Chapter 21 #3
As my periphery grew dark, I bent over, taking deep inhales and placing a hand on my knee. I was losing my damn mind. I’d had one too many devastating phone calls today.
“Alex, are you there?”
My doorbell rang.
“What now?” As my vision cleared, I stood.
“Someone’s at my door. I’ll call you back, okay?
” I ended the call, set my phone on the coffee table, and strode to my door.
How could this be happening? I’d be stuck on the other side of the country from my boyfriend, my best friends, while living a few hours’ drive from parents who might never talk to me again. I swung the door open.
Julian stood at the entrance, his gray button-down shirt rumpled and his eyes red and swollen. “Alex? They want to trade you to a team in Philadelphia.” He fell against my chest, hooking his arms around my waist, and shook with silent weeping.
“Damn it.” I held him close and kissed his hair as I smoothed it. We needed a way out of this. “I know, I just spoke with my agent.”
He settled and sniffled. “What do you have to drink?” With a squeeze, he straightened his shoulders and strode into the main room.
Shutting the door behind him, I said, “Shot of good Russian vodka?” Maybe we’d get drunk tonight. Hell, I didn’t have a game tomorrow.
“Works for me.” He swiped his face with the back of his hand and poured two shots. “I want to kill my damn father. He’s being completely unreasonable.”
“Julian, we’ve broken franchise policy. We knew what we were doing.” I stepped up behind him, brushed his hair from his neck, and kissed it. But it seemed we were being harshly treated. I should tell him about my family. “Hey, I called my parents this morning.”
He turned, handing me a full shot glass. “You did?” His forehead wrinkled. “What happened?”
“It was…” I downed the shot and hissed. “Fucked up, just like I suspected. My mother cried. My father was so angry, he could barely speak to me.” And I hadn’t even had time to process it yet.
“Jesus, Alex. I’m so sorry.” He drank his shot, cupped my cheek and placed a lingering kiss on my mouth. “Do you think they’ll come around?”
“I don’t know. My sister is working on them.
She’s probably getting an earful as we speak.
” I sighed as a pleasant buzz filled my head.
I should stop doing shots. Julian was here now, and who knew how much more time we’d spend together?
Though the trade might require some time to finalize.
Grabbing Julian’s hand, I led him to my couch. “What do we do now?”
“Call Mason.” He fell in beside me.
“What can he do?” We were doomed with no way out.
“I don’t know.” Julian fished his phone from the pocket of his slacks. “I’m making an appointment with my father. He won’t escape this without a fight.” He sent a text to his father and a second later, his phone chimed. “There. He’ll meet us at the Ice Den tomorrow at one.”
“Okay.” Hell, it was worth a shot. I grabbed my phone from the table and called Mason.
“Hey, Alex. I’m guessing you’ve got news,” he said. “Wait a minute, I’m putting you on speaker so Jett can hear.”
“Hi, Alex. I’m here,” Jett said.
Damn, my friends were ready to rally around me. “My agent tells me the team wants to trade me to the Flyers.” I rubbed my forehead. I still found it hard to believe.
“No shit? They can’t do that. What the fuck?” Mason asked.
“They can, Mason, and you know it,” Jett said calmly. “Do you have any recourse right now?”
“I…” I flicked my gaze to Julian’s as he watched me. “I came out to my family today intending to go public with our relationship. I thought it might show Grant how serious I am about his son. I thought, maybe then he’d try to work with us.” But maybe I’m too late.
As Julian’s eyes glittered, he picked up my hand and kissed the back of it.
“How did it go with your parents, Alex?” Jett asked.
“Not good. Terrible even. But I haven’t had time to process it yet. My priority is changing Grant’s mind.” Leaning over, I kissed Julian’s cheek.
“I’m sorry about your family. I’m sure they’ll come around.” Jett said.
“Trading you is absurd. Have you seen any of the sports blogs today? There’s been nothing but praise for how unstoppable the three of us are after yesterday’s game.” Mason scoffed.
“Yeah, well, policy is policy.” I released a heavy sigh. “We’re meeting with Grant tomorrow at one o’clock to see if there’s anything else we can do.”
“Oh, really…” Mason said in a teasing tone. “Listen, you hold tight and we’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Mason? I know that look. What are you thinking?” Jett asked.
“You’ll find out. I have work to do.” He snickered. “Come on, babe. We need to gather the squad.”
“Okay, um, we’ll talk to you tomorrow, Alex.” In a hushed voice, Jett said, “What are you doing, Mason?” The call ended.
If nothing else, they’d given me hope and lightened my mood. “Hey, want to spend the night?” I slid my arm across Julian’s shoulders. I’d lose myself in my boyfriend and forget all this shit for now. “I have some frozen pizza and—”
“Yes.” Julian climbed onto my lap with his knees on either side of my hips.