Chapter 47 Colton
FORTY-SEVEN
COLTON
NOVEMBER | COLUMBUS, OHIO AND DALLAS, TEXAS
Violet was here. In my bed. My real, actual girlfriend. And she loved me.
COACH flashed on the screen. Reality check.
“Hello?”
“Morning. I’ve got good news.”
“Alright?”
“Player safety reviewed the play, and they determined the injury was unintentional.”
I froze. “Wait. Seriously?”
“You got lucky on this one, Jones. It helped that he was your former teammate.”
Oh, the irony. If he hadn’t been my former teammate, or anyone in my life, I wouldn’t have been trying to hit him.
“So, nothing? No consequences?”
He guffawed. “I wouldn’t read what Dallas’s fans have to say after this goes public, but for now, yes. No consequences.”
“Okay. Wow. Uh. Thanks for letting me know.”
Coach didn’t hang up right away, which felt weird. “How’s your girl?”
I looked over at Violet sleeping. “She’s okay.”
“Good.” He sighed. “I know she probably doesn’t want to deal with reporting and all that now, but if there’s any way we can help her as an organization, please tell me.”
“Thanks. I’ll let her know. She’ll appreciate that.”
“Bring her around sometime.”
I startled. “Okay, you’re sure this is Coach? You sound like my mom.”
“Well, anyway,” he said. “You know where our next game is. I understand if you want to sit this one out.”
We were supposed to leave later that afternoon for Dallas. This happened sometimes. Playing a team back to back, first home, then away.
“No. I think I need to be there. If I back down, that’s kind of an admission of guilt, isn’t it?”
Coach grumbled. “Maybe. Maybe not. It could be considered a distraction. You did take a check to the back of the head if you need an out.”
I rubbed at the sore spot. “It’s just a bruise. They didn’t get me that good. But I don’t want to do anything to hurt the team,” I said. “If it’s better for me to hang back, I will.”
Coach sucked his teeth on the other end. “No. Fuck ‘em. If you feel good enough to play and you want to, let’s play you.”
The proud asshole in me wanted to be able to stand my ground on this. I wasn’t afraid of Dallas, or Pete, or any of their fans’ wrath. “Alright. I’ll let you know if I change my mind. Otherwise, see you this afternoon.”
“See you then.”
I stared at my phone in my hand after I hung up. How was I supposed to feel? Relieved? Happy? Guilty? It was really a conflicted mix of all three.
But for the moment, I had Violet next to me in her bedclothes, and all I wanted was to savor the time with her. I tossed my phone aside and snuggled up to my love who was finally mine.
There were consequences.
Things were quiet on the flight over.
“Have you read anything online?” Sorrento asked.
I winced. “I’m afraid to.”
“I would follow that instinct,” Leroy said. He looked worried. If even he looked worried, it must have been bad.
“It’s bad,” Owen said from across the aisle, like he could read my mind.
There was no chorus of “shut up, rookie.”
I felt betrayed. “What gives? You don’t tell him to shut up when I need him to shut up?”
“He’s not lying,” Garner said. “It’s bad.”
I looked to Sorrento for some kind of support. He put on an overenthusiastic smile and his voice was high-pitched. “It’s not great. But it’s only been a day or so. It still has time to fizzle. Talk is just talk.”
“Does the talk involve Violet?”
Sorrento opened his mouth to put it lightly, but Leroy, as per typical form, did not sugarcoat it. “They think Violet’s cheating on you with Doyle.”
I didn’t breathe for so long that my lungs hurt.
“She’s not, obviously,” Sorrento said, but it was just a suggestion that he wanted me to confirm or deny.
I shook my head. “No, she’s not. But . . . it’s so much worse than that.”
For people to connect the two of them romantically after what he did to her was so deeply hurtful.
“I have to warn her.”
COLTON
hi baby
VIOLET
hey :)
COLTON
so i guess things are pretty rough online so i just wanted to tell you to stay off the internet
VIOLET
fuck. why? what are they saying?
COLTON
just don’t look. i love you. this will pass.
VIOLET
it will, whatever it is. people are stupid.
and i love you too :)
I sat back after texting her and Sorrento kept looking at me and opening his mouth like he was going to say something. I turned to him and pinched my lips together. He lowered his brow and nodded.
“And hey.” He nudged me so I’d look at him. “Whatever it is, you made him pay. He’s not special. You fuck around, you find out.”
A hearty “that’s right” and “fuckin’ right” came from around us.
“Yeah, remember when you beat my ass for the clapper on the empty net when I played for L.A.?” Leroy laughed.
My lips turned up. “How could I forget?”
“Yeah. You made him pay for being an asshole. And Pete was an asshole to you. And if you hurt one of ours, we hurt you,” he went on. “We’re with you, Cap.”
More cheers spread and he slapped me on the back.
“See? We got ya. Whatever happens out there, we know you’re the good guy.”
Warmth bloomed in my chest, but there was still a pit in my stomach. Because I wasn’t the only one affected.
I knew it wouldn’t be pretty. But when I stepped on the ice for warmies in Dallas, the boos were almost deafening. People had signs. Some were from our fans and were supportive. But others were not so generous.
A picture of me with demon eyes. STOP THINKING WITH YOUR STICK. Someone had even printed a picture of Violet and I making out from that party and wrote WAS SHE WORTH OUR GOALIE on the sign.
The answer, of course, was yes. She was fucking worth it and I’d do it again. I’d do it even if I got suspended. I’d do it if it got me kicked out of the league. He was a motherfucker and he deserved pain, even though no amount of his pain would take away hers.
As lonely and shitty as it felt, the guys rallied around me. Every time I waited to take a practice shot, I got slaps on the back and “attaboy” and dapped up.
Pete was still out and would be until he was cleared from the concussion protocol.
Rusties PR suggested I go visit Pete to show some good will, but Coach quickly shot that down.
I was shocked how willing Coach was to back me up, to back Violet up.
I already wanted to have a good season for myself, for the team, but now I wanted one so maybe he could stay longer.
A crowd full of angry strangers was intimidating, but they didn’t feel as powerful as a bench full of guys having my back.
When Coach handed me the starting lineup in the locker room to do the callout, I had fire in my veins. Sorrento always gave me shit for not being mean enough in my pump-up speeches, but I had it in me on this day. The guys responded with shouts and claps.
“We’re going to go out there, and we’re going to put the extra fucking nail in their coffin.
We are gonna keep these motherfuckers in the ground.
They thought we gave it hard on Friday when they were in our house.
We’re going to show them that we can take ‘em in their house—and we’ll make it look easy. ”
That got a hearty cheer.
“We’re going to show them that we’ve got fuckin’ rust in our veins, and that rust is thicker than blood.
” I pointed at each guy and got a clap after each.
“Leroy, I want your hardest hits. Owen, you’re going to zip around them as fast as you can on those youthful tree trunks.
Dottie, don’t you fuckin’ hold back. You bring that Siberian thunder.
Let’s send ‘em home crying, let’s show ‘em that if you fuck around, you find out, and let’s show ‘em what it means to be a Rustie. So starting tonight on the ice . . .”
I ran through the lineup and by the time we hit the ice, I was ready to grind.
It didn’t take long for a fight to break out. Dallas’s captain, a guy I knew and respected, came straight for me when we first shared ice time. He dropped his stick and threw his gloves before he made it over to me, and I responded in kind.
“You knew this was coming, Jonesy,” he said with a twisted grin.
“I’m ready for ya.” And I was. I grabbed his jersey and gladly threw the first punch.
The refs let us carry on until they sent us both away with five for fighting.
When I sat down in the penalty box, I looked for the TV camera.
Before I grabbed a towel to dab my bleeding lip, I licked the blood, winked at the camera, and blew a kiss.
If I had to get my ass beat over my girlfriend, at least I was going to have fun doing it.