Chapter 41
ARCHER
Four days, multiple unread texts, and one unanswered phone call later, and I’m still public enemy number one.
This morning, when I pulled Darcy into my arms, she asked me how I was feeling. She could tell this whole thing with Jack was getting to me.
She’s right.
All I want to do is talk, but he won’t let me in.
The game against the Pittsburgh Flames was angsty.
Not because of the score—we rolled them over four to one, narrowly missing out on another shutout.
It was the tension that flowed from my center.
When I asked if he had any of the stick tape we both used, the cold shoulder he gave me was palpable.
I didn’t need any, and I knew the kit guy would fix me up; I was just thinking of an excuse to engage him in a conversation.
Any kind of conversation.
It didn’t work. All he did was shrug and turn toward his bench.
“Can you spot me?” Sawyer approaches from behind as I wipe the perspiration from above my brow.
Throwing my towel down, I try not to think about how I’d rather be anywhere else but here. If Darcy wasn’t at work, finalizing the details of her maternity leave with Janine, I would for sure be thinking up reasons to split early and avoid another second of Jack’s wrath.
“Sure thing,” I blow out.
He drops a hand onto my shoulder, scanning the room for eavesdroppers. Tommy Schneider sits a few machines down, using the leg press. Wearing earbuds during any group session is Coach’s pet peeve, so he went to town with full-on headphones.
“I know I said I wasn’t getting involved, but … do you want me to talk to him? I can try and smooth the land a little.”
I shake my head on the way over to the Olympic bar and get into position, taking the weight before Sawyer lies down on the bench.
“No. It’s fine. When he’s ready to talk, he will.”
From below me, Sawyer twists his lips. “You sure about that?”
He pushes out a few reps, and I take the weight back from him. “No, I’m not, but what other choice do I have? He’s not giving me a fair chance to explain, and I’m tired of shots being fired at me unfairly.”
“Unfairly?” a growl echoes from behind.
Fuck.
Replacing the weight back on the rack, I face Jack. He takes a pull from his water bottle, and I wait for him to elaborate because that’s the first fucking word he’s said to me by choice in the last ninety-six hours.
“This shit’s hilarious! It’s like some kind of standoff or something.” Tommy thumbs over his shoulder toward the locker rooms. “I’ve got a couple of pistols if you want to duel. Could be fun, I guess.”
“Not now, Tommy,” Sawyer warns, rising from the bench and coming to stand in a place between me and Jack.
Tommy just grins, enjoying every second of the charged atmosphere.
“Why am I being unfair?” Jack speaks. “You expected to snap your fingers, and I’d be cool with everything?”
I drag a palm down my face, frustrated because I know whatever I say won’t make any difference. “If you can’t set your feelings aside for me, then maybe do it for Darcy. She’s upset and panicking that I’m going to get traded by the GM if shit doesn’t calm down.”
He snorts. “Why would you get traded? We all played well against the Flames, and I supported you in the slot, like always.”
“Come on!” I throw my hands up, voice several octaves higher. Thankfully, Jon isn’t around to witness this. “You could feel the hostility from the moon, never mind the fucking family box.”
“My kind of game.”
“Shut up!” Jack and I shout at Tommy in unison.
Like he’s chewing on some gum, he simply shrugs and leans back on the press, getting back to work and doing us all a favor.
Jack pushes a hand through his sweat-soaked hair. Like every other time his sister’s been brought into the conversation, he mellows.
“Darcy knows this has nothing to do with her.”
“Good fucking thing,” I retort, really wishing I had more control over my mouth today.
Jack goes to spin on his heel, pointing to the treadmills on the other side of the room. A pang of sadness shoots through me. Only last season, we were laughing and joking around by them, winding Sawyer up over his date with Collins.
And now all he wants to do is retreat to them.
“Are we done?”
I step forward, determination pushing me on. “No, we’re not done. Not by a long shot.”
He crosses his arms over his chest, a classic defensive stance if ever I saw one.
“Okay, have your little speech in front of everyone. Don’t forget to leave out the part where you lied—multiple times.”
“I lied because this is how I thought you’d react!” I yell. “And all you’re doing is proving me right.”
He presses his lips into a thin line, biting back anger.
“The first rule of a friendship is not to go behind each other’s backs.
Why couldn’t you just be up front with me?
I’m starting to wonder if I hadn’t caught you in the airport, when would you have actually admitted to everything?
” He throws his arms out, releasing a defeated breath.
“It just fucking blows, and if the shoe were on the other foot, I would’ve never done that to you with Emma. ”
The conversation ends when Jack spins on his heel, shaking his head on the way over to the treadmills.
Sawyer watches him leave. “Time. He just needs time.”
I nod in my center’s direction. “And you think he’s ready for the captaincy next year?”
He shrugs. “Yeah, I do. He hasn’t taken any of this out onto the ice. The guy’s hurt for personal reasons, and the next time you talk to him, it has to be in private.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, this is all I need,” I say as Tommy grabs his training shirt, throws it over his shoulder, and waltzes toward us.
I’ll give him something—the guy does not give a shit about anything.
“When I got traded, I was under the impression that this team was tight.” Tommy looks around the room, tipping his head from side to side. “Apparently, it was a far cry from the shit show my dad played for.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the team,” Sawyer grits out. “It’s a disagreement between friends that will pass.”
Tommy scratches at his chest. A motherfucking smirk I’d love to wipe clean from his face is still there.
“You fucked his sister and got her pregnant, right? Then you married her, all before he found out.” He puffs out a laugh.
“Fuck me, I don’t have a sister, but if my best friend did that behind my back, he’d never see the light of day.
” He keeps grinning, only wider this time.
“Drop it, Schneider,” Sawyer demands.
His eyes rove around the gym. “Speaking of girls. That one with dark hair. She plays soccer and is a real fucking firecracker.” He rubs his temple. “I swear I heard someone mention her name in the postgame bar.”
“Jenna?” I say.
He snaps his fingers. “Yes, that’s the chick. Hot as fuck,” he purrs. “She have a boyfriend, or is she fair game?”
“Neither,” I reply. “She’s way out of your league.”
He laughs, loving the heated exchange. This guy feeds off tension and controversy.
“Says the guy who could only bag his girl by sneaking around behind her brother’s back, getting her knocked up and then eloping.
I mean, do you even plan on announcing to the world that you’re together?
You don’t need to sneak around anymore now that you’ve been caught. ”
My anger, which has been simmering beneath the surface since Jack stalked off, spills over.
Big time.
Sawyer steps forward, ready to intercept any punches as I square up to Tommy. The guy is huge. With tattoos covering his entire upper half and hands, some even on his neck, he’s an intimidating figure.
Not that he intimidates me.
“If you spent more time concentrating on your game and less on getting into other people’s business and fights on the ice, it’s possible people around here might actually like you.”
He sneers, and I smile sweetly.
“Touched a nerve?” I continue. “You don’t know shit about me, my wife, or my marriage, and that’s how I intend to keep it. You walked into this team a few days ago, and all you’ve done is exactly what we predicted—stir shit. That kind of behavior isn’t welcome here.”
He motions behind him to where Jack’s working out. “Your assistant captain doesn’t seem to agree. He’s next-level pissed with you, and it shows. Maybe he can see something in you the others can’t?”
Hands curling into fists by my sides, I glance at Sawyer for a modicum of control.
I can’t punch this guy.
“However Jack feels about me right now is inconsequential. He’s a good man, and in the foreseeable future, he will likely be your captain.
He’s pissed at me right now, but I know our friendship runs way deeper than the bullshit you’re spewing.
” I drop my eyes down his body. “So, why don’t you head back over to the leg press and start working on your quads? ”
I’m surprised when he does just that, but not before he turns over his shoulder, throwing me the usual shit-eating grin.
I ignore it and focus my attention back on Jack, who’s still pounding the treadmill.
“He’s just like his dad,” Sawyer says about Tommy on a headshake. “The GM made a mistake, bringing him into the team.”
Reaching across to the Olympic bar, I grab my towel and water bottle, ready to get out of here and back to my girl when she’s finished work.
“What’s done is done. He’s here now, and we need to try and make the best of it.”
Sawyer nods, his captaincy mask slipping back into place. “Excluding him from Collins’s birthday party in January isn’t an option then?”
“No,” I breathe. “Unfortunately not. Although I was surprised she’s even having one when Darcy told me.”
His smile grows wide. Anything about his fiancée, and this guy turns to a fucking puddle. “She’s softening in her old age. It might have something to do with my son too.”
I clap a hand on his shoulder, genuinely happy he and Ezra have found their person.
“You’re a good friend, buddy. Maybe I don’t say it enough, but you are.
You’ve got me out of a lot of binds in the past, but I want you to let go of this situation between me and Jack.
You don’t need to worry about it because I’ve got it handled.
I know I’ve said that before, and it’s blown up in my face, but this time, I promise you I’ll make it right.
Just concentrate on enjoying your final season in the NHL, okay? ”
Although Sawyer hasn’t officially announced when he’s retiring, I don’t need him to. I know my best friend well enough to sense when he’s ready to hang his skates up.
“Despite everything going on right now, I know this season is ours. I’m determined to put the Cup in your hands because you deserve that, Man. You deserve it.”
His eyes glaze as he clears his throat. “Where did that sentimental speech come from?”
I shrug, thinking about my girls and my new brother-in-law I’m desperate to fix things with. “I guess life perspective changes when you realize what’s important. And you’re really fucking important to me.”