Page 79 of Gridlocked on the Gridiron

“How fucking dare you. How dare you talk about Mom like that. Mom was the only good part of our childhood. All you did was take away our chances of being actual children, ruined my relationship with Landon, and ensured I never spent time with the family who actually cared about me. I have grandparents who’ve wanted to be a part of my life, our lives, since long before Mom died. But I’ve felt so guilty about how you made us shut them out, especially after Mom got sick, that I’ve stayed away, kept them locked out for so fucking long. I’m fucking tired of your self-serving bullshit. I’m tired of your lectures. I’m tired of letting you tell me how to play football like I’m not already a thousand times more successful than you ever were. I’m tired of you treating Landon like he’s second best and Maya like she just doesn't exist. And I’m tired of you talking shit about the woman I love because you’re so emotionally stunted that you’ve never successfully shown anybody love.”

Colton turned on his heel, stomping out of a house he was sure he would never see again. He pulled his phone from his pocket as he got in and started his car, noticing a text from Lucia for the first time in nearly two weeks.

Lucia

It’s not true. I swear it isn’t. Please don’t believe it.

I would never do something like that.

Colton wanted to believe her, but her words from the video kept ringing in his head. I’m gonna give you our plays. Why would she have said that? It felt like college all over again.

He raced to the facility, searching everywhere for Lucia. When he got to her office, Coach Turner and Tim stood outside, somber looks on their faces.

“Is it true?” Colton asked.

Coach Turner’s face didn’t change as Tim spoke. “We can’t say for certain. She’s on temporary probation. You can’t speak to her until she’s been cleared. We don’t know if she’s been feeding the Vipers information about the team.”

At the last sentence, Coach turned a disapproving glare onto Tim before looking back at Colton. “We don’t believe she has been, but we’re taking all necessary precautions. As you know, this is an important game, and we need to be sure no information was exchanged before she can be reinstated.”

Despite the eyes of the two men on him, Colton’s back hit the wall, and he sank to the ground. Betrayal sat heavy in his chest, and as soon as Coach Turner and Tim walked away, Colton opened his texts and read and re-read Lucia’s last message.

Chapter twenty-nine

Lucia

The moment Lucia saw the news article, she texted Colton. While she’d been the one to end things between them, her feelings for him hadn’t changed in the slightest, and the idea that he might have seen and believed the news threatened to break her into little pieces. Especially after she’d had to spend over a week without his jokes and laughter to make her feel better.

The article itself was so stupid. How unfulfilled were the people at The Richmond Herald that they had to keep finding things in her life to talk about? She knew this was Max’s doing, felt the heat of rage build in her when she saw the quote taken out of context from their last conversation. He’d screen recorded it, as if he’d planned this from the start. Like if the conversation hadn’t gone his way, he’d have the recording as some kind of leverage. She wouldn’t be surprised if this was his way of getting back at her for blocking him. It had probably been an added bonus that it would get in Colton’s head three days before the game.

Max was pathetic. He knew he wasn’t as good as Colton, so he’d turned to psychological techniques to win. What a piece of shit. She wasn’t sure whether the tears she held back were due to her anger at him or frustration at the possibility that Colton might not believe her. Might never want to speak to her again. Especially not when this had been his fear from the moment she’d joined the Sabers.

She wasn’t surprised when only moments after she’d composed herself, Tim and Coach Turner stepped into her office, mixed expressions of pity and anger on their faces.

She steeled herself for a lecture, or worse, to lose her job. She knew fighting tooth and nail to keep this job wouldn’t work. For this, she would beg.

“Before you say anything, none of it is true. All of those pictures were taken before we’d broken up except for the phone call. That phone call was our breakup call and the quote in the video was taken out of context. I was being sarcastic. I didn’t tell him anything about the Sabers, and I haven’t talked to him since.” She said it all in one breath, and she came up for air at the end of it.

“We’re putting you on probation until further notice. We obviously need to get to the bottom of these allegations. We will have to pursue legal action if it’s determined that you’ve been conspiring with the Vipers,” Tim responded, words clipped.

Lucia willed the tears away. Coach Turner’s face softened when he saw the look on her face. “Our hands are tied here. We know you're a professional and a great analyst. When we determine you didn’t conspire with the Vipers, the Sabers’ legal team will look into a defamation suit. For now, it’s probably best if you leave your equipment and go home. We’ll try to have a decision for you before the game on Sunday.”

Lucia looked down and nodded. Her hand automatically reached for her tablet, but she set it down a second later. She grabbed her purse, keeping her head down as she left them in her office, praying as she walked to the elevator and down to the facility garage that she didn’t run into anybody else. She could only imagine what the team and staff thought of her.

Lucia lay on her couch, wrapped in one of Colton’s sweatshirts and yoga pants, unwashed hair in a bun with light-brown strands hanging around her face haphazardly. She hadn’t left the comfort of her couch in over a day, glued to an old season of The Bachelor. She couldn’t even bring herself to eat anything other than her mini ice cream cones, the empty box abandoned at her feet.

Isa had called a couple of times to check on her, but she didn't answer, texting her that she wasn’t up for talking about the article. Her father had tried to call once too, and she wanted to speak with him even less.

Her phone lit up with another call from Isa. When Lucia didn’t pick up, Isa texted her twice in quick succession.

Isa

Do you have Tim’s phone number? Send it to me.

This is serious. Call me! Or send me his number.

Lucia’s eyebrows knitted together as she saw the attachment Isa sent her. It was a video, and when she clicked it open, it was the screen recording Max had taken of their conversation.

She called Isa immediately.

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