Chapter Thirty
Cooper
The locker room feels off today.
The news about Coach having a secret daughter on campus hit last night, and he’s been acting like it’s just another game day.
Gear clanks in the stalls and hits the floor as guys suit up. Sticks tap against the ground, tape ripping in quick pulls. Nobody’s blasting music yet, though a few guys have headphones on, already locked in.
He walked in, handed out the lineup, and went over matchups and zones like there aren’t rumors swirling around him. Like none of this is touching him.
Like my name—and the girl I’m falling for—aren’t tied up in it too.
I sit on the bench, rewrapping tape around my stick even though it doesn’t need it.
Across from me, Kade leans against his stall, keeping his voice low. “You read any of the comments online?”
“Don’t,” Talon mutters, lacing his skates. “Not right now.”
“They’re already speculating,” Kade says anyway. “Saying it explains why Coach has been sitting you out. People are starting to piece it together, insinuating you leaked it and he’s paying you back for it.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Owen adds quietly. “People are going to connect whatever dots they want.”
A few stalls down, someone clears their throat. No one says Coach’s name out loud. Not like it needs to be said to know what everyone’s thinking.
“So what?” Kade asks. “We’re just gonna let him walk around like nothing happened and not make him own up to it while this all hangs over us again?”
“He’s got a point.” Owen motions to Talon. “He isn’t even acknowledging it.”
“Why would he?” Talon adds. “If he brings it up, he gives it credibility. He just wants to bury it as quickly as possible.”
I glance toward the doorway, like he’s going to appear at any second.
Kade huffs. “It’s not gonna blow over this time.”
Owen nods.
“Let’s just focus on the game,” Talon says finally. “That’s what they want, right? People stirring this up—a distraction. If we win, it gets buried under the highlights.”
“And if we lose?” Owen challenges.
No one entertains that one with an answer.
I roll my shoulders, finally starting to feel like myself again. Sitting out has helped, so the tension and soreness aren’t as bad.
“I’m not gonna let anyone drag her through this,” I say, keeping my voice low. “We all know he didn’t want this to get out, and I’m not gonna let Brinley think hockey is more important than her.”
Owen looks at me then and nods.
Across the room, Coach opens the door. Any conversation in the room dies instantly as heads turn.
“Rowden, can I have a word?”
A couple of the guys glance at me. I stand and follow him out, the door clicking shut behind us.
Commissioner Davisson stands at the end of the hall. His gaze flicks between us before he gives Coach a tight nod, then disappears around the corner like he wasn’t there at all.
What the hell is he doing here?
“How’s the shoulder?” Coach asks.
“As good as new.”
“We’re going to hold you out again tonight,” he says.
I stare at him. “Why?”
“Precaution.”
“I’m fine.” I rotate my shoulder as if to prove there’s nothing wrong with it.
“We’re not taking any chances this close to the playoffs.”
The article dropped last night. His name in bold linked to a daughter no one knew about. The media has speculated that she was from a one-night stand during his glory days in the league, aligning the dates with when he was rumored to be out with his now-wife.
And that daughter is rumored to be dating me.
Like the guys said earlier, the media is already connecting the dots.
“You realize sitting me out again only makes this look worse for you, right?” I say quietly.
“People already think you’re doing this because I’m dating Brinley.
They think I leaked the story—which I sure as hell didn’t.
You haven’t exactly been Father of the Year. Benching me doesn’t clean that up.”
His expression doesn’t shift.
“We all deal with consequences for our actions, don’t we, Rowden?”
I roll my eyes at that comment. He’s just gonna keep spewing this same old bullshit?
“You’re about to make another bad decision,” I warn. “When karma comes back to bite you in the ass, remember I tried to warn you.”
Coach clenches his jaw tight. “You might want to stop talking now.”
I shrug. “You might want to remember who you’re dealing with before you go blackmailing me. You might think you can use my future as something to hold over my head, but I think you forget you have a future at risk too.”
There’s a beat. I step back first.
“I’m very good at ending plays,” I add evenly. “Don’t make me start looking at you like one.”
He can keep trying to fuck with me. Keep benching me, pretending this is about my shoulder.
If he really thinks I leaked the story and this is his way of getting back at me, he’s wrong. I get the feeling there are others who’d gain more from this than I would.
When I walk back into the locker room, the guys are all quieter than they were before. Like they were holding their breath.
“Again?” Owen asks, like he already knows.
“Yep.”
“He still sayin’ it’s about your shoulder?” Kade asks.
“That’s what he’s callin’ it anyway.”
Nobody says anything else. But it’s there, hanging in the room with us.
I sit down at my stall and start putting on my pads. While I’m sitting out, I know they still want me suited up so they can play it off like I’m playing backup goalie.
My phone buzzes on the shelf behind me. I stand to grab it, noticing a message came through from an unknown number.
I almost put it back, but then I notice it’s an attachment. Instead, I click to open it.
There’s a photo.
It takes me a second to place it. It’s angled from above, like someone is standing over a table. Or a desk.
And then it hits me. It’s the desk in my bedroom.
I recognize the leather strap first in the background. It’s my black notebook. The same one I’ve been using to write game notes, but more recently to track everything that hasn’t lined up with Coach.
I was sure I packed it for this trip. Thought it was in my bag with the rest of my stuff. But my luggage isn’t even with me right now.
The strap in the background is Brinley’s backpack. There’s a faint tear near the buckle. I’ve noticed it before, every time she slides it off her shoulder.
I look back at the notebook. My handwriting stretches across the page—notes crammed into the margins with dates, random observations, and Coach’s name written more than once.
My stomach drops, and I collapse onto the bench again.
Another message comes through.
Unknown: Didn’t take her long to tell your secret too.
Unknown: Some people don’t know how to keep things to themselves.
My jaw tightens. Are they trying to pin this on Brinley? Like she’s the reason this got out?
I start racking my brain trying to figure out when or where I could’ve been when this was taken.
The night she showed up at my place. After she found out I paid for her repairs.
Another text comes through.
Unknown: Be careful who you trust.
That’s it.
No name, no explanation for the bomb they’ve just dropped in my lap.
I swipe away from the screen, open our group thread with the guys and Reed, and quickly type a message.
Me: We need to speed shit up on all this digging.
I snap a screenshot of the thread along with the picture and hit send before typing out another message.
Me: Can you trace this?
The sound of the guy’s phones vibrating and pinging around me has all their attention turning toward me.
Kade looks over at me. “What’s going on?”
My phone buzzes in my hand.
Reed: On it.
Reed: Landlord got the cameras up. I’ll keep eyes on her place too. Make sure nobody’s hanging around.
If she saw those notes, why wouldn’t she come to me about it? She’s never been the type to go behind my back.
Why would they think I’d believe this is her?
Unless that’s exactly what they want. Because if she’s not here for me… what reason does she have to stay in Rixton?
I lock my phone and shove it into my bag.
Across the room, Coach opens the door again and steps out. He’s talking to Assistant Coach Glasgow like it’s any other game day.
Like he didn’t just pull me into the hallway and tell me he’s benching me, throwing out the same bullshit line about actions having consequences.
I don’t know what I’m more pissed about—being benched or the fact that someone is trying to make me question whether I can trust her.