Page 76 of The Publicity Stunt

"Thanks, Bri."

Chapter Twenty-Five

Kace

Letting the hot water wash over his sore shoulders, Kace takes his time in the shower after practice. Not only are his muscles sore after the added weight he benches and obscene number of pushups he does daily as a way to try and tire him out enough to sleep, he has no desire to head back out to the locker room where everyone looks at him weird.

It doesn't make sense because things have settled down from the whole interview debacle. They've been on a winning streak, and the number of people screaming how much they hate Kace has gone down significantly.

When he walked in from practice, though, everyone gave him sideways glances and quickly hit their phones. Hushed whispers reminded him of high school when he slept with his first girlfriend, and she told everyone how big he was. It was all anyone could talk about for months, and the guys were being weird about checking out his junk and comparing it to what they had. But all of these guys have seen him naked already, so it can't be anything about that.

Finally leaving the shower, he walks into the locker room to find it eerily quiet. Deciding it's not worth his energy, he changes and grabs his bags to try and get a few hours of sleep before flying out to Texas in the morning for their string of away games.

"Kace," Rudy says as Kace walks around the lockers.

"What?"

"Um, there's some news everyone's scared to tell you about."

Shaking his head, he sniffles and shrugs. "I'm tired, Rudy. I don't want to play games. What is it?"

"It's about Bri. Bri and her ex. Well, ex-ex."

No way. There's no way Bri would ever get back together with Easton Duffy. Not after what he put her through. No.

He grabs his phone and starts scrolling. Sure enough, one of his worst fears appears to be true. He sees pictures of Easton kissing Bri's hand at a restaurant, and then they're seen embracing as they leave. The worst, though, is the one where he walks into her apartment. They disappear inside, so there are no pictures of what may or may not have happened. And there's no picture of him leaving, which means she very well could have found comfort in the man who started this whole mess in the first place.

His hands shake, and he shoves his phone in his pocket as a text comes through from his dad. He can't talk to him right now, and he risks chucking the device across the room. How could Bri go back to the bastard who humiliated her by getting caught naked on a hotel roof with a woman already pregnant with another man's child?

"Kace-"

"This is your fault," Kace snaps at Rudy. "She wouldn't be available to see whoever the hell she wants if you hadn't gone out there and opened your goddamned mouth. What you did was worse than what this bastard did, and now she's probably back in his arms. Thanks. Thanks a lot."

Rudy sighs and hangs his head. "I know."

"I just... never mind. Just forget it."

"No, say what you have to say. I deserve it. And the team should hear it, too."

"What you really deserve is actually getting your ass beaten, but that would be a selfish act. The rest of the team needs us to get to the Cup, and putting you in the hospital and putting myself behind bars hurts them more than any of that would make me feel better."

Bruno steps up and places a hand on Kace's shoulder. "And we appreciate that, man. We really do."

"But just so everyone's aware, this is the last year I play for the Bootleggers. My contract's up at the end of the season, and if no other team makes an offer, I'm done. I gotta keep reminding myself this might be my last chance to win the Cup, too."

Rudy shakes his head. "Kace, come on. Be reasonable."

"I am being reasonable. You're not in a body bag. That's pretty fucking reasonable, don't you think? You have two years left on your contract, and I want out as soon as possible."

"That sounds rather reasonable, Kace," Bruno agrees.

Coach hurries into the locker room. "Don't pack your bags just yet, boys."

"What's going on?" Rudy asks as everyone stands and walks towards the office.

If games are canceled, the world must be ending, so Kace doesn't care that Rudy stands shoulder to shoulder with him. Hockey games don't get canceled for anything short of natural disasters and death.

Coach turns on the TV in the corner of the office and flips to the news station.

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