Chapter Thirty
JENNA
The soccer season has been long and grueling, so I guess if I could find one positive about losing today’s playoff game against Milwaukee, it’s that my body will finally get a rest.
My mind, on the other hand … well, that’s working overtime. To the point where I can’t focus on anything other than the voice in my head, telling me to step in and do something.
Tommy’s career is all but done if I don’t speak up and set the record straight about what happened with Ethan.
I can’t believe that bastard went back on his word about keeping quiet and spouted so much crap on social media.
I was convinced he was lying when he said he once played semi-pro soccer since I’d never heard of an Ethan Hadley, but turns out, he did.
And he’s using his modest platform to try and bring down a good person.
Only … is Tommy a good person?
He’s like the ultimate version of Jekyll and Hyde. One second, he’s rescuing me from the clutches of a creep, and the next, he’s walking out of my apartment after promising to prove me wrong about who he is.
I’m confused and going back and forth over what to do. Does Tommy even want my help? He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t thank anyone for coming to his aid. Every battle is his own to fight and win.
Sounds kind of familiar when I think about it …
“So, I ended up flying to the moon, and I got you a key chain from the gift shop.” Kendra lowers her voice so only I can hear her.
Collins and Darcy continue to talk about Emily and all the gifts Archer has bought his baby daughter for Christmas. Knowing Archer, I’m sure they could be working through the list for a while.
Half expecting to find the answer to Tommy’s predicament in the bottom of my glass, I toss back the rest of my beer and set my empty back on the bar. It’s been a while since we went out as a group of girls, and I feel bad for not being as engaged as I should be.
“Does your silence have something to do with Mr. Schneider?” Kendra leans in closer to me, and I rest an elbow on the bar.
Glancing up, I catch Darcy as she studies my expression with concern, and Collins breaks off from talking.
Now sitting in complete silence, I drop my eyes to the floor, wondering why the fuck I chose to wear strappy black sandals in the middle of fall.
“Don’t be down, babe. You did an amazing job, winning the shield.” Darcy’s singsong voice tries—and fails—to lift my mood.
“It doesn’t really have to do with the playoffs,” I reply, lifting my gaze to my friends. “Or even soccer, to be honest.”
Darcy’s eyes flick to Kendra, and immediately, I know I can’t keep hiding what’s going on from them.
“How much have you had to drink?” I ask, pointing at Collins’s and Darcy’s glasses. I’ve been so absent tonight; I can’t remember if this is their first or fifth drink.
Now looking more concerned, Darcy lifts herself onto a barstool behind her and sets her half-empty cocktail glass down.
“This is our second, but I’m thinking that we should be ordering a third,” Collins chimes in, already lifting a finger to distract a bartender’s attention.
It’s a quiet night in Lloyd’s, and I’m grateful for the relaxed atmosphere because I feel anything but.
“I’d say that’s a good idea,” Kendra agrees, pointing to a Mai Tai on the menu. She knows it’s my favorite cocktail.
Collins clears her throat and pulls up a stool next to Darcy. “Okay, hit us with it, Miller.”
I turn to look at Kendra as I deliver the bomb. “I’ve been sleeping with Tommy.”
The gasp Darcy releases pulls my attention straight to her and Collins, who looks equally as shocked. I guess Tommy and I really did do a good job of hiding our hookups.
“And the guy who’s claiming Tommy hit him in an unprovoked attack … let’s just say, that punch wasn’t unwarranted.”
Kendra’s eyes flare wide since this is news to her too.
“I don’t know what question to ask you first.” Collins breaks the short silence between our group. “I thought you hated Tommy?”
I nod once and immediately grab my Mai Tai after the bartender sets it down. “I do hate him,” I reply, taking a long sip.
“But you’re sleeping with him?” Darcy questions. “Are we talking about a hate-fuck arrangement here? Because don’t get me wrong; he’s hot and everything. But I can’t imagine a situation where anyone could like that arsehole.”
Something about the way she says that in her refined British accent pulls my lips into a wry smile, as do the memories of Tommy pinning me against several walls.
I can still feel the ghost of his full, soft lips as they skated across my collarbone.
He is an arsehole—as Darcy put it—but he’s one who’s left a lasting impression on me.
“Jenna?” Darcy brings me back into the room, and I shake off my trance.
“I …” My throat runs dry, and I take another sip of cocktail.
“I don’t know what to say.” I shrug a shoulder and set down my glass.
“And I guess the details don’t matter much now anyway since whatever we had is over.
” The disappointed inflection in my voice is unmissable and completely unintentional too.
Collins sits forward on her stool, rolling her lips together in thought. I can’t tell if she’s disappointed in me for going there with a guy everyone cannot stand. I guess, to them, there’s plenty of other guys I could be sleeping with and none who are dicks to their husbands.
“How long was it going on for?”
“For a while,” I reply uneasily. “He was the one who’d instigated it, and I …” I trail off again, struggling to find the right words tonight.
“And you enjoyed every fucking second?” Collins finishes my sentence.
I can’t deny that she’s a hundred percent correct. The smile and wink she gives tells me she couldn’t care less about me getting with Tommy, and I breathe an inward sigh of relief.
“No comment,” I volley back, suppressing a smile.
“And what did you mean when you said the punch that Ethan guy took wasn’t exactly unwarranted?”
My growing smile flattens in response to Kendra’s question.
“I mean, he deserved it,” I clarify.
Collins quirks a brow, followed by Darcy.
“Jenna?” Kendra’s soft palm wraps around my upper arm. “Jenna? What’s the matter?”
As dampness stings my eyes, I bite the inside of my cheek. I wasn’t expecting to get emotional, but here we are. Apparently, crying is my new favorite hobby.
“The ‘attack’ Ethan is talking about online was in defense because Ethan tried to …”
“Tried to what?” Collins’s voice could cut through solid steel, and I swallow hard.
I inhale a huge breath and allow my brain to go back over a night I would rather forget. “So, this guy, Ethan, was walking me home because I had gotten really drunk the night we won the shield.” I turn to look at Kendra, anticipating that she’ll connect the dots since she was there too.
“Wait …” she responds, already halfway to working everything out.
“The guy you were playing pool with is the same guy making these claims?” She props her hands on her hips, the smallest bump starting to show through her blue bodycon dress.
Ethan never introduced himself to Kendra since she was heading home within minutes of him approaching me.
“I really wish that I’d stuck around.” Guilt and anger flood her features.
“God, Jen. I’m so fucking sorry. In the two minutes I was around him I was convinced that he was genuine. I’m such a fucking idiot.”
I reach out and take her hand in mine, letting her know it’s okay.
“I don’t think his intentions were solely to walk me to my door that night. I think he planned to do more.”
“Holy hell.” Collins shakes her head, rage now flowing from every pore. “And Tommy was there, wasn’t he? Waiting outside your door.”
I just look at her through glassy eyes; nothing more needs to be said.
“Oh fuck, Jenna. I’m so sorry.” Darcy slides off her stool, wrapping her arms around me. “Tommy hit him to protect you, didn’t he?”
I drop my head into the crook of her neck, sobbing quietly. “It was so fucked up, Darce. I don’t know what I’d have done if Tommy hadn’t been standing outside my door. I’m such a fucking idiot for trusting a guy I barely knew to walk me home.”
Two more pairs of arms wrap around my shoulders, warmth from my girlfriends heating and soothing my soul.
“And that bastard has the audacity to claim that Tommy assaulted him,” Kendra bites out.
Lifting my head from Darcy’s shoulder, I cast my eyes around my closest friends.
“Tommy lost his shit and pinned Ethan against a wall when he wouldn’t let go of me.
So much of that night is a daze because I was really inebriated and it’s like my brain never wants to think about what could’ve happened if Tommy hadn’t been waiting for me. ”
Collins nods once. Of all my friends, I think she can relate to what I’ve been through the most. She’s spent a lot of her adult life alone, and I know she’s run into her fair share of asshole men.
“Were you expecting to see Tommy that night?” she asks.
I shake my head and then look at Darcy. “No, I wasn’t.
And you were right when you said that we were just hate-fucking.
It’s like … I’d sleep with him and then not only hate him for pursuing me, but I’d hate myself for wanting it with him too.
We’re like magnets that should repel each other, not be drawn in, no matter where we are.
Tommy was waiting outside my door because he wanted to talk after the last fight we got into. ”
Kendra tucks a piece of stray hair behind my ear. “And what happened after Ethan left?”
Another tear tumbles from the ends of my lashes. “I asked him to stay with me.”
Collins looks almost mad again. “Did Tommy try and sleep with you while you were drunk?”
“No.” I look her straight in the eyes. “He made sure I got into bed safely and slept on my pullout in the living area.”
Kendra winces, and somehow, I manage a soft snort of laughter. She hates that sofa bed and calls it the devil. When she split with Tyler and her apartment was condemned, she had to endure a week on it.
“No one is going to believe Tommy’s version of events.
” I speak quietly to all three of my friends.
“Not unless I set the record straight. Trouble is, the last time I saw Tommy, he bailed on me after a night together that was …” I trail off again, another lump forming in my throat.
“After a night that was so much more than just two people hooking up,” I finish.
“I’m mad at Tommy right now for hurting me, but I can’t let his career get torn apart over something he didn’t do.
He’s already on a warning with the Blades. ”
Kendra, Collins, and Darcy all look between them.
“I think you should say something to Jon,” Darcy says, earning agreeable nods from the other two. “As the coach, he can go to the GM directly. This isn’t just about hockey and careers. Ethan is going to press charges against Tommy.”
As Darcy finishes speaking, my cell buzzes in my shoulder bag, and I unzip it and pull it out.
Holt
Looks like you won’t need to worry about that prick Schneider any longer. The Blades just announced that he’s fully dropped from the team, pending a full investigation into the attack he put on Ethan Hadley. Karma will always find you.
Locking my phone, I drop it back into my bag, clear on what I need to do.
“Darce …”
“Yeah?”
“Is there any chance you can get Jon on the phone right now?”