Chapter 33 - June
June
By the time Cole drove over to the arena, there were five of us sitting in the office with Coach Jay. Me and Elias, obviously, the assistant coach who had found the note, the head of stadium security, and a detective from the Atlanta Police Department.
The captain of the Reapers stormed into the office with rage on his face. “Let me see it.”
The detective handed him the note, which was now in a protective layer of plastic. Cole read it out loud.
“This is your last warning. If you play in the next game against the Lightning, I’ll burn your fucking house down.”
His fingers began tightening on the plastic, so the detective grabbed it from him before he could crumple the evidence.
“We checked it for fingerprints,” the detective explained. “The assistant’s were the only ones we found. But we’ll send it off to the lab in case there’s any other DNA on the paper. Sometimes bad guys mess up.”
His tone was doubtful, though.
Cole immediately looked to me. “I’m so sorry this happened, June.”
“Hey, don’t worry about me. I’m not the one they’re threatening. All I have to deal with is a tire replacement.”
Cole gave me a tiny smile, then turned to the detective. “Do you think this is related to the burned-out spark plug incident?”
“We can’t say definitively, but that’s a good bet,” he replied. “Someone knows you drive a Bronco and confused hers for yours. Twice. We’re reviewing all the parking lot footage now.”
“I’m not sitting out the next game,” Cole said firmly. “The Lightning are only two points behind us in the standings, and I’m sick of letting threats dictate our roster.”
“Relax, I’m not benching you,” Jay said. “I agree with everything you said. I don’t like someone external making my roster decisions for me.”
Cole nodded once. “What’s the plan, then?”
“Increased security at the arena,” the detective said. “We’re also going to quietly rope in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. They have a lot more resources at their disposal.”
“Good,” Cole said. “What were you and Elias doing here, anyway? Official practice isn’t for another hour.”
“Extra rehab,” I said more calmly than I felt. “Just my luck, huh?”
“We’ve made the decision not to tell the rest of the team,” Jay said. “The only people who know about the letter are in this room. Let’s keep it that way.”
Our regular practice came and went without anything else exciting happening. When I walked back out to my car afterward, the tire had already been changed and all evidence of the crime removed.
Cole was still shaken by the whole thing, and wanted to hang out after practice, so he came back to my place. Rhett invited himself over too, and we didn’t have any way of telling him no without tipping him off.
But he figured out that something was wrong after just five minutes on the couch with us, so we ignored Coach Jay’s mandate and told Rhett what had happened.
“Mother fucker!” he said. “Should I start bringing a gun to work? I only have my old hunting rifle back home, but my cousin’s got a pistol I could borrow.”
“Let’s not go that far,” I said. “I’ve got pepper spray in my bag. That should be enough in case something worse happens.”
“Who would do this?” Cole wondered out loud. “Messing with my car, trying to poison me with peanut butter cookies…”
“Don’t forget me!” Rhett said. “He left a threatening note in my locker first.”
“He?” I said. “Let’s not assume the person’s gender. A woman could have done this.”
“Maybe,” Rhett said. “But I’d feel real bad punching a woman in the face. Because that’s what I’m gonna do when I find this sumbitch.”
I leaned over and caressed the back of his neck with my fingernails the way he liked. “I don’t blame you. I want to punch them in the face, too.”
Rhett and Cole started chatting about hockey, and I let my mind drift while listening to them.
I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened with Elias earlier.
It was wonderful in all the best ways, getting the huge goalie to open up to me like that.
It felt like a massive victory, to say nothing of the sex.
Which was fantastic, by the way.
But there was one aspect that I now had to handle: telling Rhett and Cole. None of us were exclusive, and they had reiterated several times that I could do whatever I wanted, but there was a big difference between hooking up with a random guy and hooking up with their teammate.
“There’s something I need to tell you guys,” I said when there was an opening in their conversation.
“Uh oh,” Rhett said. “Nothing good ever starts that way.”
I decided that the best thing was to spit it out. “Elias and I slept together.”
I tensed, waiting to see how they would react. The moment probably only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like hours.
“Holy shit,” Rhett finally said. “Elias? Our teammate?”
I nodded.
“He never hooks up with anyone. Like, he’s famous for it. He finds someone on Hinge once a year during the off-season and blows off steam, then that’s it.”
“He must really like you to hook up during the season,” Cole said.
I glanced back and forth between them. “Neither of you are mad?”
“Mad?” Rhett scoffed. “Nah. Not really. Glad it’s someone we know. Elias. Wow.”
“I’m still reeling from the threat I received today,” Cole said, patting my leg. “Compared to that, this news is downright pleasant.”
“The two of us are already sharing you. What’s one more?” Rhett asked. “Assuming it wasn’t just a one-time thing with Elias.”
“I actually don’t know,” I admitted. “We didn’t have much time to talk about it, because the note stabbed into my tire was discovered right after that.”
“Wait. Hold on just one goddamn second.” Rhett stood up and crossed his arms. “You slept with him at work? At the arena?”
Cringing, I nodded.
“That’s our place!” Rhett insisted. “It’s less special if you’re hooking up with other people there. From now on, you two are only allowed to have sex at home. Or somewhere other than the trainer’s room.”
“Technically, it was in the workout room,” I added.
Rhett threw up his hands and began pacing. “Oh my God. There are so many good places to have sex in there.”
“There are cameras, too,” Cole said.
“We were in a blind spot. On the bench press.”
“The bench I have to use for my workout tomorrow?” Rhett groaned louder. “I’m getting a beer. You want one, Cole?”
“I’m good,” he said, smiling over at me. “Was it good? Did he grunt a lot?”
“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell,” I said curtly. “You wouldn’t want me telling everyone the details of our sex life, would you?”
“True.”
Rhett came back from the kitchen with a beer in hand. “I don’t want to focus on this too much, but adding a third man to our little group opens up a lot more sex positions and combinations.”
“I’d be afraid to have a threesome or foursome with Elias,” Cole said. “I’m imagining him glaring the entire time.”
“Ten minutes of annoyed grunts.” Rhett started humping the air and grunting loudly.
Laughing, I said, “Elias might surprise you. He has a softer side.”
Rhett dropped onto the couch next to me. “I don’t want to say I don’t believe you… but I don’t believe you.”
“Don’t mention the fact that I told you,” I warned them. “It just happened today, and I don’t know how he would react. Let me feel him out first.”
“Are you kidding? I’m usually too terrified to bring up the weather to Elias. I sure as hell ain’t gonna mention his sex life!” Rhett exclaimed.
Our laughter helped take our minds off the stress of the day.
But it still simmered underneath, like a volcano preparing to erupt.