Page 84 of The Golden Goalie

“You can’t, Sweetheart. But what’s the alternative? All you have to do is date me until the baby is born and the season ends, and then you can go on your way.”

“Fine. But I’m not going to your house. Ever. And no coming to mine. No physical contact.”

“You were always so uptight.”

“Do you agree or not, Adam?”

He stands to his feet, so he’s towering over me. “I think you forget who’s holding all the cards, Sweetheart.”

I grind my teeth. “What do I have to do to make it look like I’m dating you.”

“Come to a few games. We’ll go out a few times and get some photos snapped. Oh, and the gala. You need to be my date for the gala.”

“Send all this in a text. Don’t bother calling because I won’t answer the phone.” I stride away without looking back, hoping and praying my shaky legs will hold me up. Somehow, I make it to my car and to the library. I punch in right on time. I make it through my shift somehow; everything’s seems to be in a fog. Adam texts me, but I ignore it. When I get home that night, I finally open his text. It contains all the information for the upcoming events we need to be together for. It includes a few hockey games, a few dates, and a gala. The first of which is a home game tomorrow night. Their stadium is a couple of hours away. I close my eyes in frustration when I realize I’ll have to take off work early to get there for any of it, even though it’s a late one. He ends the text with threatening to turn the video over if I tell Rico or anybody else for that matter what’s going on. I toss my phone on the side of my bed and bury myself under my covers. I need to study, but I just can’t face it tonight. My phone dings, and I’m afraid it’s Adam again. It’s worse.

Rico-hey, just checking in. hope i'm not waking you. i can’t believe how much i miss you! how was your day?

I put my phone on silent and roll over as hot tears soak my pillow. Regret like I’ve never known comes roaring to the surface. I hate that all this is my fault. I'm reaping the consequences of my actions, and nobody can save me from them. I pull my pillow over my mouth to muffle my sobs, and I let my heart break into a million pieces. The shame and sorrow threaten to take me completely under. In a moment of weakness, I pick up my phone and read the text again. Before I can stop myself, I text a reply. Knowing this will probably be the last time he texts me, I say what I want to say to him.

Me- you're a really good guy, rico. don’t ever change.

And then because I know I have to, I send one more text.

Me-things just aren’t going to work out for us. i wish you all the best.

I put my phone facedown, so I don’t see a reply and I try for sleep that I know probably won’t come tonight.

Chapter 33

Rico

I check my phone again, wondering if she texted me. Her text last night rocked my world. As soon as I read it, I tried calling her. Multiple times. I also sent several texts, but I’ve heard nothing from her. I don’t know what happened. Everything was going great. The only thing I can think of is that she got spooked somehow. I know if I can just talk to her, we can get things back on track. But that’s not going to happen today, not if she refuses to answer her phone. If I didn’t have a game tonight, I’d be over at the library right now. Instead, I’m hours away. I force thoughts of my girl from my mind. I need to focus on the game tonight; I can’t afford a repeat of my performance the last time something with Amber came up.

When we get to the arena, I head inside with my teammates. Once we’re inside the locker room, we begin our pregame ritual. “Everybody listen up,” Gunner calls out, and I stop mid-undressing. “Everybody needs to focus tonight, so I want everybody’s phones in the basket.” Silence descends for about five seconds, and then pandemonium erupts. I stay quiet. Cap’s always got a reason for why he does things.

“Hey,” Aiden barks out. “He said to do it, so do it.” He’s the first to drop his in the basket. Sebastian is next. Following their lead, I walk over and drop mine in next. Gunner’s eyes meet mine for a moment, and he gives me a look I can’t read. I wonder if he knows somehow about the text Amber sent me last night.

“Dude, what’s the deal?” Zac complains loudly. “What are we? Five?”

“Five-year-olds don’t have cell phones, Dummy,” Sebastian says with a laugh.

“Is something wrong?” Dylan asks, dropping his in the basket.

“I just want everybody to focus,” Gunner says. His eyes meet mine again, and this time, I know something is up.

I cross my arms across my chest. “You got something you want to say, Cap?”

“I just want you and everybody else on this team to focus tonight,” he says evenly.

I glance over at Sebastian, who has worry written all over his face. He doesn’t hide his emotions well. “Seb?” Sebastian glances at Gunner, and they seem to have a conversation in that look.

They know about Amber’s text somehow.I keep getting ready. I’ll talk to them when our teammates go out. A few minutes later, Gunner, Aiden, Sebastian, and I are the only ones left. “Okay, what is going on? And don’t try to pretend nothing’s wrong. You just took everybody’s cells, something you’ve never done. What’s up?”

“You need to focus on tonight’s game,” Gunner says. “We’ll talk about this after the game.”

I want to argue with him, but I know he’s right. If we go down this path right now, I will definitely lose my focus, and I can’t afford to do that tonight. “Fine.” I follow them out for our pregame warm-up.

“Garcia,” Coach waves me over to the bench.

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