Chapter 35 Fish
FISH
Or so I thought.
I’m half asleep when Collette’s phone starts buzzing, not a single buzz, but a relentless, aggressive vibration that sounds like a swarm of bees has taken up residence on my nightstand.
“What the fuck.” I groan, reaching for her.
But she’s already sitting up, grabbing her phone, staring at the screen with an expression that wakes me up faster than any alarm.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
She doesn’t answer, she just scrolls, fast, and her face has gone white.
“Lettie. What is it?”
“Oh no,” she whispers. “No, no, no.”
I sit up and look over her shoulder. The screen is a wall of notifications, her work accounts are blowing up.
And then I see the headline.
Mavericks Captain’s Secret Romance With Team Physio
Underneath it is a photo of Cap and Jo in the medical room at the arena, with her hands on his face, and him looking at her like she’s his entire world. It’s intimate, private, and it’s everywhere.
“Fuck,” I breathe. But also, the tiniest bubble of hope blooms because the captain seems to have had a secret, too.
“I have to go.” She’s already out of bed, pulling on clothes and grabbing her shoes. “I have to get to Jo and Emmett before Pierre does.”
“Wait.” I grab her arm. “You knew about them.”
She stops and looks at me. I can see it on her face, the guilt, the conflict, the fact that she’s been hiding her sister’s secret from her husband. “It’s a complicated story, which I will tell you about later, but, yes, I knew. It was the reason I knew my sister wouldn’t tell anyone about us.”
“For how long?” I ask.
“A while.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“It wasn’t my secret to tell. I have to go, Jo needs me.” She’s right. I know she’s right. But it stings. “Babe.” She stops at the bedroom door and looks at me. “I need you to rally the guys, because Emmett’s going to need them as backup when dealing with my brothers.”
“On it.”
Then she’s gone, the front door closes, and I’m alone in bed staring at a photo of my captain and my secret sister-in-law making out, which the entire world is now dissecting.
I open the boys’ chat and post the headline into it.
Bouch: What the fuck.
Nelly: Is this AI?
Evan: It’s too fucking early.
Sully: Fuck.
Bouch: @sully, is this true? You’re his bestie. Is the Cap seriously hooking up with a St. Pierre?
Sully: I’ll let him explain.
Nelly: You knew.
Sully: It’s not what you think.
Bouch: Looks like they might be hooking up.
Nelly: Can’t believe him, of all people, broke the rules.
Evan: He’s human.
Fish: Pierre and Felix are going to kill him.
Bouch: He is a dead man walking.
Sully: Fuck. I’m going to have to go warn him. He’s not picking up his phone.
Fish: You can’t go alone. I’ll come.
Bouch: Me too.
Evan: Fine. I’m in.
Nelly: One in, all in.
I get dressed fast, jeans, hoodie, sneakers.
The whole time, my brain is running a parallel track, one side focused on Emmett and the shitstorm that’s about to rain down on him, the other side screaming at me that everything happening to my captain right now is a preview of what’s coming for me. Except mine is worse. So much worse.
Evan: I’m downstairs.
Fish: Coming.
When I walk out of my elevator and see Evan waiting for me, he gives me a look.
“I know,” I tell him.
“Look, at least you’re not the only one,” he says.
“This might be a foreshadowing of what’s to come for me.”
This makes Evan laugh. “You’re so fucked.”
Thanks.
We meet Sully in the lobby, Bouch, and Nelly are right behind us.
Nobody says much, the elevator ride is tense.
Sully has a key to Emmett’s apartment, but as soon as we step out of the elevator, we hear the screaming, which has us rushing to the door.
He pushes through, we file in behind him, and the scene stops all of us dead.
Emmett is on the floor, not moving. Jo is on her knees beside him, crying, her hands on his face.
Pierre is standing over them, fists still clenched, face red, breathing hard.
Collette is there, pale, arms crossed. Felix, Issy, and Harper are in the doorway beside us, frozen.
“What the fuck happened?” Sully asks.
“Pierre knocked him out,” Collette says flatly. Her eyes find mine for a split second, and I see everything in them, fear, anger, and the unspoken message, This is what we’re up against.
“You punched Cap?” I say. My eyes are wide because even though I saw this coming the second I read those headlines, seeing Emmett Black unconscious on his apartment floor with his arm in a sling is something else entirely.
“He’s been lying to all of us,” Pierre says. “Sneaking around with my sister.”
“So you knocked him out?” Bouch looks between Pierre and Emmett. “Jesus.”
“Someone want to explain what the hell is going on?” Nelly asks.
Jo takes a shaky breath and kisses Emmett’s temple, then she looks up at all of us and tells us everything. “We were going to tell you,” she says. “In the summer, when the timing was better. But someone took photos at the game yesterday and now the whole world knows.”
“You’ve been lying for months,” Felix says, his voice cold.
“Babe,” Harper says it as a warning to tread carefully.
“We weren’t lying,” she argues.
“You kept it secret. That’s lying,” Felix yells.
“We were protecting ourselves!” Jo screams. She’s crying again. “From exactly this! From you all looking at us like we did something wrong!”
“You did do something wrong,” Pierre says. “You’re a team employee. He’s the captain. There are policies.”
“I know about the policies! But fuck them right now. All I care about is him and if he’s ever going to wake up.”
“You could lose your job, Jo,” Felix adds.
“I don’t care. I love him.” Her tears fall onto Emmett’s face.
“You love him?” Sully asks. I’m surprised that this is news to Sully.
Jo looks up at his best friend. “That’s what the photo online is of us declaring our love.” His face softens.
“Fuck, guys, they love each other,” I say.
“Stay the hell out of this, Fish,” Pierre warns me.
“Yep. Sorry,” I say, holding up my hands and moving out of striking range. Because Pierre’s fists are still clenched, and I am very much on his future hit list.
“You think you know what love is after such a short time?” Pierre scoffs at Jo.
“I expect you to trust that I know what I’m doing. That I know my own heart. That I wouldn’t risk everything for someone who wasn’t worth it.”
“And he is?” Pierre gestures to Emmett. “He’s worth your career? Your reputation? Your family?”
“Yes.”
The word hangs in the air.
“Then you’re an idiot,” Pierre says.
“Pierre ...” Issy says sternly.
“No. She needs to hear this.” He turns back to Jo. “You’re throwing everything away for him. And for what? Some secret relationship that you’re too ashamed to even tell your own family about?”
“I wasn’t ashamed.”
“Then why hide it?”
“Gee, I wonder why?” Jo looks at her unconscious boyfriend. “Because I knew you’d react like this!” She’s shouting now. “I knew you’d make it about you! About the team! About everything except what actually matters. I’m in love with him and he loves me and we’re happy!”
“Happy?” Pierre laughs bitterly. “You think this is happy? He’s knocked out on the floor. The whole world knows your secret. Your job is on the line. The team is falling apart. Is this what happy looks like to you?”
Jo doesn’t have an answer.
“I can’t play with him anymore,” Pierre says quietly. “I can’t get on that ice and trust him to have my back when he’s been lying to my face for months.”
Oh fuck. This is serious.
“Pierre ...” Felix calls out.
“No. I’m done.”
The room goes silent.
“Pierre, that’s not ...” Sully tries.
“I need to get out of here.” He storms out, slamming the door behind him.
“I’m just going to ...” Issy says, running after him.
Felix looks at Jo, his expression is sad, and he shakes his head.
“I would think very carefully about what you say next, Felix St. Pierre.” Harper glares at him.
“How am I in trouble?” He looks to his woman.
“We will have this discussion at home,” Harper says. “I’ll talk to you later,” Harper tells Jo as she walks out of the apartment, Felix walking right after her.
Well, now this is awkward as we stare at Emmett and Jo.
“This is a great start to the new year,” Evan mumbles.
“I think we should go,” Sully says. The boys all agree. “Message us when he’s cognitive again.” Jo nods and continues to caress Emmett’s face.
I catch Collette’s eye as we file out, she gives me the tiniest nod, letting me know she’s okay, and I reluctantly leave.
We don’t say another word to each other, all of us are slightly traumatized by what just happened.
I’m pacing around my apartment when I get home, replaying the image that I just saw.
Fish: Did you guys see Cap on the floor??? He was out cold.
Nelly: Not moving.
Bouch: Pierre really knocked him out.
Evan: That was intense. I thought he was dead.
Sully: Guys.
Nelly: I mean, I’m pissed he lied to us about Jo.
Fish: But damn, that looked bad.
Nelly: He couldn’t even defend himself. His arm was in a sling.
Bouch: I love me some PSP, but bit of a cowardly move.
Fish: Jo crying broke my heart.
Evan: That was hard to watch.
Fish: She looks like she really loves him.
Bouch: Agreed.
Nelly: Is that why Cap’s been so happy lately?
Evan: True. He hasn’t been as grumpy.
Fish: A good woman will do that.
Sully: Guys.
Fish: What?
Sully: Maybe we go easy on him? On the whole lying about Jo thing.
Evan: He lied to us for months.
Sully: I get that.
Nelly: With a teammate’s sister. His one big rule, and he broke it.
Sully: I know.
Bouch: That’s against bro code.
Nelly: And team code.
Sully: I know. But you saw him on that floor. Unconscious. That was scary. He’s out for the next 6 weeks with his arm. Who knows if he’s the captain after this? I think he’s been through enough. We should maybe support him right now.
Fish: Fair point. And they did say they love each other.
Bouch: Guess that’s sweet.
Evan: *Inserts trending photo of Jo & Emmett*
Evan: The photo was pretty intense.
Fish: You can see the love between them.
Sully: Exactly. So maybe we hear him out. Let him apologize. And we move on.
Nelly: Fine.
Bouch: Agreed.
Evan: He owes us an apology.
Fish: Big time.
Sully: He will. Trust me.