CHAPTER 2 BEN
I draw in a deep breath as I park Kaylee’s BMW at the Complex—the nickname for the practice facility that houses the executive offices. I’ve been here too many times in the offseason, but something feels different about this one.
The other things I’ve been in for were dumb. The kid crushing the can on his head after playing Detonator. The strip club viral video. And even before that, when I was caught with my pants down…literally.
But those all seem like silly boys being boys situations.
This one is a little more serious.
I’ve never had accusations like this hurled at me before. I’ve worked hard my entire adult life to ensure that I can have a good time and party hearty without disrespecting anybody.
Am I completely innocent? Nah. I’ve gotten into my fair share of drunken fist fights. I’ve been placed in handcuffs a couple times for public intoxication.
But the point is that I stand on the right side of respect when it comes to women. Always. That’s the golden rule.
So for Kitty to act like something different happened…it tears at the very center of who I am as a man.
That anybody might doubt whether I’m a perfect gentleman when it comes to women is hurtful. But for these women to just come out with these bald-faced lies with no regard for me or the people I care about…it’s inexcusable.
I texted both Jaxon and Cory just before I left my house, and I haven’t heard back from either of them yet. That means I’m going in alone.
“Have a seat,” Lily says to me as I appear near her desk. “Mr. Bennett will be right with you.”
She doesn’t issue me so much as a good morning, and I see how it is now.
I have a reputation I didn’t even earn.
It’s absolute bullshit that just because I like to have a good time, people automatically assume I’m guilty of the atrocities I’m being accused of.
The door opens, and Calvin looks tired when he sees me sitting there. He nods into his office without a word, and I stand and follow him in.
“Close the door,” he says.
I do, and then I sit across from him.
“Talk to me, Olson. What happened last night?”
“I went to a club after a bachelor party. A woman I have a history with was there. She embraced me from behind, offered me a private performance which I declined since I’m engaged to marry another woman, and then I left.”
“Who else was there?” he asks.
“Scott, Bryant, and Marshall from the team, sir,” I say.
He purses his lips as he writes down Scott, Bryant, Marshall on a sheet of paper in front of him.
“Frankly, Ben, whether or not you did what she said you did isn’t my concern.
My concern is first and always the team, and this looks bad.
Really bad. There are a shitload of accusations running rampant in the league right now, and my greatest hope was that our team would avoid being brought into the scandals like everybody else.
” He shakes his head. “It affects more than just your reputation. It affects the locker room. It affects the staff.” He’s right.
I saw firsthand how the staff is already affected when Lily wouldn’t even look at me.
“I have no other choice but to suspend you as we open an investigation.”
“You’re kidding me, right?” I protest.
He shakes his head, and he seems a little sad about the words he’s speaking. “Afraid not.”
Fuck.
“What if I get married?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I’m not sure what good that’ll do.”
“It’ll show that the woman I’m marrying believes in me, and maybe that’ll be enough for others to see it, too. I didn’t do it, Calvin. I swear to God, I didn’t even touch that woman last night. She’s flat out lying and I can prove it.”
“How?” he asks, suddenly a little more interested.
I nod toward the paper. “Those three men. At least one of them had to have seen what went down last night, and it wasn’t what she said.”
He rubs the bridge of his nose. “I don’t have time to call everybody in,” he says. “I don’t even have time to call you in, but I have to keep doing it. Don’t you see how that’s a problem?”
I mean he could pass it off to the GM who manages player shit on every other team I’ve played for, but I don’t have the balls to say it that way. “What about Steve?” I ask.
“What about him?”
They notoriously don’t get along, but Calvin can be a hard man for anybody to get along with.
“Does he have time to help me sort this? With all due respect, Mr. Bennett, I refuse to let a fucking lie stop me from playing.”
He draws in a deep breath and exhales slowly. “See what you can come up with.”
A knock sounds at the door. “What?” Calvin barks.
Lily appears in the doorway. “Sir, so sorry for the interruption, but I have Jaxon Bryant here.”
Calvin purses his lips. “Send him in.”
Jaxon looks a little rough with a ball cap pulled down low over his eyes, but he’s here. A sense of relief filters through me.
“You were there last night?” Calvin asks as Jaxon slides into the chair next to me.
“I was. And I know this dude pretty well. He would never do what she’s claiming,” Jaxon says.
“You and I both know that,” Calvin says, “but the world at large does not. I need evidence that he didn’t do it. It’s the only way to clear his name.”
“I was a little, uh, under the influence, but there wouldn’t have been time for whatever she’s claiming he did.
He was in that place less than thirty seconds.
All I remember is she tossed her arms around him.
I didn’t hear what they were saying, but Scott was right there.
I bet he heard.” He turns to me. “Did you check with him?”
“Yeah. He won’t get involved.” It’s not a lie, exactly. He won’t get involved if it means telling the truth even though he’s the entire cause of this whole thing.
“I’ll make him get involved, then,” Calvin says. “He’s second string anyway. Doesn’t have nearly the talent you do. If he doesn’t want to talk, he doesn’t have to play for Vegas.”
“I appreciate that, Mr. Bennett,” I say, doing my best to maintain respect in this odd situation.
“We’ve got time before the season starts, so I’ll hold off on any suspensions,” he says, basically ignoring us as he turns toward his computer. “You two can go.”
Jaxon and I get up and walk out together. We walk silently beside one another all the way to the parking lot.
“Thanks for having my back, man,” I say.
He presses his lips together. “Anybody who knows you knows the truth. You can buy me lunch as a thank you.”
I chuckle, and then we walk across the street to the barbecue place.