Chapter 21
Nadia
When I walk outof my bedroom the next morning, Reese is sitting next to a shirtless Axel on the couch. “Hey,” I say to Reese, “I didn’t know you spent the night.”
“I came over late,” he says, picking up the box of Sugar Bomb cereal off the coffee table and refilling his bowl. He’s in a pair of sports shorts and one of Twyler’s oversized, threadbare New Kings T-shirts. He tilts the box at Axel. “Want more?”
“No, thanks. I think I’ve hit my sugar quota for the day.” Axel’s long arm swipes out and hooks around the back of my thighs, pulling me onto his lap. His chest is hard–warm–and I smooth out the edges of the adhesive covering his new tattoo. When he’d told me the real significance behind the number 110–about me trusting him–something unwound around my heart. “Sleep okay?”
“Really good.” After the emotional talk Axel and I had, then the ‘I love yous’ and sex, we stayed up for a while, eating dinner and watching Springfield. Then I crashed. Hard. Not waking up again until my alarm went off.
“Excellent.” He steals a kiss, brushing his lips over mine. He tastes like the sugar from the cereal. Sweet and delicious. God, I love this man.
Across the room, Twyler stands at the kitchen table, organizing her backpack for the day. She glances over at Axel and rolls her eyes, most likely annoyed at his bare chest. I have no doubt half the reason he’s foregoing the shirt is just to get under her skin.
“What’s that look for, TG?” Axel asks, running his hand up and down my back.
She doesn’t have to answer for me to know. Sitting out here like this, with our boyfriends is a little surreal. A few months ago, Twyler didn’t date anyone, much less the captain of the hockey team. My hook-ups usually consisted of me sneaking out of the house for a three AM hook-up.
“This,” she says, waving her hand in our direction. “It’s weird.”
“You should be happy your best friend and your boyfriend’s best friend are in love.” Axel grins while tilting his bowl back and taking a loud slurp of milk. That earns him another annoyed glare. “Hey, now we can double-date.”
“Love?” Her big blue eyes bulge and she looks at me and then Reese. “That escalated fast.”
“Leave them alone, Sunshine,” Reese says, grabbing his empty bowl and carrying it over to the sink. He presses a kiss to the back of her neck. “They’re happy.”
Everything in my life is upside down. And not in a bad way. It’s a very very good way. I mean, Axel Rakestraw, a notorious fuck-boy, told me he loves me. It’s this unnatural shift in the force that brings me to announce, “I’ve made a decision.” Inhale, exhale. “I’m ready to go to the police.”
Axel sets his bowl on the coffee table and exchanges a look with Twyler and Reese. “To make a report?”
I nod, tucking my hands into the sleeves of Axel’s hoodie. “It’s time. Past time,” I admit. “Yesterday proves it.”
“Did something happen?” Twyler asks, walking across the room. “Is that why you were upset last night?”
“Nothing happened,” I say, emphasizing the word, “but I did run into him yesterday and he’s just–”
“A fucking douchebag,” Axel supplies, squeezing my thigh.
Reese stretches his arm around Twyler’s shoulder and says, “Nadia, you know we’ve always wanted this to be your decision. Whatever you want to do, we’ve got your back.”
I look at Axel. “You’re okay with it?”
“This has nothing to do with me, T. I support you no matter what.”
“It’s probably too late to do anything, and they’ll just say I was a willing participant, but I think it’s important to have something on the record.” I swallow and a wave of anxiety threatens to strike. “Otherwise he’ll never stop.”
“I sent a copy of the video to Ruby when it happened,” Twyler says. “For safe keeping.”
Ruby is Twyler’s sister who is a few years older and works down in Tennessee as a teacher. She’s the one that alerted Twyler to the fact the video had been recorded and shown live online.
“If you can get it from her that would be good.”
Axel’s fingers link with mine. “When do you want to go?”
“Soon, before I chicken out.”
“You’re not chicken,” Twyler says.
“She’s right,” he says, then lifts his chin at Reese. “Tell Coach I won’t be there today.”
Reese nods. “Sure thing.”
“What? No.” I shake my head. “I don’t want you to miss practice or get in trouble.”
He turns my face toward his. “T, this is more important than practice and hockey. Coach’ll just have to deal with it.” His mouth forms a grim line and his eyes dart over my shoulder to where I know Reese is standing. “You’re not the only one that has something to report.”
A body wrackingshiver runs through my body. It’s not cold in here, and despite the mildly warm cup of coffee the receptionist offered me when we arrived, I can’t get warm.
“Here,” Axel says, slipping off his jacket.
“You’ll get cold.”
“Nah,” he says, draping it over my shoulders. “I’m hot natured. Especially when I’m pissed.” He glances up when the door opens. “Are you sure you want me in here for this?”
I nod, taking his hand. “Please.”
The coat is toasty warm, and Axel’s scent clings to it, making it feel like a shield. The room is nicer than I expected for the small Wittmore Police Station. The chairs are cushioned and the walls painted a soft blue-gray. A woman enters and introduces herself as Detective Shaw. She’s young, with dark hair pulled back in a tight, low ponytail. When she says, “Why don’t you start from the beginning,” I take a deep breath and begin.
I don’t know if it’s from keeping the trauma inside for so long, or just the relief of finally making the decision to come forward, but once I start, I can’t stop. It’s not easy detailing my days as a jersey chaser, but even I can tell that there’s a shift–when it stopped being my idea and I became part of someone else’s scheme.
“They set up a LonelyFans account?” Detective Shaw asks, taking notes.
“Yes. I have a copy of the video,” I tell her, reaching for my phone. Ruby screen recorded it, capturing the name of the account. It hurts to see myself like that, but I can’t run from it any longer.
Her eyes flick up from the screen. There’s a line creasing her forehead. “Where did this take place?”
“In a house off campus.” I look to Axel. “Do you remember the name?”
“Red Rock. Those prefab ones on the back side of the stadium.”
Detective Shaw nods and watches the video again. “I’m going to make a copy of this if that’s okay? It’ll be submitted into evidence.” I give my approval and she says, “And there were drugs involved?”
“I think so. I felt like they put something in my food or drink.”
Axel squeezes my hand and clears his throat. “Yeah, I have something to add to that.”
The edges of the room grow fuzzy as I listen to Axel tell Detective Shaw that he’d been drugged at a party last month. He provides a copy of the lab work, and a statement from the team doctor and Coach Bryant that they think he was either intentionally or inadvertently drugged and he received no consequences.
“Drugged?” I ask, trying to process what he’s saying. “It wasn’t just THC? You were dosed with rohypnol?”
“That’s what the lab tests said.” He leans forward. “I own smoking the weed. I remember doing that, but things got hazy after that.”
“You barely remembered talking to me that night.”
His jaw tenses and he glances at Detective Shaw. “I don’t have proof, but I think that drink was for you. One of the last things I remember is interrupting you and Brent and taking your very full cup of punch.”
“You said it tasted weird.” That night comes rushing back to me. Axel taking my drink. How quickly his words became slurred and how we all thought he was just drunk. “Brent didn’t give me that drink though. Some sophomore on the baseball team did.”
“Do you have his name?” Detective Shaw asks.
I tell her what I remember and then say, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Axel nervously runs his hand through his hair. “I should have, but you were already going through so much, and I didn’t want to pile on. Reese and I made the decision not to tell anyone and to keep an eye on you.”
Tears prick at my eyes. I’ve been holding them back since we got here, but hearing all of this sets them loose. If a guy like Axel, who is strong and powerful, can’t be safe, how can anyone else?
“I’m going to give you two a minute alone,” Detective Shaw says, picking up her pad and sliding her chair back, “and go check on a few things. I’ll be back soon.”
I don’t look up as she exits the room, and Axel keeps his hand clamped around mine until the door shuts, then he pulls me out of the chair and onto his lap. “Tell me what’s going through that head of yours.”
“I don’t even know where to start.” I trace my fingers over the letters on his knuckles. “This is so fucked up. Like, did that kid know he was drugging me? Or did Brent put him up to it? We know he’s used others to do his dirty work before.” I look up at him. “And is this the reason we started hanging out all the time? Because you were keeping an eye on me?”
“No,” he says quick and hard. “Fuck no. That was about epic-fuck-ups and you and I made that pact before I found out about the drugs. That first night at the Teal House I had no idea.” His hand slides under my hair, cupping the back of my head. “And that’s the night I got hooked on you. Keeping an eye on you was just an excuse to be more obvious about it.” His green eyes hold mine. “I love you and you’re right, all of this is just fucked up, but the best part of this is that I found you.”
“I love you too.”
The door opens and Detective Shaw walks back in. “Ms. Beckwith, as much as I know you’d rather not, I’d like you to tell me everything that happened again. From the beginning.” She sets a recording device on the table. “This time we’ll record it.”
“You believe me?” I ask, needing some confirmation before I subject myself to the trauma all over again.
“I believe you.” She sits and sets a large brown file folder on the table. It’s stuffed with papers, and at least five inches thick. “And you’re not the only report that we’ve had.”
“Have you heard anything else?”Twyler asks. We’re huddled together in the arena, watching the final game of the season. The Badgers are tied and the stress I used to feel rolling off of Twyler at these games, is now something I feel too.
The last few days have gone by in a rush. I’d worried for so long that by admitting what had happened between me, Brent, and CJ would be this huge bomb in my life. But in reality, nothing was different, other than the relief. We rolled right into final exams. Eric and I gave our presentation earlier that day and got an A. My next to last semester at Wittmore is over.
“No.” I watch Axel easily deflect a puck with his shin pad. I glance back, making sure that the other girls aren’t in hearing distance. Bridget, Heather, and the other girls are in their usual seats. They’re decked out in Badger gear, but this time they’re wearing matching Santa hats. “They said they would add this to their evidence and start building a case.”
“As much as I want to say I can’t believe there are other reports, I’m not surprised.”
Detective Shaw didn’t give me any names or details on these other reports, just that they existed. The thought makes me sick to my stomach. I can’t help but think of the other jersey chasers that would hang around the football players–the sorority girls. Could I have helped someone if I came forward earlier? “They’re greedy, entitled men, it’s foolish to think that they’d think there were limits on their behavior.”
“That’s the damn truth,” she shakes her head. “Do you think they’ll really do anything about it? I mean Brent’s one of the top players in the country, he’s set to join the draft, and it’s not like the NFL has a history of supporting victims of players.”
“I’m really not sure. Detective Shaw seemed serious about it.” My gaze goes to Axel again. He’s focused on the action down rink. “Especially the drug stuff.”
Below, Reid slams a defender from the other team against the boards, the puck skittering free. Reese hooks it with the end of his stick and starts into a breakaway.
“Go! Go! Go!” she yells, hands clenched into tight fists. Behind us the girls break into panicked cheers. Reese moves with power and fluidity, drawing out the goalie and waiting until the last second to take a shot so fast it’s impossible to know if it made it in or not. The lamp flashes yellow, and a buzzer sounds. Twyler cups her mouth with her hands and cheers, “Yes! Let’s go one-five!” Reese lifts his stick and points it in her direction. These two: Relationship goals.
Her smile fades and she rolls her eyes. “I can’t believe Reese and Axel kept the fact he was drugged from both of us.”
“They were being protective.”
“And you’re okay with that?” she asks. When I nod, she says, “So, you and Axel still good?”
We’re more than good, and how I feel about him is hard for me to articulate. “He apologized, and I understand his reasoning. We barely knew each other and I was still reeling from everything else. I probably would have shut down entirely.”
I’ve never had a man look out for me like Axel does. He takes care of me. It’s who he is, deep down, a protector, of the net, his friends, his family, and now me. It’s sexy as hell.
“Fair, but I hope you made him grovel for a little bit. I got Reese to watch the special three hour New Kings tour with me the other night for keeping it from me.” Twyler’s eyes flick across the rink and she frowns. “Wonder who that is?” I follow her gaze to a man who just walked in. He’s overdressed in what looks like an expensive overcoat and suit. “Maybe it’s someone from the NCAA? Or a scout?”
“No clue,” I reply, but if I squint, there’s something familiar about him.
Play continues on the ice until the buzzer sounds, announcing the second intermission.
I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn to find Bridget squatting behind us. Her earrings look like jingle bells. “Holy shit. Did you know he was coming?”
“Who?” I frown, glancing at Twyler who shrugs. “Who’s he?”
She points across the rink where the zamboni smooths out the ice. “Axel’s dad.”