20. Chapter Nineteen
”Itold you what I”d do if you ever hurt her,” Bobby growls and hurls Kace out into the parking lot.
The cry from Bri that echoed down the hallway gutted him as Bobby and the others forced him further and further away. All he wants to do is run inside and hold her. Tell her it”s not what it sounds like. He never had any other women, and he would never cheat. Not even if the relationship was fake. That”s not a loophole, and that”s not who he is.
”None of that was true!” Kace shouts and pushes Bobby away from him. ”There has been no one since Bri, and I sure as hell don”t find anything about what we have as fake.”
”You told someone who does. Hasn”t she been humiliated enough? She didn”t deserve that. Especially from you.”
”You don”t understand, Bobby. I swear, I”m going to murder Rudy and beat the living shit out of my supposed best friend. This can”t be happening. What the fuck did they do?”
One of the other security guards, Kace thinks is named Randy, steps forward. ”Are you upset you”ve lost Bri or upset the attention turned bad?”
”I don”t give a flying fuck about the attention. If she wanted to stop performing music and write songs for other artists like she”s talked about, I”d still want to be with her. Her celebrity status doesn’t matter. It”s not how I determine who I want to sit at my table. She”s one of the best people I”ve ever met, and that”s what I care about.”
”Probably should”ve told your friend that, huh?” Bobby says. ”I”d suggest you leave before I find that bat I promised you. Wasn”t planning on having to end your career today, so I”m not what one would call prepared.”
Kace knows the man wouldn”t hesitate, and if he didn”t need them to murder the captain of his team, he might just let him. Sighing, he walks to his waiting car and takes off.
Bri”s last show happened to be just outside Moose Jaw, and the stars have aligned to have Brett in town because he plays the Bootleggers tomorrow night. Well, supposed to. All three of them will either be in the morgue, hospital, or jail.
Pulling into the driveway of Rudy”s rental only three streets away from Kace’s, he sees Brett sitting on the front porch. He planned to visit him next, so this works out perfectly. One burst of energy to take everyone out.
”Kace, listen to me-”
”How could you do this?” Kace shouts as he climbs out of the vehicle. ”Forget about me because right now, we”re not friends. But you know her! You know her character, and you know she didn”t deserve that!”
Brett pushes Kace backwards. ”I”m sorry, okay? We were drinking the other night, and it slipped out. But I never thought he”d go public with the information.”
”Have you met that asshole? He”ll do anything and everything to toss me under a bus. But you told him how the relationship with her started, but you never got the full story. How it stopped being fake, and how I fucking fell in love with her.”
Freezing, Brett stares at him. ”You”re in love with her?”
”Yeah, and I planned to tell her on Christmas morning when I gave her the gift I got her while the rest of the family tears open their presents. But with how I feel right now, after listening to her cry of pain filling the hallway as her security team escorted me from the stadium, you”re gonna want to get out of my way. We watched his little interview, and I plan to shed blood. Truth of the matter is, I don”t give a fuck if it”s just his or both of yours.”
”Kace-”
Pushing Brett to the side, he takes the steps two at a time and pounds on the door. Rudy answers, a smug look on his face. ”Hello, Kace. What a surprise.”
Kace”s fist hits Rudy square in the nose, knocking him backwards. Blood appears, and he wants more. Much more. ”I said we were done before, but we”re really fucking done now. You took Sasha, which, whatever. I don”t give a shit anymore. I planned to talk about making amends, but now? Now I plan to bury you in your goddamned backyard.”
”Such a tough guy, Kace Lyons,” Rudy says and grabs a towel to wipe his nose.
”Why can”t you just let me be happy?” he shouts and lunges at his teammate.
Brett grabs him and pulls him back. Rudy shouts, ”Like you couldn”t let me be happy with Amanda? I planned to marry that girl!”
Both Brett and Kace freeze as Kace stares at Rudy. ”Amanda?”
”You knew I was in love with her, but she dumped me. For you.”
”Who the fuck is Amanda?” Kace asks, pushing Brett off him.
”You don”t even remember the women you fuck?”
Kace looks at Brett for any insight information, but he shakes his head, equally confused. ”No, I remember every single woman I”ve ever slept with. Well, except that one chick from freshman year and that wild party I got drunk for the last time at. Wait, is this about the chick I slept with over a decade ago? You”ve been holding onto something that long?”
”No, not the chick in college. Amanda Summers.”
”The girl you dated last year?”
”Yes!”
He shakes his head. ”I never slept with her. I never even met her. Until right fucking now, I didn”t even know her last name.”
”She said you two hooked up at the last party we all went to in Galveston at that bar downtown. That”s why I stopped celebrating with you two,” Rudy says. ”All I wanted to do was murder you.”
”I was with Sasha last year, asshole. And everyone in this room should know I”m not a cheater. It”s not who I am.”
”Then why would you both disappear at the same time that night?” Rudy asks. ”When she told me you hooked up in the bathroom, I knew it was true because you left and never came back. Just like her.”
Brett holds a hand up. ”Kace didn”t leave the party with Amanda. Tiffany Hanson threw up all over him after Sasha got mad that they hadn”t left yet. Tiffany did a keg stand, and when they set her upright, she upchucked everything she”d eaten for the last week onto Kace.”
”I didn”t even know Amanda was at the party, Rudy. Probably because I NEVER FUCKING MET HER!” Kace shouts.
Rudy shakes his head. ”No, you”re just sticking up for him because you feel guilty his little plan didn”t work out. Would you like me to call Amanda and ask her? You can hear her call your ass out?”
”Please do. She can tell you we never met. And I can tell you for a fact I never fucked her,” he growls.
Holding the phone to his ear, Rudy”s hand shakes as his nostrils flare. ”Amanda?”
”Put it on speaker,” Brett says.
He does and sighs. ”Rudy Marshall.”
”Oh... hey, Rudy. What”s up?”
”I”m here with Kace and Brett, and we need you to clear something up for us.”
”Me? What can I clear up?”
Rudy wears a triumphant smirk. ”You told me you broke up with me because you couldn”t handle the guilt from sleeping with my best friend.”
”Who was your best friend?” Amanda asks.
”Kace Lyons.”
”Oh, yeah.”
Kace glares at the phone. ”When the fuck did I sleep with you?”
”You didn”t.”
”What?” Rudy asks. ”Wait, you said you slept with him at the party. In the men”s bathroom.”
”I lied.”
Crossing his arms, Kace glares at Rudy. This all came about because Rudy believed Kace slept with someone he didn”t even know. Great. Just great.
”I told you I didn”t fuck her. I”m not a cheater, and I”m also not a backstabbing asshole like you are.”
”Why would you say you slept with Kace if you didn”t?” Brett asks. ”You realize how fucked up that is, right?”
”Because I didn”t want to see Rudy anymore.”
Kace snorts, and Rudy stares at the phone in shock. ”Then why didn”t you just tell me that?”
”Because you kept telling me how in love with me you were, and it became harder and harder to find a way to break up with you. You kind of seemed like the guy who”d say no and keep calling when I said I wanted to see other people.”
Brett looks at Kace and whispers, ”This chick is bananas.”
”Great, now I have Gwen Stefani”s song stuck in my head,” Kace says.
”So, you never cheated?” Rudy asks.
”Oh, I totally cheated. It just wasn”t with Kace. I figured the guy I slept with wouldn”t be enough to unhook the claws you had into me, so I picked one of your friends. I planned to choose Brett as the guy I screwed around with, but we all saw him banging that redhead in the hallway. You would’ve known it was a lie.”
”That was a good night,” Brett says with a smirk.
Kace looks at him and takes a step back. This only proves that both of his supposed friends betrayed him for absolutely no good reason. And he wants to swing his fists for it.
Rudy hangs up the phone. ”Kace, man... I don”t know what to say.”
”Oh, you”ve said plenty. I watched everything you said in that fucking interview. You both have said too much,” he growls.
”Kace, listen, this was all a big misunderstanding. We can talk about it, throw a few more punches, and we”ll be good as new,” Brett says.
Kace shakes his head. ”You don”t get it. It”s not just me you two hurt. Bri was innocent in all of this. You just didn”t fuck me over, you fucked her over, too. Don”t you get that?”
”Wait, you”re mad that the fake relationship is over because she”s hurt?” Rudy asks.
”It wasn”t fake!” he shouts and takes another step back as his hands shake at his sides. ”It started out as a stunt, but it was real. It was the most real relationship I”ve ever had, and now you”ve fucked it all up. You fucked it up because you believed I cheated on my ex with your ex. Which you should have known isn”t my style.”
”Rudy can go back and say it was all a misunderstanding. That he was jealous of the attention you got, and he realizes now how stupid it was,” Brett says. ”He owes you that much.”
”I don”t think I can,” Rudy says and looks at his phone.
Brett pushes him. ”Eat some crow, Rudy. You fucked him over with two girls.”
”No, that”s not what I mean,” he says and plays a video on his phone.
”A statement released from Bri Waters” rep states, ”The relationship between Bri Waters and Kace Lyons started as a publicity stunt to control and take back the narrative after the Easton Duffy scandal. As the two got to know each other, the relationship grew into something real, and Bri fell for Kace. The interview from his teammate was a slap in the face, and it”s clear to her now that Kace Lyons never felt the same way as she did. The relationship in all facets has been terminated, and we ask everyone to respect Bri”s privacy as she deals with this devastating humiliation.
”I think it”s safe to say Bri Waters has the worst taste in men, and Kace Lyons is nothing more than a dog for doing something this terrible to her. All the fans the Moose Jaw Bootleggers gained because of Bri Waters have now turned into angry mobs wishing for Kace”s head on a stick. Good job, Mr. Lyons.”
Kace stares at the phone, and Rudy just shakes his head. ”I”m sorry, man. I”m so sorry.”
”You should have just come to me and asked me. We could have put this whole thing to rest a year ago. I”m also guessing this little piece of information played a hand in Sasha sleeping with you for six months before ending it with me.”
”Kace-”
”We”re done, Rudy. And based on this publicity, I wouldn”t be surprised if Coach benches me because this type of publicity isn”t what the team needs. Which actually works because I don”t ever want to step out on that ice with you again. Unless I”m against you, and you better pray this anger subsides by then.”
Taking a deep breath, Brett looks between them. ”Kace, I know you”re pissed, and you have every right to be. But let”s be reasonable here.”
”Reasonable? You”re even more at fault in this that he is. I get why Rudy may have wanted to do this, as stupid and fucked up as his thinking was, but you? You know her, Brett. The person she is, and how genuinely amazing and kind that woman”s soul is. Part of you had to know this was a possibility, even drunk, and you still did something to hurt her. I don”t give a shit about me. My career is probably over now, but she didn”t deserve any of this.”
”You care about her,” Rudy says.
”I love her,” Kace says. ”Not that I owe you any explanations, but it wasn”t fake. Not after the first dinner we had together. She doesn”t trust many people, and she believes I proved her right because you two are fucking assholes. Fuck you both.”
”How can we fix this?” Brett asks.
”You can”t.”
Rudy looks at Brett. ”We”ll find a way, Kace. We”ll find a way to make this better, and we”ll make it up to you.”
”Don”t bother. Don”t call, don”t text, don”t visit. I hope I never see either of you again.”
”Kace, we”re on the same team.”
”Well, Bri”s head of security threatened to take me out at the knees if I ever hurt her, and the only reason I”m still standing is because he didn”t have a bat handy. Maybe I should give Bobby a heads up and show back up to let him make good on the threats. None of us will ever play together again.”
”Wait, you”re not serious,” Brett says. ”You wouldn”t actually end your career over this.”
He shrugs. ”What career do I have anyway? You heard the interview. Everyone wants my head on a stick, and I expect Coach benches me for the rest of the season. Or maybe Louis will release me, and no team will pick me up with the negative press. You win, Rudy. Congratulations. You win a game I was never playing. I hope you finally feel like the man you”ve been trying to be for so long now.”
Kace turns and walks out the door. He lost everything today. His girl. His best friends. Probably even his career.