. Or someone else had overheard him talking to James.

“It doesn’t matter who released the photo,” Caitlin said. “It’s out now.”

“It matters to me. Because it means someone followed me from the first bar to the second one, hoping to catch me out.” And because he was a fucking idiot, he’d been caught. For the first time in his life, he hadn’t been looking over his shoulder. He had relaxed and let himself enjoy having a life, and now he was paying for it.

“Players get followed. You get photographed. It’s why we remind you to be aware of what you are doing and who you are doing it with,” Coach Oliveira said.

Had he said that to Addison and Cal? Had he and Caitlin known and discussed their relationship?

“James calls me Gary.” It sounded so petty. Like he was a kid in the playground calling James out for name calling. He needed to shut his mouth because right now he was the one making trouble. His father would have smacked him around the ear for dobbing already.

Caitlin glanced at the coaches. “Let’s focus on moving forward and restricting the damage. We know you were in the wrong place at the wrong time with Harrison, but saying that will achieve nothing besides feeding that story. We need to control the message, which means you need to make a post. A picture of both of you. Something low key. We can prepare a few. And we’ll take some footage while you’re training. I’ll write the content.”

“You’re assuming Chester agrees to be part of damage control.” He couldn’t make decisions for Chester.

Caitlin smiled as if it were a given. “He will. We’ll have a plan and a first post before the end of today.”

That seemed so bloody obvious. That they were posting new content to drown out the rest.

Garrett looked at Oliveira and Ross. “Am I training today?”

It wasn’t the question he wanted to ask, but it was as close as he could force out. His skin was raw, and everything hurt like he’d been trampled by the defense.

Since sitting at the table, he’d told them everything that had happened on his birthday, including what the wife had said and what Harrison had said. Everything that had been said to him before the trade. He didn’t remember much; it was the venom in her voice that stuck with him. The anger in her eyes. He’d seen it, and heard it, from his father after the crash.

There was no coming back from that. No letting it go and moving on.

And he still didn’t know what the fuck was going on. Did he have a place? Would they be going to this trouble if he didn’t?

“You’ve got work to do to be ready for this weekend’s game… Unless this is too much for you?” Coach Oliveira asked.

He was dressing for the game? If anything, he could use the distraction from what was going on. He knew how to sink into the work and the game and forget about everything else. “You’ve got the media covered, so I’m good.”

The lie was bitter on his tongue, but they accepted it. He was anything but good. He needed to talk to Chester. He wanted to yell at James. But he kept his face fixed in some kind of smile and hoped it didn’t look like something more suited to a melted mannequin.

“Good… Caitlin will cover this and liaise with the Copperheads PR if needed.”

Caitlin appeared thrilled with that, and Garrett wondered if she’d already talked to them, but given that the wife was the owner’s daughter, he doubted that anything was going to be done on their end.

Oliveira picked up his phone and nodded at Caitlin.

She stood and glanced at Garrett. “If I can grab you for a few minutes…”

“Sure.” Garrett got up and followed her out.

She shut the meeting room door. “We need to control the message and that means not hiding.”

“I understand. It’s just so new…” He wanted to protect it a little longer. It had been so long since he’d had a boyfriend, and he was enjoying having someone. And being wanted and letting himself want. “It feels like you’re using…”

“I am, and I am aware of that. The release of that photo is a blessing, even though it was meant to damage you.”

Garrett drew in a breath and leaned against the wall. He needed to keep it together. Get through a short weights session, and then he’d be too busy staring at the screen and studying the game to worry about anything else. “What do I say when people ask about the H situation?”

“Say you don’t know anything.”

“Come on, the guys aren’t going to buy that. Some have already asked if I slept with the wife when I first got here. Now they’ll be asking?—”

“Tell the truth. You didn’t.” Caitlin glanced at the door. “You should give Chester a call.”

Garrett winced and shook his head. “I have. I think he’s avoiding me. He hasn’t returned my calls or texts.”

She pressed her lips together and gave him a narrow-eyed look that was far too calculating. “Well, he’ll return mine.”

“He made it clear he didn’t want any football drama.”

Caitlin considered him for several seconds. “Then he shouldn’t have gotten involved with a player. He knew what he was doing, but he thought he was smart enough not to be burned.”

Garrett nodded. “Because he is smart.”

“Yes, and he’s loyal and determined, and he will get what he wants by helping others.”

“You’ve known him for a while.”

“Since the opening of Bathtubs. He keeps threatening to make a limited-edition Troopers gin when we win the Super Bowl.”

Garrett smiled. That sounded like Chester. He’d make something for the football fans and people who wanted a collector’s edition, and people would clamor to buy it and thank him for the opportunity while he counted the money. Chester had done the same to him, given him everything he wanted and more. If they broke up, he’d be left with nothing.

“I want this whole thing to go away. I want to have a boyfriend and play. Is that too much to ask?” He pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes as he tried not to fall apart.

“No. I’ll catch up with you later today. Make the time to talk to the counselor.”

“I don’t want to keep talking about it.” He wanted to forget everything about that night. But if it hadn’t happened, he wouldn’t be with the Troopers, and he’d never have met Chester, and he didn’t want that either.

“Then go lift some heavy things and trust me to get this under control.”

He nodded and peeled himself off the wall, making a stop in the bathroom to check his eyes before heading to the weight room for what would be a short workout. He’d feel better if he went hard and blocked out every other thought.

The guys shut up fast when he walked in.

Great. So that’s how it was going to be.

“Glad you decided to join us today, Stevens,” Cutter said, checking his name off on the attendance sheet, as if he hadn’t heard the gossip. The athletic trainer stared at him, waiting to hear his reason.

“I was upstairs. I’ll make it up later today.”

“Yes, you will.”

James sat up and stared as if unable to believe Garrett was still in the facility. “Was it the wife or the husband you fucked? Or both?”

Garrett’s fingers twitched, curling into a loose fist as he resisted the urge to punch James in the face. “Neither. My conscience is clear.” Is yours?

“But you are doing the bar owner?” Slayter, one of the defense and special teams players, asked as if he needed to know which stories were lies and which were real.

Is that what they’d been discussing when he’d walked in?

“Yes… I’m dating Chester Monroe.” He hoped that was still true. He didn’t want to think it was over. “You got any problems with that?”

Addy walked over and offered a fist bump. “Anyone here gives you grief, tell me.”

“Thanks.” His teammates should be the least of his worries.

He turned to see if James had anything smart to say, but he was walking out with a trainer. Garrett’s heart tripped over. Was James going to talk to the coaches? Had they taken what he’d said seriously about James being the one to call him Gary, or did they know something he didn’t?

“You don’t drink… All that free gin you could be getting,” Slayter sighed, as if that was the scandalous part.

“I don’t think he’s dating him for the gin,” Cutter said. “Come on, back to it.”